Interviews & Stories – Page 2

Interview: Susan Hopkinson

We spoke to the author of Teaching Yoga in an Upside-Down World, Susan Hopkinson.

Susan Hopkinson was born in the US and grew up in Canada before moving to Europe in 1990. She has lived in Belgium since 1991, but India captured her heart on her first of many visits in 1997. Since then, she has been on an endless pilgrimage, regularly visiting teachers and friends across India. Susan loves travelling and meeting new people around the world, with or without her Yorkie, Metta. Her two adult children are probably her greatest accomplishment; they support her teaching and writing by cooking and dog-walking whenever they’re at home.

Susan discovered yoga in Toronto in 1985, began teaching in 1998 and qualified as a yoga therapist with the Yoga Biomedical Trust (London) in 2007. Yoga has been a valuable support through many life challenges, and she shares it with the aim of alleviating the suffering of others. After 20 years of teaching group classes, she now sees students individually and at retreats, guiding and counseling people from around the world through physical, emotional or spiritual issues, online and in person. Susan has been helping transform lives for over two decades using the wisdom of yoga, mindfulness, astrology, and Ayurveda.

You can visit her site and catch her on Instagram. A more detailed bio of hers here.

Tell us briefly about your yogic journey.

I started practicing yoga when I was at the University of Toronto. This was in 1985 and I was feeling very uncomfortable in my body, and sitting to study for long periods of time made my back hurt. I was in poor shape, and I decided to try yoga because I was never very interested in sports and wanted to do something by myself, for myself. I enjoyed it right away and it has stuck with me in some form or another all this time.

I was very lucky to have encountered some wonderful and sincere teachers, Indians and Westerners, in my 30-plus years of yoga practice. I’ve had the blessing of seeing how yoga teachings can change lives and be highly effective thanks to their clarity and simplicity, and not because of some magical siddhis or physical prowess. Yoga has sustained me throughout many challenging periods in my life, like the death of my third baby from a brain hemorrhage. Importantly, the most powerful aspects of yoga have little to do with āsana and much more to do with the mental fortitude and clarity that yoga brings. Changing our perception of what is happening in our lives is an extremely powerful skill to develop, and one that is central to a sincere yoga practice.

Tell us briefly about your book Teaching Yoga in an Upside Down World and what prompted you to write it.

Teaching Yoga in an Upside-Down World is a response to the increasing commercialism and shallowness we can find in the world of yoga, especially over the past ten years. Many yoga teachers I have encountered are insufficiently equipped to teach, and too many rely on brief trainings offering teaching certification with low standards. Among such teachers, there is a lot of confusion and misinformation. When I hear yoga teachers say that Buddhism is for the mind and yoga is for the body it makes my toes curl. Yoga – strongly influenced by Buddhist philosophy, which is a foundation for Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra – is essentially a training of the mind that includes our physical body because they are inseparable.

In the US in particular, there is a certain amount of resistance to the Indian origins of yoga which include mantra and yogic philosophy, which seems to scare some people who don’t understand the true benefit of such practices. This is a major reason the physical aspect of yoga has become overly important these days – there is a rejection of what is unfamiliar by those who aren’t ready to examine and test their own beliefs. It’s worth mentioning here that it is not entirely the fault of Westerners, many of whom are interested in practicing and teaching a holistic and sincere form of yoga. Much of the shallowness we see today is also due to opportunistic South Asian teachers who may or may not be legitimately qualified to teach, and who often teach short (lucrative) courses scratching the surface of yoga to gullible Westerners.

Over many years it occurred to me that there wasn’t one book which provided an overview of what is useful and even vital to know as a contemporary yoga teacher. I started ‘Teaching Yoga in an Upside Down World’ in answer to questions from my own students who were contemplating yoga teacher training, and it grew from there. Teaching as a householder has its own complexities, which those who are single – and especially single and (ostensibly) celibate males – don’t have to contend with. So, I also wanted to share something of how my personal challenges affected my teaching in different ways. Initially, I wanted to include stories from many different yoga teachers but as I only got a very small number of responses, I kept it mainly about my own experiences.

Sitting down and writing is unhealthy as is any desk job. What is your advice to writers who spend long hours cramped on their swivel chairs?

Sitting down to write is indeed a really unhealthy thing to do over so many hours and So. Many. Days. I have never been as sedentary as when I was writing a book on teaching yoga!

My best advice to writers is to get a dog or borrow one. My dog got me out of the house several times every day so I could be active, connect with (urban) nature, and breathe fresh-ish air instead of sitting at my computer all day. I also invested in a modular standing desk: it’s simply an adjustable metal frame to support your laptop, so you can stand or kneel and change position regularly. I find I think differently when I’m standing, so it was also helpful during the reviewing and re-writing stages.

Unless I was really on a roll and deeply focused on what I was writing, I took lots of breaks to stretch and make tea (so much tea!). This supports better breathing and stimulates creativity as well. Here’s a good (quick) exercise for correcting writer’s slouch: Stand up (or sit on the edge of the chair if you can’t stand up for any reason), clasp each of your wrists with the opposite hand and raise the clasped arms up to head height. Press the back of the hand (near the wrist) that is closest to your head into your forehead while tucking in the chin and lifting the crown of the head. Gently squeeze the elbows back and the shoulder blades towards one another while lifting the sternum (the heart center), and try not to arch the lower back. Breathe and smile while doing this – don’t struggle with it. After 10-15 seconds you can release the arms and feel how your posture and breathe have improved.

What has been your favorite moment as a yoga teacher?

It’s impossible to identify one single moment, but I always love those times when I can see a student has truly understood something profound about themselves, their bodies and their relationship to both.

You have talked about how difficult it is to teach yoga in times like these when yoga has been severely commercialized. If there is one piece of advice you want to give practitioners and teachers out there, what would it be?

It makes me happy when people who have practiced or taught yoga for years tell me that they have learned something new from the book, or that it made them reflect more deeply on their own approach to yoga. My aim is to sharpen the discernment (viveka) of the reader so – at the very least – they know why they practice or teach what they do. A good student of yoga will keep a beginner’s mind and a healthy skepticism of what they are being taught until they can know it for themselves – take nothing at face value, especially highly mystical notions or anything that takes your individual power away. Yoga is such a powerful tool for transformation, but if we ignore the ultimate purpose – liberation from the bondage of the mind – we can become more deeply embedded in our samskaras, all the while thinking we are doing something quite spiritually elevated when, in reality, we’re doing nothing more than what circus acrobats do!

Tell us about your journey with self-publishing.

What a learning curve! I decided to self-publish because I am basically impatient, and didn’t want to 1) hunt down and wait around for a publisher to decide whether and when they wanted to publish my book and 2) let them keep the rights to my work! A friend of mine wrote a book which she submitted to her publisher in April 2018, and it is scheduled for release in the summer of 2019! Why make readers wait so long?! I really appreciated being on my own publishing schedule and as such, I was also able to choose the best dates for publishing according to the most supportive astrological transits (I am also an astrologer). I can make corrections to mistakes found after publishing as soon as they are discovered, and have so far made three changes in the three or four months since the book was released. This allows me to offer the reader the best possible quality product without having to wait to issue a new edition of the book.

I was on a tight budget so I asked friends and colleagues to read parts of the book instead of finding an editor. As a result, I had to do a lot of work on the various drafts apart from the basic writing. The structure of the book emerged after almost a year of writing it in bits and pieces – there’s a moment when things just seem to come together. I had a clear idea of what I wanted for the cover so I went to Fiverr to find the technical support. After one truly awful version, I found a woman who got it right on the first try and it was reasonable, including re-formatting for the Indian edition.

