From being a soft-skill and personality development trainer to becoming an author — how did
it all happen?
Writing has always been my first love. In fact, my blogs —
Riviera and Lost Tranquility — depict my
passion for writing. When I got
married, I stopped planning my life, as things didn’t work out the
way I
wanted. But when I didn’t plan, I just found things falling into place.
I was barely a graduate
when I got married and was clueless about how I
could establish myself professionally. However, luck
favoured me and I
became a teacher and taught at many prestigious schools across India.
While
teaching in schools, I was constantly counseling the students.
Hence I developed an acute sense
of analysing different individuals.
This way, from counseling, I took to personality development training.
But writing didn’t leave my side. It was like my best friend, who always
stayed by me in my ups and downs
. I wrote my feelings continuously in
my diaries and eventually it transformed into books.
Are the characters in your book inspired by the people you have met?
Well, honestly they are most of the time. I study and relate to
people and everything around me,
including animals, very easily and
quickly. Sometimes, articles in newspapers or magazines too
influence my
writing. Pain, pleasure, joy, fear and all other emotions experienced
by a person
come alive in my novels. Probably, this is why critics
praise the portrayal of the characters in my fiction.
Tell us about your books Back to School@30, Taming the Restless Mind, Love’s Journey
and The Fallen Love.
Back to School@30 is a self-help book for people in 30s and
beyond. This book is meant to help a
person organise and manage one’s
relationships. Taming the Restless Mind is also a self-help book
for the
youth and their fears and problems, like sexual myths, dating, divorce,
pay packages,
emotional stability and others. Love’s Journey and The
Fallen Love are fiction. Love’s Journey is
my debut book and very close
to my heart. It is a story of Christian girl, who loses her parents in a
communal riot. She undergoes the trials of destiny in the form of four
lovers, who teach her
different meanings of love. She becomes an unwed
mother and finally makes it big in the film industry.
The Fallen Love
revolves around the veiled crimes in our society. Critics found it
fast-paced and
interesting, but the depiction of sex life of a character
didn’t go down well with some… but this is my style.
Tell us a bit about your school and college days in Patna.
I was in Notre Dame Academy from preparatory till Class VII. It
was not just a school, it was like a
family to me. Every sister and
teacher was responsible in grooming me and nurturing my outlook towards
life. Since I stayed close to the school, I have lot of happy memories
that I cherish till date. Whether it was
taking part in one-act plays,
school fete to other extracurricular activities, they helped me become
what
I am today. NDA personifies Keats’ poem, ‘A thing of beauty is a
joy forever, it never passes into
nothingness’. I passed my ICSE from
Loreto Convent, Ranchi, and here I blossomed as an excellent
speaker as I
won the best speaker award from the Ram Krishna Mission Society
consecutively for three
years. I did my graduation from Patna Women’s
College (Avila Convent). Marriage saw break in my
studies, but I did my
CTE, MA, MBA afterwards. It has been a real tough journey, but as they
say
where there is a will there is a way! (smiles)
Who are the writers you love reading? Whom do you consider the most promising among the
contemporary writers?
I love reading Jane Austen, Arthur Hailey, Sidney Sheldon and
Danielle Steele. Among Indian writers
and poets, I have read
Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand, Shivani, Amrita Pritam, Dinkar,
Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Gandhi, Nehru and many more. Among contemporary
writers I
find Chitra Bannerjee Devakaruni as one of the most promising
Indian writer. She has a very gripping
style of narration.
What challenges did you face while writing?
Challenges are in every field. Without challenges, I feel
achievements hold no meaning. Being a woman
writer, I am very bold in my
depiction of characters and don’t compromise on it. At first, I was a
little
scared, how my
friends and family would react. But after reading,
all hailed my style of writing. The next big challenge was
to find a publisher (phew!), especially for a fiction! I was initially laughed at
for entering the literary scene late,
but now my success has made my
critics dumb! But over all I feel, a woman faces challenges throughout
her life.
How has been the readers’ response?
It has been overwhelming! Everyday, I get many fan mails and
messages on Facebook praising my
writing and asking how I have become so
popular within such a short span of time. I am really thankful
to God
for this and also my readers, who love and criticise me at the same
time. The readers of Bihar
and UP are extremely elated that a ‘saleable’
woman writer from their area, who writes in English, has
arrived on the
literary scene.
Your books are based on relationships. Do you feel relationships are becoming flimsy these days?
