Author, Preeti Shenoy in conversation with Abokali Jimomi during 'The Write Circle' event held at Niathu Zone by The Park, Chümoukedima on December 11. (Morung Photo)
Kanili Kiho
Chümoukedima | December 12
An intimate circle of literary smarts gathered at Zone Niathu by The Park, Chümoukedima on Monday evening. It was to witness a new literary journey in Nagaland, called ‘The Write Circle,’ where notable author-blogger, Preeti Shenoy graced the first-ever session, indulging the literaticircle on her beginnings and quite the fascinating real-life events that unfolded along the way.
Organised by Prabha Khaitan Foundation, in association with Ehsaas Women of Dimapur–Viketuno Rio and Abokali Jimomi–and supported by Shree Cement Limited as their CSR initiative, the exclusive North-East literary tour witnessed its last leg in Nagaland on December 11.
Shenoy, who already has a huge fan-base from India and across the globe, is among India’s top-selling authors with 16 books to her credit. Her readers range from young adults to women and even men, even so with more than 90k followers on her Instagram handle.
With simplicity and readability as her hallmark, Shenoy’s books tackle serious issues such as mental health, gender inequality, socio-economic class divide, relationship dynamics and challenges faced by young adults. She is recipient to many prestigious awards over her writing career, while also being sought after, as a motivational speaker at prominent organisations.
Expressing her love for books from an early age, Shenoy disclosed that books have been “the only constant” in her life, as her father who had a transferable job had to move from place to place, which also meant frequent change of home, friends, languages and cultures. She wrote her first book at the age of six, which was a six-page book with two pages as illustrations.
Opening up on her writing journey, Shenoy said that even when she loved writing, she never imagined taking up writing professionally. What propelled her was her father’s sudden death in 2006, which left her shattered, making her realise how unpredictable and fragile life is.
Gradually, she decided to pick herself up for the sake of her two children and began to explore blogging under the title, ‘Just a Mother of Two.’ There, she resolved to write about the simple joys of life she experienced each day despite of life’s challenges.
The blog began to draw readers from different cities and countries, where eventually in January 2007, a blog post about her father received the ‘perfect post’ award, marking a turning point in her life.
Her initial books comprised a collection of true-life incidents titled, “34 Bubblegum & Candies,” an anthology filled with wholesome short stories, which she said was the beginning of her journey as a writer.
In conversation with the host, Abokali Jimomi who queried on the contemporary societal outlook on mental health issues with reference to her book titled, “Life is What You Make it,” she related about how a visit to an art exhibition that featured works created by bipolar artists inspired her to delve deeper into the subject. She visited mental health institutions and researched extensively on bipolar disorders, the book which took her three years to complete. Despite the book being rejected 40 times, it sold over one million copies upon publication. Heartened by its triumph, Shenoy went on to publish a sequel, “Wake Up Life is Calling.”
Expounding on the need for society to normalise conversations and writings on mental health issues, she stated that her latest book, “All the Love You Deserve,” has a character who explores the concept of undergoing therapy.
Sharing about her writing rituals, she said that uninterrupted writing time is the biggest challenge for her, even as she narrated light-hearted moments of turning off her doorbell or hanging ‘Do Not Disturb, Writing a Book,’ tag on her front door. “Writing is very sacred to me.I think you have to safeguard that writing space,” she expressed.
‘The Write Circle’ initiative aims to promote and encourage the readership of English literature on the global map. It provides a cross-country platform for notable authors to have an informal and engaging interaction about their lives and literary works with a discerning audience of literary lovers. It plans to bring in more authors in the near future.
Prabha Khaitan Foundation is a Kolkata-based non-profit trust founded by an eminent Indian litterateur, entrepreneur, philanthropist, social activist, and feminist Late Dr Prabha Khaitan back in the 1980s.