I also had to find technical support on Fiverr to help me with pagination and getting the headers right. I spent many anxious hours sorting that out after the book was ready to go, but the delay and the need to reformat the book also provided an opportunity to find more mistakes to fix before publishing!

Your favorite asana?

It’s a toss-up between Padmāsana (lotus pose) and Sukhāsana (posture of ease), both of which help me find the grounding and stability I need in my practice. I sit in these āsanas for prānāyāma, meditation, and mantra practice.

Your favorite book on yoga/any other subject?

I spent a lot of time thinking about this question because I have read so many influential books over the years and it was hard to narrow it down. At the risk of pandering to the audience, I have settled on the Bhagavad Gīta. It has such a universal and timeless appeal, plus a real beauty in the rich story behind the message, and – most importantly – life-changing lessons which we can all benefit from contemplating regularly.

What’s your next project/book that we can look forward to?

I am converting my course called ‘Align with Purpose’ into a book format – it’s part theory and part workbook. The course combines everything I have learned over 30 years of self-development, teaching, and helping others. It includes Yogic and Buddhist philosophy, Āyurveda and Astrology to help people discover their own strengths and weaknesses in 12 areas of life and – hopefully – their higher purpose in this lifetime. Many people consider a job or work should be their higher purpose, and although for some it might be, I want to show people that how they are in everything they do is contributing to their purpose. I hope to complete it in late 2020.

Jai Guru Dev!

Thank you Susan for your extremely informative responses! Was a pleasure talking to you. Wish you all luck for future projects!

Interview: Anil CS Rao

We spoke to Anil CS Rao, a graphic novelist in Hyderabad.

Anil CS Rao is a self-trained digital artist specializing in comics and graphic novels. He studied engineering at Pratt Institute in 1988 and did an MFA in writing and an MS in architecture recently. His wife Padmaja who has been painting and drawing since her elementary school days is a self-taught artist. She did a brief course in painting at the Washington Studio School in DC. Most of her life was spent working as a lecturer at St Teresa’s College in Eluru, India. He left Hydrabad in 1968 at the age of four and recently returned to reside again in Hyderabad, Telangana in 2017 under the OCI scheme with his wife and children after having worked for over fifteen years as an engineer.

Tell us about your latest work Manhattanville/Y2K.

Manhattanville/ Y2K - Telugu I had worked from 1990 to 1994 in the City of New York in the capacity of Electrical Designer and my focus was on primary low voltage systems such as telephone, fire alarm, etc. My short story Manhattanville – the first in the anthology – was based on my observations of people working for the New York City Civil Service as well as a vague allusion to a bus depot I had been assigned to work on as a design engineer. During its construction, I visited the real-life construction site and became friends with many people working in the construction inspection and project management team, who were primarily of Indian origin members and mostly from the state of Gujarat in India. This is fiction – not to be construed as documenting real lives or scenarios – but of course, the characters, setting and plot were a composite of my imagination and many of the friends I had made during that project’s construction.

Likewise, Y2K is based on similar observations when I later worked as an Operations Engineer for the State of California around the time of the so-called ‘Y2K’ computer glitch. The purely fictional scenario, characters and setting were once again a composite of my imagination and real-life stories of people I met while working for the State of California from 1999 to 2002.

You’ve written prose novels but there are more graphic novels in your repertoire. Why is that?

I have an MFA in Fiction from the National University in San Diego (offered 100% online) in which I took all my advanced electives in fiction writing. The only program in The States in Comic Book Creation (‘sequential art’) was at the time offered as a residency Masters at Cal Arts – and I would not have been able to physically relocate to California, given my family and other logistical reasons. Hence my first work Bharathi: Her Theory of Everything was done for my MFA Thesis requirement despite my wish to submit a ‘graphic’ piece which would not be accepted in fulfilling the department’s Thesis requirement.

Describe the process of writing a graphic novel.

I use solely a relatively ‘canned’ character/environment 3D program called DAZ Studio for my CG generated artwork. My wife then alters, modifies and/or ‘corrects’ my CG work in Adobe Photoshop. For scripting, I initially used CELTX software – but now the program no longer supports the comic book format I currently just work from a template in MS Word. Of course, things change when translating a written script into a graphic novel/comic book. One becomes in many ways a cinema director interpreting a script for celluloid in that unknown elements might impose changes (in my case a lack of 3D resources).

You collaborate with your wife Padmaja as well. Tell us about the experience of producing books and art with your better half.

My wife is a very proficient painter with excellent freehand skills. I learned my lessons from my past work which was released without her help. Now all my work is scrutinized by her prior to committing to print.

While creating your novels and art, influences of the US and Hyderabad seep into your work. Why?

I was born in Hyderabad in 1964 at Neelofar Hospital – it may be the case I will breathe my final breath in that same hospital. Hyderabad has been always in my heart, despite immigrating to the United States in 1969. I subsequently visited Hyderabad almost every summer holiday I was given by the American school system. In 2016, I returned to Hyderabad with my family with really no plans of ever returning to The States.

Your books are also published in Telugu. What kind of challenges do you face while writing in multiple languages?

I first attempted a Telugu work way back 12 years ago. I was trying to come up with a Telugu language script for Ingmar Bergman’s script for his film titled Winter Light. I feel this would be the best example to cite because of both the parallels and cultural asymmetries I faced – in translating not only from one language to another – but in transposing the dialog and the culture in which its rooted from Sweden to India – specifically a village in Andhra Pradesh with a Lutheran pastor in a small church morphed into a Hindu Brahmin ‘pujari’ servicing a small Vaishnavite temple in Andhra. I ran my pitch to noted Telugu poet A. Jayaprabha (co-author of a book of poems with PV Narasimha Rao – Unforeseen Affection) with whom I was an acquaintance in Hyderabad at the time. Her comment summarizes the dilemma I faced: “Telugu people just don’t talk in that manner”. This was prior to my marriage to a Telugu-speaking Indian National and now, after having lived in India on and off for the past 14 years I have some inkling of the real Indian idiom with respect to dialog and behavior of Indian characters in contrast to their Western counterparts. By the way, I am still working on this project 12 years later. I have not given up – only drastically changing the plot and other elements of Bergman’s original script so that I am not accused of intellectual or aesthetic theft.

Tell us more about this work in progress.

My current work-in-progress (to be released in Telugu and English) is Vizag Blue. If you google the term, you’ll find it refers to a very beautiful blue marble quarried in or around Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. It’s a metaphor for the protagonist of my work as seen at first by her Nurse attendant and the Doctor treating her: beautiful, hard, and cold. The narrative was inspired by an Ingmar Bergman film from the 1960s titled Persona starring Liv Ulma, a woman (stage actress) who is admitted into a Swedish psychiatric hospital for not being able to verbally communicate, and her relation with her nurse attendant Sister Alma. That is about where the commonality of characters and settings ends. My work takes a totally different trajectory plot-wise than Bergman’s original masterpiece.

