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Tuesday 3 March 2015

Author Spotlight and Interview: Virendra Desai


Read our review of the book here.
Interview:

Ques: What inspired you to pen down such a different book: that of the courageous stories of ordinary women?

Ans: Well, I was out on a expensive shopping trip with my girlfriend (which I had gifted her). While she and her friends were in the trial room (which, usually takes around eternity!), I had nothing else to do rather than guessing the bill. There I saw a lady, old, may be 50, wrinkles on her face guarding the ladies changing room, she was the lady security guard there, for keeping an eye on number of clothes women take inside. I had a very strong urge to go up to her and talk! I spoke to her for five minutes, and my life took a different turn. She was 51, wearing a pant, shirt and a cap, working as a security guard. Her husband was disabled, her two boys were studying engineering, and she alone earned and provided food, shelter to the family,and education to her kids. I was taken aback by the lady's determination! I asked her, how much did she earn? The reply baffled me! Her one month's salary was my one month's petrol bill. In those five minutes she poured her heart out. I walked away with heavy heart and decided that no matter what, I would write a book, which would contain this lady's and many other inspirational stories of struggle and optimism. This way the idea emerged. I went and interviewed 7 different women, ranging from Manager of a multinational bank, to a lady security guard outside the ladies changing room in a shopping mall.

Ques: How did you choose the title of the book, considering I have been curious over how someone came up with such a simple, yet symbolic title?

Ans: The title is very symbolic Kritika. Whether she is my mother, your mother or anybody's mother; you yourself, or in that case any lady in the entire world- I truly believe that, every woman's life on this planet earth is like a poetry. Hence the title! Just like the concept, it popped up in my head one fateful day.

Ques:  How was the experience of writing a book, and seeing it get published?

Ans: I self published the book. The writing experience was life altering. The passion I felt was like never before. All the women in the book took me to the flashback in their lives, and believe me Kritika, I was awe-inspired. I was a layman in the publishing industry, hence in order to get published I had to do a lot of research. I tried pitching the book to some big publishers, but nothing fruitful happened. So, for a concept of this magnitude, I had to take the chance and self publish. I created checkpoints- like obtaining ISBN numbers for my company, designing a cover and the bookmarks, finding the cheapest printing option - almost at par with the rate at which big publishers print; and many more tasks involved with bringing the book to reality. Finally on 25th August 2014, the book saw the light of the day for the first time.

Ques: 4. What can we expect next?

Ans: Currently I am working on part-2 of the book "The Poetry Of A Common Indian Female: Real Indian Women, Real Stories of Hope and Optimism!". The second part will contain '11' real inspirational stories of common Indian women. Who knows, I might write a book about women with no nationality barrier! I would love to do that. Because I truly believe that every woman on this planet earth is special, and worthy of being an Inspiration to billions!


Thank you for the questions Kritika. It was wonderful answering them.


Find the book/author here:
Official website








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