Writer. Editor
Books. One word that spells many things for me – magic, fulfillment, ecstasy; a parallel universe, surreal, sublime. Being a bookworm is an absolutely enchanting way of life. The world of books has constantly knocked on my door and like a hyper-excited child, I have tried to capture their magic and essence in interviews with authors, essays and reviews. Like, you know, how you catch fireflies in a jar. Well, here are the fireflies, for you.
Anu Kumar, Author, talks to me on what it means to be a children’s author, including what fascinates her about writing for children, what’s the sort of research that goes into her books, who her favourite children’s authors are and what’s her favourite from her own body of work. Plus there is a beautiful reading list that she recommends for children too.
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Vinita Agrawal, widely-published poet and author, shares her thoughts about her poetic journey, what poetry means to her and her debut anthology of poems ‘Words Not Spoken’. An interview that I did for the 50th issue of Spark (February 2014).
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One of the biggest developments that the internet unleashed was the arrival of blogs a few years back, which grew to become great forums for showcasing talent, having discussions, exchanging ideas, making new friends and most importantly, finding an audience in a world where becoming a published author for an aspiring writer was still a formidable task. I speak to Parul Sharma, author of ‘Bringing up Vasu : That First Year’ and ‘By the Water Cooler’, Judy Balan, author of ‘Two Fates : The Story of My Divorce’ and Sagarika Chakraborty, author of ‘A Calendar Too Crowded’ – all of whom began as bloggers a few years back before they became published authors. Parul, Judy and Sagarika talk about their days as bloggers, the roles that their blogs played in their writerly journey and of course their books, among a host of other blog-related things.
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Words are magical, they are powerful, and to be able to use the magic of the written word to inspire people is indeed an immensely beautiful gift. I speak to three people who have used the power of words to inspire thousands and gets them talking about what inspires them, how they feel about the inspiration they are providing others, and more – meet Preeti Shenoy, author of ‘34 Bubble Gums & Candies’, ‘Life is What you Make It’, & ‘Tea for Two & a Piece of Cake’, Swapan Seth, author of ’This is All I have to Say’ and Varun Agarwal, author of ‘How I Braved Anu Aunty & Co-founded a Million Dollar Company.
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In a freewheeling chat, Raksha Bharadia, co-author of 12 titles of the Indian Chicken Soup for the Soul series, talks about the experience of putting together the various titles, the stories that moved her, and how this opportunity changed her as a person. The stories in the series are meant to ‘open the heart and rekindle the spirit’. Find out what the person behind many titles in the series in India has to say on inspiration and human life.
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Jaya Bhattacharji Rose, publishing consultant and columnist talks to me about interesting trends in the Indian publishing industry including the popularity that commercial fiction is enjoying in India these days, the growing trend of buying books online and the advent of e-books in the Indian market.
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Rocky (Singh) and Mayur (Sharma) anchor the award winning, cult food and travel show ‘Highway On My Plate’ on NDTV Goodtimes. Their bestselling book ‘Highway On My Plate – The Indian Guide to Roadside Eating’, based on their show, recently won a ‘Best in the World’ Award at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Paris. The duo answer my questions on their show ‘Highway On My Plate’ (HOMP), the book, food, their experiences on the road and dream trips.
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Drives on roads to beautiful destinations and amazing cups of chai: I speak to Rishad Saam Mehta, author of ‘Hot Tea across India,’ a compilation of road trips he has made over the years, published by Tranquebar in 2011.
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Samhita Arni is the author of “Sita’s Ramayana”, a graphic novel developed in collaboration with Patua Artist Moyna Chitrakar and published by Tara Books. The book has spent two weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List for Graphic Novels. When she was eight, Samhita started writing and illustrating her first book. “The Mahabharata – A Child’s View”, (Tara Books, 1996) that went on to be published in seven language editions, selling 50,000 copies worldwide, winning the Elsa Morante Literary Award, and receiving commendations from the German Academy for Youth Literature and Media and The Spanish Ministry of Culture. Samhita talks about her book, ‘Sita’s Ramayana’ and women in mythology, among other things, in this interview.
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