Kalpana, a student of theater at the Andhra University in Vizag is engaged to a fellow student who subsequently breaks his engagement to return to Mumbai to his parent’s place to continue his studies there. Soon after his departure, Kalpana begins ‘hearing things’ and finds herself in an expensive mental hospital in Vizag. Instead of revealing her hallucinations to the medical staff, she maintains silence and refuses to speak. The doctor, Reena Rao, observes her for a month and is unable to find anything wrong with her symptom-wise and offers her vacant beach house outside Vizag were she could get out of the hospital setting along with a private duty nurse Usha. The house had been on the market for over a year and rather than pay someone to watch over it, Dr. Reena thought this arrangement would be mutually beneficial. Normally, Kalpana is kind and compassionate in nature. When the ‘voices’ rule her mind her thoughts turn nasty and negative. Her relationship with Usha goes beyond the superficial as Usha uses Kalpana’s silence as a backdrop to narrate her own failures in love and marriage. Usha narrates a story about her first sexual encounter with a boy in her village when she was 16. And upon accepting the boy’s advances, she becomes hesitant and the boy subsequently rapes her. She later becomes pregnant with his child and her mother attempts to force her to have a ‘home abortion’ rather than face family stigma. She also narrates short explanations of her husband Anil, who during his student days was a radical communist who ironically is of Brahmin parentage. The abortion is stopped and Usha and Anil marry to adopt the child as their own. After a while, smoking a hidden supply of marijuana and experiencing symptoms, she reacts to an expression of hurt by the nurse after reading a letter she wrote that was returned to the post office for lack of proper address. In the letter, she writes very negative opinions of Usha and the stories she shared with Kalpana. Kalpana runs out of the house on the beach as Usha pursues her. Usha trips and ceases her pursuit. In a shaded grove adjacent to the beach, Prem appears as a hallucination and they both take a ride on his scooter through Vizag. He informs Kalpana that he had broken his engagement in Mumbai and now wishes to be engaged once more to Kalpana. On the beach, they consummate their love – at least in Kalpana’s hallucination……

Your favorite graphic novel?

Daniel Clowes’ Ghost World. Its convoluted plotline and dialog mesmerized me, and later more so the film adaptation starring Steve Buscemi. Clowes graduated from Pratt Institute in 1984 just when I started my BE studies there (I graduated in 1988).

Your experience with self-publishing.

Pothi.com – the best in the business. No more comments required on this question.

Was a pleasure talking to you, Anil! All the best for your future projects!

Interview: Dr. Dhuni Soren

We spoke to Dr. Dhuni Soren, author of History of Santals.

Dr. Dhuni Soren represents the interests of all adibasis of Jharkhand and neighboring states of India, particularly Santals in the World Adibasi Council at the United Nations working group on indigenous populations. He speaks for their rights on International Forums.

Tell us about what drove you to write a book about Santals? What was lacking in the existing literature about Santals?

All books written about Santals are by non-Santals mainly Europeans and some non-Santal Indians. Authenticity and a true reflection of the real life of Santals as even modern Santal writers have not been born and brought up amongst them.

Tell us a bit about your experience living in a Santal village as a young person- something about oral traditions, food, and culture.

Even after all these years, I can still remember playing with other children on dusty paths and in muddy fields catching fish. I can smell and hear the sounds of running water of the nearby rivers and brooks and smell the wildflowers of the nearby forests when we went hunting there. I learned music and traditional dance with traditional musical instruments and attended local fairs and festivals with the villagers and learned our history by way of the oral traditions of the elders of the village and many others I still remember fondly.

Oral tradition was the only source of learning. I learned our customs, traditions, and culture, including our history, civilization and religion and migration stories, from the elders of the village. Schools and colleges were virtually nonexistent in our area. Food was simple and sourced from the local produce, mainly rice and maize with very occasional meat from homegrown poultry, pigs and goats. Everything about our culture is unique, including our language, dress, and homemade alcohol made from rice. The naming of the newborn and the customs of weddings and funerals are unique and different from what is seen in mainstream society.

Also, tell us about your experience in the UK.

My experience in the UK has been extraordinary as I was perhaps the first Santal and certainly the first doctor to come to the UK and I made the most of it. First and foremost, I was impressed by the honesty of the people. Once I lost my wedding ring on a tube train in London and found it the next day when I went back to look for it. It had been left with the station master. But things are changing for the worse here as well as it is everywhere in the world, yet it is still better than other places. Healthcare is free for all from birth to death.

But I still have great love and affection for India and its people.

Give us a brief account of the history of Santals as mentioned in your book.

The history of Santals is still a great mystery and needs further research to identify and locate the places of their past glory like Chaichampa Garh. In my book, I have tried to put our history into perspective from my life experience and from my readings of different books in the hope that you learn the real history of Santals.

How do you go about researching and writing a book? Any advice for writers of historical books?

I mainly write about Santals and Adivasi people and their progress and development and places of interest I have visited like Egypt, Australia, New Zealand and other places. I do a lot of reading to collect information for the book and I have a lot of them already written down for publication. Once I have gathered the information, it does not take me long to write since I have plenty of time owing to my retirement. Writing historical books about something rare or unusual is difficult due to the lack of reference books. So choose the topics carefully. Good luck!

Writers who have inspired you?

I have not particularly been influenced by any except for maybe Dr. W.G Atcher I C S of British Raj days who has written many books about Santals like Tribal Law and Justice and Hills of Flutes.

Tell us about any new project you plan to work on.

I have a couple of documents ready for publication.

It was so nice talking to you Dr. Soren, thank you for the opportunity!

Interview: Douglas Misquita

We spoke to the author Douglas Misquita. He has a lot of tips for aspiring writers of thrillers and series.

Douglas Misquita is an action-adventure thriller writer from Mumbai, India. His books are noted for their fast pace, great visuals and edge-of-the-seat action. The Immortality Trigger won the Silver Award at the Literary Titan. Douglas has written six thrillers, and with three more in the works, buckle up for more literary entertainment.

Find out more at www.douglasmisquita.com

Read the reviews at www.douglasmisquita.com/reviews

Follow Douglas on www.facebook.com/douglasmisquitabooks, www.goodreads.com/douglasmisquita, www.twitter.com/douglasmisquita,

How do you research your books?

My research never stops. I’m always looking for ideas that might form the central theme of a story. At some point, I believe I have enough to begin writing. But if I encounter something exciting during the writing process, I’ll do my best to fit it in and add another dimension to the story.

A couple of examples:

If my characters need to go someplace exotic or serene or scenic, I’ll research a town or village. Other times, I research to hoist me out of a plot-blocker. In The Apocalypse Trigger, my characters required to break into an isolated research facility. I made the facility so impregnable, I couldn’t get them in! That’s when I excitedly discovered that ‘invisibility cloaks’ are no longer in the realm of fantasy. Problem solved! It also made for a super element.

Another aspect of my preparation is the action sequences. I imagine an action sequence and figure out how it would fit into a story, and what that story could be.

I read somewhere that your favorite writer is Michael Crichton. What kind of influences of Crichton can we watch out for in your work?

Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park inspired me to write. My first book was handwritten (with only two errors) on a 100-page single-ruled school exercise book at age 13. I borrowed heavily from Jurassic Park, but that’s when it started.

Crichton is the master of techno-thrillers and he always educated his readers. That’s what I try to do.

My stories are action-adventure thrillers but they must educate too. Secret of the Scribe predicts brain-computer interfaces and how nefarious organizations might use them. The technology is now at our doorstep with researchers able to transmit brain waves across countries!

The Apocalypse Trigger debunks preconceptions about Wiccans (witches), brings to light arrogant wagers played by elitists on natural calamities and explores the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia.

Diablo deals with radio-controlled gene expression and takes readers on a tour of Baikonur Cosmodrome. Importantly, it traces the plight of migrants coming out of North Africa and making for Malta.

The Immortality Trigger confronts the reality of the anti-aging (read beauty-cosmetic) industry, Nazi hunters, and blood-mining in Africa.

Lion makes people think twice before classifying a country or a person as good or bad. Oh, and you could learn how to start a Mil24D gunship if you read Lion (I’m almost kidding).

Tell us about your latest book.

