1. Can you tell us a little about your book?
One day I happened to see an image of a broken vase which did not regain it's former shape after gluing the scattered pieces of the vase. However, it was given a new shape and with all the plants and the colourful stones, it looked beautiful. The picture stroke my heart's chord and I felt that I need to compose and gather the broken parts of me and try creating something wonderful. You will find most poignant of tales in my book but every single individual will relate to because we all have faced rejections. We have all sometimes doubted ourselves for not being good because people around us make us feel so, we lose hope in times of despair, we feel lonely even in midst of a crowd but these difficult times help you identify with people who truly care and mostly importantly you seek the greatest of life lessons from these days of trials and tribulations. Often on lonely nights, you simply cry but then the next instant, you realise that when you are happy in your own company, there's nothing else you need. All bad happens because it has something to teach you. Something good is in store for you.
2. Is there a specific event that inspired this story or was this an out of the blue idea?
I often did ghost writing for schools, colleges, and other educational institutions and people appreciated my writing and when encouraged by family and friends, I thought of giving it a shot.
3. What got you writing in the first place?
Truth be told, it was all spontaneous. I was very pampered as a child but the moment I walked out of that comfort zone, I realized life is going to put me into the trial zone from which I can't escape. It was pain, a lot of pain that helped me put my ideas in paper.
4. What was your impression of your first draft when you read it?
I am an awful writer. I am very bad with rhymes and metre. I sometimes wonder what is that friends love about my writing but probably it's emotions. I started writing in blank verse. I just kept on editing and re-writing until I was satisfied.
5. Which part of your story connects the most with you? Why?
I cannot compartmentalize. Every poem of mine will narrate somebody's untold story. But my favourite of all is, 'After I go', because people often take loved ones for granted and it's a clever way of telling people I love to not take me for granted.
6. What makes your book the one to read?
If precisely put, it's for commoners. The very sensitive ones like me, the extremely emotional lot. I know being sensitive isn't good. It often brings pain to you and I am working hard to take charge of my emotions. But emotions reign still and I guess they will see a part of themselves in the poems I have written.
7. What was the best advice you got while writing?
Nobody adviced me as such but yes, emotions overflow. It happened exactly the same in my case.
8. Who’s your all time favourite author? Which book of his/hers made you fall in love with them?
Again I cannot choose. Lots... Paulo Coelho, Ruskin Bond, O. Henry, Oscar Wilde, Sudha Murthy, Amitav Ghosh and many more. But I liked 'The Alchemist' by Coelho which I read when I was in my 12th std. It's just the possibility of turning your dreams into reality---still keeps me going.
9. What is your evergreen tip to the writers out there?
I am still a learner and don't really have any tip. But yes the only thing you can do to write better is to simply write.
10. What was your hardest scene to write?
There wasn't a single day when I haven't cried to write these poems. All the memories-good or bad just came in flashbacks and every write-up of mine was difficult. I kept asking God what have you made of me? What did I do so wrong? But then those memories became the lyrics for my poetries and I am proud of that.
11. Do you have another plot brewing?
Yes, it's a letter to my daughter. Mostly about giving her lessons which I learnt pretty late in life. Again, it would just be my perspective and not an imposition. She would use her own discretion to differentiate between the good and the bad and then implement in life.