I do. My book Taming the Restless Mind deals with similar
problems. Materialistic approach has taken the
front seat and emotions
are dying. Internet has made life easier, but has made relationships
complicated.
Youth these days, even before reaching their 20s have
almost 20 break ups. Consequently, this affects their
marital lives
later.
Was your family supportive when you decided to write? Do you feel early marriage is a
hindrance to a girl’s career aspirations?
Despite having a rich legacy in writing, no one in my family had
thought that one day I would become a
writer, except my father. My
great grandfather had written Rasik Manoranjan, but a girl from our
family
writing was not expected! My husband had made it clear to me from
the very beginning that he had
not married a ‘working woman’. He told
me that all I have to do is look good and take care of my family.
But
with passage of time, he realised that talent could not be hidden and he
let me do what I wanted.
My children are very encouraging and feel
proud of me. However, the unconditional support of
my sister-in-law and
brother and the determination that my late mother inculcated in me made
me a writer.
Otherwise till now I would have been just writing diaries.
(Laughs). I want to tell all parents not to get
their daughters married
early and curb their talents. Not everyone can fight with destiny as I
have done.
Let them grow and spread their charm around. Early marriage
can in fact create more problems.
When publishers reject your book do you feel let down?
Well obviously! It is very disheartening. But then I give a ‘pat’
on my back say ‘It’s alright Rashmi, failures
are the pillars to
success’. I heard that many renowned authors too had been rejected
umpteenth time!
I take inspiration from them and surge ahead again with
more vigour! I know many good publishers
who are open to my
non-fictions, but don’t want to publish a fiction. After Love’s Journey I
had a
tough time finding a publisher, but Pigeon Books has always been
open to all my
fictions.
Do you believe in “formula” writing (award-winning and bestseller books) that will earn you
more fame?
No, if this had been the criterion then I would not have turned
down a lucrative offer to write a ‘masala book’!
The Fallen Love had lot
of a lot of sleaze, which according to me is the depiction of crude
truth of our society.
However, on the basis of this, some publishers
thought they could ask me to pen down sensational books,
but when they
approached me I refused. I want to get my name engraved in the minds of
the readers as
genuine writer and not as one of disgraceful books.
As a Bihari were you ever looked down upon? Do you want to base any novel on Bihar?
I have been never looked down upon as such, and I am grateful to
my parents for this as they gave me the
best possible education
available then. But yes, I have heard this, “Do you really belong to
Bihar?
You neither look, nor behave or speak like them?” At that time, I
just wanted to scratch their face
(humanly feeling!) but controlled my
temper. I wasn’t able to understand why there was so much antagonism?
Biharis are looked down upon in Mumbai. We forget we are Indians at
large!
We fight on petty issues of being Bihari, Gujarati,
Punjabi and
overlook serious problems of our society. Yes, I do want to base my
novel on Bihar. Both my
fictions have incidents and scenes from Bihar.
In fact, protagonists in both the novels — Jennifer Sebastian
and Rohan
Dixit — belong to Bihar.
Your life must have changed in more ways than one with
your fingers in many pies? How do
you juggle work and personal life?
Well, my life has changed for sure. But I believe that if a
person wants he or she can achieve anything.
Coaching takes half of my
time and I do freelance training as well. I write during the night and
the break
I get between my two jobs. Obviously, I have to look after
home and children and I become tensed at times.
But I try to maintain my
cool. I am a very organised and plan my day-to-day routine. So, I don’t
have
much time for friends. My life revolves around my work and my
family.
What is the piece of advice you want to give to upcoming writers?
Please don’t resort to a spicy and eye-popping recipe to get
instant success. I also advise them to listen to
their heart while
writing and not the mind. I say this because mind is very practical and
heart has feelings, which is important for being a genuine writer.
What are your future projects? Do you want to script for films as well?
My next book is a historical fiction, based on a dancer of
Chalukyan King Pulkasein II’s era
(610AD-643AD). This is a very intense
fiction, which is again based on relationships and emotions
like
infatuation, love, treachery,
conquests, wars, lust, acquisition, hate
and finally repentance. This story is very close to my heart and I
have
done a lot of research. It takes you to a whirlwind tour of events of a
forgotten girl’s life and her
relationship with a king. I am open to
everything. I believe ‘One’s script is already written by
‘Him’’ who is
sitting up there. If scripting for films has to come my way, it will
definitely come.
Otherwise I will always try to carve out something new! |