Lion is my sixth thriller. I decided to take a risk with the lead character: an unconventional hero, from an unlikely country, Syria. My hero would be a stereotypical ‘bad’ guy and readers would root for him! I wanted to bring the war alive, from a non-NATO perspective. The book is a fictionalized account of a Syrian political fugitive and the people closest to him, and how their lives are disrupted because they want to do the right thing amid all the chaos.

Another topic I tackle is mercenaries. Movies give us the impression that mercenaries are rogue soldiers. Really, they aren’t. Simply put, they are regular salary-earning employees who use weapons and combat skills to do a job, which could be providing security to NGOs in conflict zones or raising armies. Sure, they operate outside the ambit of the conventional war, but they sign a raw deal. No country will fight for them or honor them if they’re captured or killed doing things the regular army cannot.

Finally, I put in a spectacular prison break because it’s something I love. Who doesn’t love a prison break?

Which book did you enjoy writing the most and why?

Every book is rewarding during the writing process. Otherwise, I scrap it and take it in another direction. Sorry, that’s a curt answer, but it’s the truth.

Tell us about your experience with self-publishing.

To me, self-publishing is liberating and rewarding. Traditional publishing is great, but the big houses are companies that need to make a profit. They have a strategy which outlines the genres they will publish. And I give them that.

But why should anybody wait for somebody else to decide what’s good or bad? What if I have a story that I truly believe in and/or desire reader critique? Let the reader decide! That’s the ultimate proof of a good book, correct?

Earlier this was impossible, and a great writer could go undiscovered, his/her dreams unrealized. With self-publishing, barriers are reduced. I think the big houses are aware of this. That’s why you have them scouring the Internet for the next big thing.

So yes: liberating, rewarding, and self-adjusting.

At this point I should say, I use Pothi.com to print paperback and hardcover versions of my books. The team has been supportive and responsive. I use draft2digital.com for eBook distribution.

What do you do when you don’t write?

I work as a software delivery manager.

Some advice for aspiring writers of thrillers.

Write the thriller you would enjoy reading. I write action and adventure with doses of history and science/ tech because that’s the stuff I understand and do best. I’d do horribly with romance or fantasy or hard-core medicine or politics.

Some advice for authors of a book series.

Don’t conclude everything in a single book. This gives you an opportunity to explore a plotline in successive books. Each book must enhance the characters (as they are the only constant in the series). Select your characters well so that you can re-use them to address a wide range of topics.

What advice do you have to give to authors who are struggling with promoting their books?

There are numerous review sites and promotion packages on the Internet. You must identify the good ones, the ones you’re ready to spend on. Try to diversify the reviewers, take a risk with the ‘scary’ ones. With so many self-publishing and promotion sites, every author is clamoring to be heard, and you may or may not stand out immediately. But don’t be too bothered with it. After all, write because you want to write. So: do your marketing bit and get cracking on the next book. When you get more books out there, people will start to notice. And yes, they look great stacking up. Stay away from Facebook ads; Goodreads giveaways are nice. Check out sites like literarytitan.com, bestthrillers.com, bookbub.com to get you started.

Do movies inspire you?

Absolutely. I write books from the viewpoint of a camera. That gives my readers the experience of a large-scale action movie… unfolding across the pages of a book

Tell us about your next project.

Next up, in 2020 is the third book in the Kirk Ingram trilogy. It is mind-blowing. I know because I was jumping up and down (figuratively) when I had the theme of the story in an epiphany. Let’s say, its super-charged, bends reality, and ties up aspects of the character that debuted in 2011 and returned in 2015.

Was great talking with you, Douglas! Wish you all the best for future projects.

Interview: Dr. Harbhajan Singh Pabla

We spoke to Dr. Harbhajan Singh Pabla about the little known world of Wildlife conservation in India.

Dr. H. S. Pabla grew up in a Punjabi village, in India and joined the Indian Forest Service in 1977, retiring as the Chief Wildlife Warden of the state of Madhya Pradesh in February 2012. Apart from doing the usual things that an Indian forester does, he nurtured his love for the wilds while managing national parks like Kanha, Panna and Bandhavgarh. Along the way, he developed a penchant for questioning the status quo and challenged the stereotypes that have ruled the conservation mindset in the country. He introduced the concept of “conservation by incentive” in the form of a cash reward to farmers for hosting an endangered bird, the lesser florican, in their croplands. He was responsible for changing the face of wildlife tourism in Madhya Pradesh, despite opposition from NTCA, and made tourism revenue a significant resource in tiger reserves of the state. When Panna lost all its tigers, he developed and implemented the tiger reintroduction plan that has given the world the confidence that wild tigers will always be around. He was the principal force behind the reintroduction of gaur in Bandhavgarh and blackbuck in Kanha, after both the species had become locally extinct in the nineties. His unfinished agenda for the state included the reintroduction of barasingha in the Forsyth country, i.e. the Satpura Tiger Reserve, and the white tiger in its native Sanjay Tiger Reserve. Barasingha has already reached Bori in Satpura, and he hopes to see white tigers in the wild before saying adieu to this world. He unsuccessfully tried to introduce community-based sport-hunting for the conservation of crop raiding species. His wish-list for conservation also includes seeing Indian foresters riding horses for patrolling and enjoying the wilderness. Apart from a stint on the faculty of the Wildlife Institute of India, he has been an international consultant in wildlife management. He is an ardent tennis player and lives in Bhopal, India.

He is the author of Road to Nowhere and Wardens in Shackles.

The titles of both your books have a hint of foreboding. What exactly is wrong with the Indian approach to conservation?

There are several problems with the way we do conservation of wild animals in India. For example, we do not know why we are preserving dangerous animals who are a serious threat to human life and property, especially of our poorest citizens. Secondly, we have not developed the institutional and professional capacity to manage wildlife because we have adopted a passive management approach enshrined in the dictum “Leave nature alone, it will take care of itself”. As a result, some areas are overpopulated with animals while others are empty. Thirdly, although the states are constitutionally responsible for what happens to wildlife on the ground and what wildlife does to the people around, all the powers to control conservation policy are with the Centre. Fourthly, poor people living in the forests are the victims of conservation while the urban elite enjoys romanticizing about it and makes decisions about conservation policies of the country. Fourthly, conservation of wild animals is a huge drain on our poor country but we have never considered making it an economic development tool as in many countries. Wild animals can create millions of jobs in remote areas through tourism but we treat wildlife tourism as an encumbrance on conservation. We do conservation of harmful animals only for intangible benefits (like moderating climate change) ignoring the losses they cause and generating no immediate benefits. This is not sustainable in the long run. We need a conservation policy which focuses as much on immediate benefits from wild animals as on long term ecological benefits. There is so much more which needs to change if conservation is to be a success in India.

Please give a brief overview of the wildlife conservation effort in India so that your readers get some context to your work.

Systematic wildlife conservation started in India in the seventies of the last century when the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 created a unified national framework for conservation in the country and Project Tiger was launched. Although all our forests are wildlife habitat and wild animals are protected everywhere (you cannot kill an animal even if it destroys your home or cropland or kills your cows), we have also created national parks and wildlife sanctuaries where special measures are taken to increase wild animals. There is a complete ban on the consumption or trade of wild animals and their products and derivatives. Despite these big initiatives, the populations of most animals have not increased much since then, due to some inherent problems. India is the most populous large country in the world. Therefore, it is extremely difficult for the country to spare enough space for supporting viable populations of large animals. We are losing our wildlife habitats to the expansion of human habitation and infrastructure and lots of animals are illegally killed by people for food, smuggling and for protecting their crops and properties. Despite the ban on consumption and trade in wildlife and wildlife articles, illegal trade and consumption are rampant. Tigers, rhinos, pangolins, etc. are dying to feed the Chinese markets with wildlife-based medicines and wines and millions of turtles and birds are smuggled to Southeast Asia as pets. All wild animals are food to forest dwellers, but they cannot hunt them legally. We have to find a way around all these issues if we want to preserve our natural heritage. Wild animals can be an economic asset if managed well and can be a huge liability if unmanaged. India has not decided to use its wildlife to generate economic benefits for its people so far. That is why we are struggling to conserve it.

Tell us briefly about your experience in the Indian Forest Service. You’ve touched upon misconceptions about foresters. What does a forester’s typical day look like?

The Indian Forest Service (IFS) is one of the best professional services in the country. It allows one a good mix of outdoors and urban lifestyles. A forester also has a tough job of meeting the needs of the present generation, for forest products, while saving the forests for future generations. Demands on forests are huge. Every section of our society wants to take away something or the other, even the very lands, from our forests in one way or the other. Our poverty and our growing prosperity are threats to our forests in equal measure and a forester has to ensure that the forests survive both. As a forester often has to fight tooth and nail to save every inch of forests, they are generally seen as insensitive beings although no section of our bureaucracy does as much for the poorest sections of the society, especially tribals, as the foresters.

Forestry is a complex profession and one’s routine depends on what level you are in the hierarchy and what your assigned job is. In general, senior officers spend more time in offices, going out only on planning and inspection tours. The subordinates spend more time in the field dealing with operational issues. The main job of a forester is to enforce the forest laws, which empower him/her to prevent theft and poaching, produce forest goods such as timber, bamboo, wildlife, etc. and deal with demands on forests from various quarters. A field forester (a forest guard or forester) often patrols his forest alone or along with an assistant laborer and has to walk several miles every day. If any theft of forest produce is noticed, he/she registers the offence and sets about tracing the offender. Wild animals are often shy and usually, they are not a threat if at all seen on a patrol. When a tiger or leopard becomes a man-eater or an elephant turns rogue, it is a tough time for a forester as his options are often limited but expectations from the society are high. The forest service is now going through a tough time as forests need continuous looking after but new generations do not want to live away from urban life for various reasons.

What can India learn from ecotourism-dependent nations like Botswana and Australia?

Saving wild animals is much easier if ecotourism is the objective of having them around. This is because the economic benefits of tourism neutralize the losses inflicted by animals. Wherever wild animals are producing jobs through tourism, visual or hunting tourism, people want more animals around them. Where animals only destroy life and property, without benefitting people in any way, as in India, conservation is tough. The lessons for India are obvious.

How can the young generation get into the field of forestry? What do you think the Indian education system needs to emphasize on to kindle the interests of children in this field?

There are many avenues for entering forestry as a profession. Depending upon your educational qualifications and competitive strength, one can aspire to be an IFS officer, scientist, range officer, forest guard, etc. through competitive exams. To be a happy forester, one must have love for the outdoors and all that goes with it. Our education system must inculcate the love for outdoors among our children irrespective of the fact whether they want to be foresters or not. One is much happier and healthier in the company of trees, birds and butterflies than while cramming bookish knowledge. The kids who have got some exposure to nature during their formative days stay connected with it throughout life and they contribute to the conservation of the environment wherever they are.

In all your years in this field, which animal are you fond of?

I loved my job and all that came with it. Although all animals are exciting in their own way, predators often excite people much more. As I happened to be working to save wild tigers most of my life, nothing was more exciting than seeing a wild tiger without an appointment. The tiger has such an aura around it–it just mesmerizes you, and you simply cannot move away from it as long as it is within view.

Describe your process in compiling these books.

My books took a long time coming. As my views about wildlife conservation were quite different from my peers, I started toying with the idea of writing a book nearly 20 years ago. However, the pressures of service did not allow that. In the meantime, I kept collecting more experiences and insights about my profession and the pressure to put them down on paper kept mounting. As soon as I retired from service in 2012, I started writing freely without any plan or organization. When I thought I had put down everything I wanted to say and share, I started organizing it into sections and chapters. Then I realized that putting everything in one book would make it too big and daunting to readers. Therefore, I decided to break the whole matter into three volumes to be released one by one. Two volumes of this prospective trilogy have thus been released while the third is in the works. More matter is getting added to the original text as my thoughts continue to churn and new events unfold every day. Thus, the third volume is likely to be quite different from the one I had originally envisaged.

When my text was ready, I started looking for a publisher. I knew that first-time authors have a tough time finding publishers. While looking for publishers online, I came across the concept of self-publishing and print on demand (POD). The idea appealed to me and I compared the packages and services offered by various publishing houses. I first self-published my book, both as an e-book and paperback, but I needed an Indian platform. Pothi.com was selected as it did not ask for any fee for uploading the book and I put my book for online sale through Amazon, Flipkart, etc. for a small fee.

As my books are self-published, I had to have them edited and designed myself. I found online freelance editors, book designers and book cover designers to do the job (e.g. freelancer.com, designcrowd.com). The availability of online freelance support services has made the job of writing books quite easy. And you do not need to go looking for retailers as the online retailers have global reach and the books start selling the day they are out.

Who is your favorite wildlife conservation writer?

In fact, nobody in India writes on the issues which agitate me. Most of the books on conservation are either on biology and ecology of animals or descriptions of what someone saw in the field. Wildlife in India can only survive only if the losses it causes are less than the benefits it generates for people. No one has written on these issues so far. However, two recent books, one by Jairam Ramesh (Indira Gandhi: A Life in Nature) and another by M.K. Ranjitsinh (A Life with Wildlife) give an excellent historical perspective on modern wildlife conservation. Jim Corbett and Kenneth Anderson were the writers who gave me my first insights into Indian natural history.

What is your next project?

My next project is the third volume in the trilogy on Wildlife Conservation in India. I still do not have a title in mind. It will generally cover the need to have a new integrated law for forest conservation, problems of building a conservation paradigm for India based on extensive forest corridors and the potential of the Forest Rights Act 2006 to destroy India’s forests and wildlife, among other subjects.

It was great talking to you Dr. H. S. Pabla! Wish you luck in spreading the word about the wildlife conservation effort in India.

Interview (Part 2) : Prof. Syamales Datta

We spoke to Prof. Syamales Datta about all things real estate valuation and self-publishing. Check out Part 1 of the interview if you haven’t already.

Since real estate is an illiquid asset what would you advice is the right way to valuing real estate?

Truly, real estate has poorer liquidity than the various alternative investment assets that are available in the general investment market. In valuing real estate therefore, the valuer is to choose a higher rate of capitalization of net income or potential net income from real estate. In deciding on the final rate of capitalization directly, the valuer should also carry out analysis of similar transactions of real estate in the same location or in similar locations.

Liquidity is just one aspect for which a higher rate of capitalization of net income is appropriate. The other aspects that render investment in real estate disadvantageous are the risks and the operating expenses of real estate. A summation of all such factors for each of which a further addition is given is to be applied to the yields of gilt-edged securities. Against this some deductions are to be applied for the prospect of capital and rental appreciation of real estate. The final adjusted cap rate thus derived from yield of gilt-edged securities is the one to be adopted as the final rate of capitalization.

Right now the real estate market is going through a bearish cycle. How do you think distressed assets should be valued?

A distressed asset is such an asset where the owner of the asset is forced to sell well below the market value. In valuing distressed assets, the property is likely to be sold at a considerable discount from market value even when the market is bullish. In a bearish market as prevailing at present, there is no indication that investors in shares or gold are planning to switch to real estate. Neither is there any impressive real rate of growth of income, nor is there any improvement of the unemployment situation. The method of valuation does not vary whether the market is bearish, bullish or in-between.

Rental yielding assets are becoming a popular investment avenue. What is the right way to evaluate them?

It is true that rental yielding assets are becoming a popular investment avenue. The income approach to valuation is the right way to value rental yielding assets. The two principal methods under the income approach are (1) the income capitalization method and (2) the discounted cash flow method and both are used to value rental yielding assets.

What is your next book project about?

Rather than publishing another paperback soon, I am currently studying. I am at present engaged in reading up aspects of real estate valuation not known to me including emerging standards, case laws and research publications. I do present my papers at symposia and review a few peer works when I don’t have a lot to cook.

What is your experience with self-publishing?

Till 2012 I had no experience in self-publishing. Two editions of my earlier valuation bestseller were published in 1993 and 2004 by a traditional publisher, the contract was coercive and royalties were small leading me to finally self-publish. I discovered that operating from home requires the self-publisher to understand the soft copy creation process thoroughly and design beautifully adhering to a desktop publishing standard or hire professional services. But rather than not print ever it is easier to produce books with imperfect cover design or interior layout and pagination since you can update these things. My source files are managed using version control software.

My Publishing Proxy and son Ansuman Datta (https://books.aucklandwhich.org) and I would like to thank Linux, LibreOffice, GIMP, Mudranik Technologies and antivirus software makers for making publishing easier.

My earnings from the sales of Mastering Real Estate Valuation from its release during the beginning of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Institution of Valuers (IOV) at Hyderabad on 29 Dec 2018 to 31 Mar 2019 propelled my net profit for the financial year to 1159% of that of the previous fiscal, i.e., I had a growth of 1059% and this last net profit surpassed my lifetime royalties from traditional publishing. I’m now selling online exclusively vide https://books.aucklandwhich.org/a/sdatta.

I have had the good fortune to have drafted syllabi of several real property valuation examinations. The problem with many institutes and universities including some open universities is that they are unsuccessfully trying to follow the paradigm of creating their own course mat by a specific deadline. And prior to that deadline by a few days they are getting it authored by those who do not respect the student’s needs. In doing so they have gone the way of uncertified computer training institutes. The way to break this habit of producing substandard course mat in a sellers’ market is to quality test using standards as good as the world’s top 100 course mat producing universities and institutes and if they fail the tests you allow reference books to take their place and not endanger life and property with substandard course mat. Print-on-demand (POD) is the way to be accurate.

Thank you so much for sharing your views and educating the investor on how to approach valuation! Wish you all the best for your future endeavors.

Interview (Part 1): Prof. Syamales Datta

We had the opportunity of interacting with Prof. Syamales Datta, author of Mastering Real Estate Valuation and Advanced Valuation for Secured Lending by Banks and Financial Institutions.

Syamales Datta received his Physics (Hon) from Calcutta University and joined Howrah Improvement Trust. He qualified with RICS in 1971 and retired from service in the spring of 2004 after serving as chief valuer. A fellow of the IOV and the IOS, Datta has also been a research guide for Annamalai’s masters programme. He has taught valuation at IIEST, IUM, IEM, ILGUS, WBVB, HUDCO, JU, TIU, IOV, IOS, and recently at RVOS. Datta coordinates symposia. Earlier titles include Valuation of Real Property: Principles & Practice and Advanced Valuation for Secured Lending by Banks and Financial Institutions; the former bestseller is replaced with this paperback by time. The Valuer’s Day Award in 2007 and the Valuer Excellence Award in 2016 are some of Datta’s recent honors.

The author valued for Andal Aerotropolis, mall development rights in Curzon Park, Kolkata and he was consulted by Indo Nabin and the LIC(I). He did a feasibility analysis project for Kolkata Metro’s wing, east of the Ganga. Government projects included the semi-weekly market in Howrah and Nagaland’s cement factory. Works and writings made headlines and case laws and some are sub judice. The author’s profits from self-publishing have surpassed his total royalty earned over two decades from traditional publishers.

Check out his web profiles here:
https://books.aucklandwhich.org/a/sdatta
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/syamalesdatta
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8155370.Syamales_Datta

Describe your writing process.

Before writing a book on real property valuation, I first plan how much coverage is to be given to theories that will be included in the book and how to deal with concepts and events to be covered. Then, I plan the fashion of inclusion of topics like market valuations, statutory valuations, investments, taxation, etc. in the book. In covering them, I carefully follow the guidelines laid down by standards bodies like The International Valuation Standards (IVS) Council, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) etc. I follow this process when I write on real estate valuation.

When I write on other subjects, I concentrate on the purpose of writing, and try to compile information and explanations needed. I select a suitable bibliography and study the thoughts and views on and trends in the subject matter. Finally, I select a framework based on my research and converge on my writing. I generally sit at my desk when I write for extended periods but I sometimes pace my bedroom floor in meditation before arriving at conclusions. During breaks, I relax with a cuppa and digestive cookies.

Explain to potential non-fiction writers the kind of homework they need to do before writing a comprehensive book of non-fiction.

Non-fiction authors should give every effort to themselves study the ideas, concepts and principles pertaining to the subjects of their books. In this process, the writer should examine global and local practices. Use search engines and online encyclopedia, multimedia presentations, learning platforms and professional groups as far as possible. For example, we have a Facebook group.

Authors should expose themselves to and benefit from the exchange of views with other writers and professionals. One’s own experience in writing contributes richly to new ventures. Research papers and authentic reading materials in the subject also help build up concepts. Even non-fiction writers have a great need to enjoy fiction in order to grow a good sense of style. Style guides are more necessary to writers of non-fiction than fiction, to make intelligible information out of technical data.

How long did it take for you to write this book?

It took me about four years to write Mastering Real Estate Valuation.

Before this, I had written Valuation of Real Property (1st Ed. 1993 & 2nd Ed. 2004, Eastern Law House, Kolkata). Those bestsellers were replaced by Mastering Real Estate Valuation, 1st Ed. which was published Sat 29 Dec 2018 in Hyderabad vide my FaceBook timeline for multimedia from the 49th Indian Valuers Congress 2018. New legislation, new editions from the IVSC and the RICS and the need to give precedence to truth over the printer’s devil à la offset forced me to expensively self-publish this title from the Portable Document Format. I had previously self-published Advanced Valuation for Secured Lending by Banks and Financial Institutions (2nd Ed. ISBN 978-93-5156-947-3) 242 pages long vide https://books.aucklandwhich.org/b/adval/.

Please provide us a brief overview of the book.

The reasons that propelled me to write this volume are the dual context of liberalization and globalization, my desire to fully apprise readers of the historical development of the concept of property rights, a non-uniform dearth of reading material on leasehold valuation of real property in the developing nations of the world, updates to the International Valuation Standards and its free availability to members of member organizations like The Institution of Valuers as I am.

The book starts with the basic concepts and characteristics of real estate market. I talk about the challenges that India faces in its real estate market scenario and the evolution of modern real property rights to their complex present day form.

Various valuation approaches and methods have been explained at length. A separate chapter has been added on The Principles of ‘Yield’ which is the most crucial tool in the valuation of income-producing real estate. There are about 60 solved examples on leasehold valuation throughout various chapters of this book that constitute a significant body of problems on income-producing real estate.

Case studies have been provided to illustrate how to go about the valuation of development property and trade-related property as well as valuation and rent-control legislation, inter alia. A variety of cases under the housing sector and commercial real estate have been demonstrated.

There are a total number of 120 odd solved examples that will greatly interest professionals. The use of spreadsheets and pie diagrams is made wherever appropriate like the illustrations involving Hotel Hightopp and Pasteur Nursing Home.

All chapter sections have been provided with dot-separated Latin section numbers and each chapter starts with a part called ‘At a Glance’, for the convenience of varsities and other institutions and the IBBI Valuation Examination’s Asset Class–Land & Building which I have taught twice at the latter program. These are also useful for various training programs of IOV and IOS. The book has a minisite on the Internet at https://books.aucklandwhich.org/b/mrev and Chapter 01: Real Estate—Concepts and Context is available free from https://bit.ly/value2019.

Prof. Syamales Datta imparts some more knowledge about real estate valuation and talks about his self-publishing experience in Part 2 of this interview.

Interview: Suresh Ramaswamy

We got the opportunity to speak with Suresh Ramaswamy, author of Just Be: Transform Your Life and Live as Infinity.

Suresh Ramaswamy is a transformational teacher and visionary entrepreneur passionate about igniting and catalyzing the transformation of humanity. With his background as an electrical engineer and technology executive, he brings an inspired yet pragmatic approach to elevating consciousness on our planet. Held in high regard by people around the world, Suresh’s light-filled presence and guidance awakens them to their innermost essence. Connect with Suresh at SureshRamaswamy.org.

Tell us about the inception of your book Just Be.

Just Be is about a topic that has been near and dear to my heart all my life—personal transformation. Just Be is the result of following inner guidance to share transcendental wisdom in a way that makes it practical and accessible.

The book came about through my own experiences with fundamental truth in higher states of consciousness over several decades. In recent years, I felt an inner prompting to share about Infinity—the Ultimate, and how you can discover your essential unity with it. I was inspired to share the highest truths from a fresh perspective based on direct experience, without being weighed down by the language, or models of existing wisdom traditions. It is meant for everyone—from someone who is just starting to ask deeper questions about life to someone who has been a spiritual seeker for decades.

Important principles in your work?

Just Be encourages us to discover our true nature through beingness. Beingness is a core concept that is profound and helps us disengage from mind-based and doing-centric orientation.

Just Be introduces Light as a powerful transformative agent. When you understand and work with Transcendental Light, you can accelerate your growth and shift into a journey of blissful evolution.

Just Be provides a framework for understanding life and the transformational journey. It also provides a whole host of practices to elevate consciousness, manage emotions, and integrate lofty truths into day-to-day existence. Just Be describes the phases of transformation so you can evolve steadily in a balanced way.

What is unique and powerful about Just Be is that it is more than a book conveying useful concepts. It is a vibrational tool—a book that actively transmits higher vibrations to encourage and support you in your transformation.

Two areas where many of us struggle—emotions and relationships—are covered in detail. It is important that we understand and bring higher consciousness into these areas. When we do so, we experience flow and ease.

I invite you to learn more about the book at JustBeBook.org.

Tell us about your writing process.

I wrote the book from pure inspiration—so I consciously did not set deadlines or impose any constraints such as having an external publishing authority who would influence choices. I wanted every aspect of the book, from the cover design to layout, to font selection to the illustrations and text to be driven by divine inspiration and the transformational impact it would have on the reader.

I would sit down to write whenever I felt guided to from inside. This meant there were periods I wrote intensively and times (even weeks) when I did not work on the book at all. I did not keep a rigid outline or structure when I started. I wanted it to develop, flow, and take shape without my insisting on it being a certain way. In fact, when I started writing, I thought the book would be only about 200 pages. As the content took shape, it was more than twice that long! Here again, I did not want to limit the book in any way with preconceived ideas. I wanted Just Be to be a powerful and complete resource that touched on many key topics, even if that meant it would be 500 pages in length.

How can the book most effectively be used? Your book has many exercises – is it mandatory that readers are trained by you to understand your principles?

The book is comprehensive and designed to be used standalone, no separate training is necessary. Having said that, there are study groups and retreats that readers can choose to participate in if they would like to connect with like-minded souls for inspiration.

There are numerous practices to help the reader directly access higher states of consciousness. Just Be introduces Awakening Infinite Radiance, a core set of practices designed to be performed regularly. Other practices in the book can be adopted as one feels inspired to. I recommend readers take in the contents slowly and purposefully and let it sink in deeply. The truths presented in Just Be may take a lifetime to be fully assimilated. There is transformation happening as you read the book! So it is no ordinary book. As far as reading the book, you can go through it sequentially. However, if you find a chapter which is irresistible, you can certainly jump straight to it.

Could you explain why transformation is important and why the path toward infinity is life-changing?

Transformation is crucial because it is what we are here on earth for in human form. Growth is the point of life. The highest purpose is to discover our true nature and expand our consciousness all the way to Infinity. We then live from that place… we live as Infinity in this finite world. That is the peak potential available to all of us. It is the full realization and embodiment of our infinite nature. Everything else we encounter in life is indirectly pointing and nudging us towards transformation. When we consciously chose transformation, the quality of life increases dramatically. Life is subjectively more pleasant, satisfying, and blissful. And we finally recognize that all along we have been confused and muddled and looking for this ultimate truth in all the wrong places.

What’s your advice to writers who wish to promote their work?

Write about what you are most passionate about. Don’t focus excessively on market trends and how many copies you can sell. Focus on what you are here to share. Let your book be the highest expression of yourself.

Take an organic approach to marketing, let passionate readers spread the word. It can take more time, but your works will ultimately be more enduring and fruitful. I have used this approach with Just Be, which has been received enthusiastically and become a bestseller worldwide. It has been honored with the prestigious Nautilus Book Award as well as several other awards including the International Soul-Bridge Book Award. I hear from readers on a daily basis, with comments such as:

“Quantum Shift Through Osmosis… Rarely am I as emphatic about a book. But this is not just a book. The minute I picked up Just Be and started reading the pages, I could feel myself shifting into my highest state of Being. I’m not saying this is a short cut. What I am saying is that I found a profound exchange from ingesting this book as it allowed me to align in high calibration. Please read this book. It will be your service to the world to be able to ascend to your highest level and this book is the tool.”

Katy Bray, Leadership Consultant and Clairvoyant, Author of The Seven Mental Models for the Conscious Team

I find it tremendously satisfying that Just Be is touching readers in such a deep way, and helping them transform and reach their highest potential.

It was a pleasure learning about your book, Suresh! Wish you all the best with future endeavors.

Interview: Anvita and Anika Agarwal

Today, we feature two young authors. Anvita and Anika are sisters, currently studying for their 8th and 6th-grade exams, respectively. They are two-and-a-half years apart and separated in temperament by several yugas. They were twelve and ten, respectively, when they started reading the abridged translations of the Puranas in 2017. Their interests are reading, music, binge-watching Netflix, and painting. For a year they also published monthly book newsletters. Their favorite pastime, however, is driving their mother up the wall in any free time that remains.

Follow them on Twitter @SistersWhoRead and their blogs anvita.abhinavagarwal.net and anika.abhinavagarwal.net.

A Year With The Maha Puranas is a book by these girls, a compilation of reviews of the abridged English translations of the Mahapuranas written by Sri Bibek Debroy. These reviews were written over the course of a year. The book includes the authors’ favorite stories from the Puranas, including interesting bits and different versions of commonly narrated tales. We talked to the girls about the writing process.

A Year with the Maha Puranas

Tell us the process of framing this book. How did you do your reference and how did you share your work between yourselves? Since you read multiple Puranas, how were you able to keep track of the multiple shlokas, stories and explanations?

We never planned on writing a book. We never even wrote the reviews with the purpose of including them in our book. It was just meant to be put up on our blog. Once we were done with all the reviews, our father came up with the idea of compiling the reviews into a book. Our references were taken from the abridged translations by Sri Bibek Debroy and in a few circumstances, from the original translations of the Puranas as well. We didn’t share our work with each other. Since we have only included two-three favorite stories each, whoever wrote the review of the Purana first got to pick their stories first. Only in a few of the Puranas, you will be able to notice that we have repeated a few stories. As we were reading the Puranas, we would highlight the parts we found interesting and make notes as well to keep track of the shlokas and stories.

Now that you have understood the gist of the Puranas, do you intend to read them all in detail?

We hadn’t actually thought about it, but it very well could be a future project. As the short versions of the Puranas were a very good read, one can only imagine the joy of reading the Puranas in detail.

Tell your readers about some of your favorite stories from the Puranas.

This is a hard question to answer. There are so many stories I would like to share with you, but if we had to select a few, they would be:

-How Ganesha’s head was cut off (Brahmavaivarta Purana)
-Sita who was an illusion (Kurma Purana)
-How Saraswati, Lakshmi and Ganga became rivers (Brahmavaivarta Purana)
-The Ketaki Flower (Shiva Purana)

How do you balance academics, research and writing?

We didn’t try to rush ourselves. While reading and reviewing the Puranas, we would give ourselves enough time – about two weeks to complete each Purana, which meant that we would have two weeks to read and review the Purana. As each Purana was only about 80-100 pages each, it took us only a couple of days to read and understand it. This left us one week to write, edit and complete the review. We spent at least one hour each day, reading the Puranas and then we would write the review on the weekend. This left us with plenty of time for our other hobbies and academics. As both academics and writing are important to us, we try to give ample time to both.

What are you reading now?

We have read a couple of books recently. My sister Anvita, has recently read Draupadi: The Tale of an Empress’ by Saiswaroopa Iyer and the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. I read the Magisterium series by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare and am currently reading ‘The Vedas and Upanishads (For Children)’ by Roopa Pai.

Which writers have influenced you the most?

The writers who have influenced me are Roopa Pai and Rick Riordan. Roopa Pai has the knack of making her stories simple and entertaining. She also interacts with her readers which makes you want to read more. Rick Riordan writes fascinating books that are packed with action. His ideas are simple yet he spins these into bestsellers. For example, using Greek myths to create such an amazing series was something very original and also helps you learn about the Greeks, the Romans, the Egyptians and the Norse gods. I am really inspired by his creativity.

My sister likes the writings of Saiswaroopa Iyer and Eoin Colfer. She likes Eoin Colfer’s sense of humor, his originality and his fascination with Irish myths. She likes Saiswaroopa Iyer for many reasons, particularly the author’s choice of protagonists for her books – strong female characters who are both flawed and have their strengths. It taught her how flaws could be corrected and turned into strengths. Apart from this, she also likes Saiswaroopa Iyer’s unique style and the suspense that lasted till the end.

Are you working on any new books?

As of now, we are not really working on anything new, but we might think about new projects in the future.

Was lovely talking to you, Anika and Anvita! All the best for your exams and future projects!

We also spoke to Abhinav Agarwal, their father.

What’s your favorite Purana in the book?

I would say the Bhagavata Purana would be it, but it’s a favorite of many. The other would be the Skanda Purana, which is also the longest Purana, at eighty-one thousand verses, making it longer than even the Mahabharata! I am reading the unabridged translation these days.

What’s your advice for young readers today? Not many of them know about the Puranas.

It is indeed a tragedy of sorts that not only children but many parents also have grown up so disconnected with their literature. My advice for young readers and their parents would be this: make books and reading a part of your lives. Read books, buy books, go to bookstores, shop online or at physical stores, talk about books, discuss books, write about books, write your own book(!), go to old bookstores like Blossom and interact with other book-lovers. Remember the famous lines from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:

“We are said to be what our deep, driving, desire is. As our desire is, so is our will. As our will, so are our acts. As we act, so we become.”

As a specific example, if you are a young reader, start with Amar Chitra Kathas. There are, literally, hundreds of them! Ask your mother, father, or elder brother/sister, to read them to you. Follow the pictures and words. See which other Amar Chitra Kathas contain stories from the Puranas, and from which Puranas. Hope this helps.

Thanks Abhinav for sharing your thoughts!

Interview: Nitheesh Reddy Gaddam

We spoke to the poet Nitheesh Reddy Gaddam.

Nitheesh Reddy Gaddam was born in Mamidipally, Telangana. He currently works as a software engineer in Atlanta, USA. He is popularly known as niteesh_writings on Instagram. His writing style is unique, particularly due to his original technique of writing on pieces of torn paper. His first book Two Hearts & Two Bodies Part 1 was released on June 25th, 2018 in USA and Jan 15th, 2019 in India. More about the poet here.

Tell us about your writing process.

My writing process is simple. I always carry a pen and paper. Every time I feel sad or happy, I put my feelings on a piece of paper and I attach all those papers on my wall.

When you started posting your poems on Instagram, did you expect such a positive response?

Since my childhood I have loved storytelling, I always like taking people to another world with my stories. It was in March 2017 that I first posted my writing on Instagram. I didn’t post it to get likes or to impress people. I posted it only to know how to use Instagram. I posted a few of my writings for a few days. My friends and the people around me laughed at my writing but I didn’t care because people are only there to make fun. In November 2017, I wrote a small story Love, Lust and Pain in four parts and that is when people started appreciating my writing. I got many messages from people from India, Nepal and Pakistan. After a few months, students from NIFT Kannur asked me to write an article about sexual harassment of women in their college. After I wrote the article, people started respecting my writing. A few days later, I wrote a small story about how Indian parents sacrificed their dreams and goals so that their children could have better lives. That is when people started loving my writing and started respecting me. But there are a few people who always make fun of my grammar. I don’t give up because poetry and stories are not only about great grammar. They are also about feelings, emotions, happiness, sadness, love, pain, life, tears.

                           I turned

                           my tears into letters,

                           my pain into words,

                           and my love into poetry.

Why do you write on torn bits of paper?

My heart is broken into millions of pieces and I’m fixing it by writing on each torn bit of paper. It was in June 2017. I was at a coffee shop. After I drank the coffee I held the coffee cup in my hand for a few minutes. I wrote a poem on it and posted it on Instagram. I felt it was something different and unique. I started going to the coffee shop everyday not for coffee but for the coffee cup. I used to tear the coffee cup into pieces and write on them. It is always better to put your words on a piece of paper than typing it on smartphones or laptops.

You write a lot about broken relationships and dealing with depression. Tell us more about why these topics appeal to you.

I always write about what’s been happening in my life. Human emotions should be real, not fiction. I write about relationships because I don’t want people to make the same mistakes that I had in my life. Because of my stupidity and immaturity, I lost many people in my life. I never had anyone to tell me what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong. Life teaches me everything and I’m still learning. I sometimes write about depression because most educated people think sadness is nothing but depression. But people should understand the difference between depression and sadness. If you want something and you don’t get it you feel sad for a few days and that is called sadness but depression is a disorder that can kill people sometimes.

What do you do when you are not writing poetry?

I play cricket, spend time with my dog, watch movies or travel.

Who is your favorite poet or writer?

Veturi Sundararama Murthy gaaru and Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry gaaru.

Tell us about your next project.

I am working on finishing the script for my upcoming film. I also started writing a fiction novel titled Go Alia Go about the soccer player Alia.

Was great talking to you, Niteesh!