'Take the first step, the universe will place the ladder right at your foot', says author Kiran Manral

The books authored by her and the author herself, Kiran Manral

You have passionately pursued your profession, had taken up blogging and then at the peak of it you gave up on it to devote more time to motherhood. And now you are back to your passion. So your word of advice to those women who are struggling everyday with the dilemma of how to draw that perfect balance. To those who have given up on full time careers, for motherhood and then have regrets and to those who want to give up on their careers to enjoy motherhood, but cant due to some constraints.

Actually I gave up my career and stopped full time work when I had my son, but I did continue writing freelance and blogging was never an occupation. It was just something one did, by the by. I have always been writing, so I never really stopped.

While I can never be presumptuous enough to give advice to anyone knowing how everyone is fighting their own battles, but here’s something that has always stood me in good stead. Let the decision be yours and own your decision. If it is giving up career for motherhood or taking a temporary sabbatical for a few years, know exactly what you have in mind so you have something to work towards. Keep in touch with the folks in your industry as well as the trends in your industry so if you do decide to get back you don’t feel overwhelmed by the catching up you have to do. Learn to put yourself first, selfishly. Not the baby. Not the husband. Not the family. I think we women don’t acknowledge ourselves enough, our needs, our ambitions, our desires. Physically, emotionally, mentally, sexually. Once you declare unabashedly to yourself that this is important to me, and this is what I need to do to find happiness, you WILL find a way to do it.

Another thing I’d like to tell all moms, those who work outside the home and those who don’t, is that it is okay to reach out for help to other women. Some will help, some will not. Find your tribe and build your tribe. Be with strong, positive, energising women who will be your cheerleaders. And you must be theirs in return. It is only in helping each other that we will be able to help ourselves.   

And finally, it is never too late to be who you were meant to be. Whether you are in your thirties or forties or fifties, you owe it to yourself to find your passion and pursue it. Take the first step, the universe will place the ladder right at your foot.

About the Author

After working as a journalist for long, Kiran Manral quit work to be a full time mommy. However, she never gave up on writing. as she always found time to write on gender issues, parenting, fiction and got associated with causes that she passionately believes in.

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Blog Tour: KEY TO MY SOUL by Probal Mazumdar

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KEY TO MY SOUL

by

Probal Mazumdar

Blurb

"When Siddharth, a lonely young man with a failed marriage gets a sudden phone-call from a mysterious person about his lost childhood lover, Hazel, and learns that she is battling for life, he is shaken to the core. He also learns that she had left certain letters for him fifteen years back that never reached him. It disturbs him so much that he rushes to the hospital in his old hometown. There he discovers an eclipsed past buried in time that is riddled with dangerous surprises, trauma, twists of fate, sacrifices that exemplify true love and the real reasons for the tragic end of their childhood love story. But will Hazel ever open her eyes to see him..."

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About the author

Probal Mazumdar works in an IT company. He is an NIT engineer by societal pressure, singer by accident, guitarist by love at first sound, poet by soul, writer by passion, a world class badminton player in childhood dreams, rebel by day, recluse by night, a samosa in a family of laddoos, a Jughead at the dining table, a shameless and congenital dreamer. 

Oh! An arsonist too – when his wife is not around, sets his own house on fire with his little son. 

He won the FIRST prize in the All India Poetry Competition, 2014, conducted by PSI (Poetry Society of India). Click on www.indianpoetry.org/awardsgeneral14.htm

His other poems have risen too from cold storage into literary journals like Indian Literature (Sahitya Akademi), Wasafiri (U.K. Vol. 67), Acumen (U.K.), OtherPoetry (U.K.), Chandrabhaga Literary Journal (Editor Jayanta Mahapatra), Dhauli Review, amongst others.

He writes short stories too. This is his first foray into writing a novel.

The Title of the Book is “Key To My Soul.”

The entire plot and story of the novel hinges on these words of the Title. Once the protagonist, Sidd, finds out the Key, he enters the Soul of his long lost beloved. The words, “Key to my Soul” is also a phrase used by his beloved in a letter to him which is the axis the story revolves around.

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'Ponniyin Selvan for Today’s Generation' by Sumeetha Manikandan

Author Sumeetha Manikandan

Your translation of the evergreen Tamil epic is generating rave reviews. Your take on the need for translating vernacular epics and to which demographics do you think the works of translation cater the most and why?

I have been asked this question many times. Ponniyin Selvan has been translated so many times why would you want translate such a well-known novel?

Die-hard fans of this classic will not read anything other than the original and I can understand why. Much is lost in translation. Unlike the other historical novels that have been written in Tamil, Ponniyin Selvan stands apart basically because of Kalki Krishnamurthy’s language, passion for history and most important of all… humour. The thread of humour that runs all through the novel makes it all the more memorable for its readers. That’s another reason why it is so tough to translate. Epic characters like Vandiya Devan (hero and protagonist), professional spy Azhwarkadiyan (whose entry and dialogues never fails to elicit laughter), gutsy and brave boat girl Poonguzhali who braves the stormy seas, intelligent and witty Kundavai who valiantly tries to steer the Kingdom away from danger and seductive Nandini whose beauty is beyond our imagination.

Coming back to the question of why a translation is needed….

It is needed today because today’s generation has become a tad too lazy to read vernacular novels. They would rather read it in English and if they really like it, they might pick up the original. Another aspect of this is the fact that many youngsters of Tamil heritage who live abroad do not have the opportunity to learn the language. They might converse in it but they can’t read and write in Tamil.

A few months after I started publishing this translation I got a mail from an old gentleman in Mylapore who loved to read Ponniyin Selvan. He was asking my permission to share the links on Wattsapp and Messenger with his grandchildren in US because they didn’t know to read Tamil.

That’s why we need a translation. There is a huge cache of great historical novels written in Tamil by many popular authors. All of these novels need to be translated or else they might be lost of posterity.

About the Author

Sumeetha Manikandan is a top bestselling romance author whose novellas ‘Perfect Groom’ and ‘These Lines of Mehendi’ (which was published as a paperback novel called ‘Love Again’) have been on the top of Amazon India charts ever since its publication. A bookaholic, thinker, feminist and a daydreamer, she reads across genres and is a crazy fan of history, romance and science fiction novels.

 

An avid reader of historical novels, she has been translating Kalki Krishnamurthy’s classic Tamil novel Ponniyin Selvan for the past ten years and hopes to translate more of his novels to English.

 

Sumeetha is married to filmmaker K.S. Manikandan and lives with her nine-year- old daughter in Chennai.

Her book 'Ponni's Beloved: An English translation of Kalki  Krishnamurthy's Ponniyin Selvan' is available at:

Amazon.com                    Amazon.in                    Amazon.co.uk

People fall and evolve in Love, says author Toffee

Author Toffee

Does changing oneself, to seek love, to fit into your partner’s parameters of the perfect partner define love? Yes or no and your reasons for it?

Before answering this question, allow me to share with you a simple anecdote.

I knew a guy who would always wear anger on his sleeve. He was a nice guy on the inside, but his anger cost him many friends and well-wishers. People would avoid him because things would eventually get unpleasant with him, even during silly conversations. Enter a girl who was equally cocky and would not take shit from anyone. It was unimaginable to even hope that they would end up together, but that’s where the magic of love lies – People change for love.  

The girl and the guy met by chance, but something clicked, and they began spending a lot of time together. During the initial days of their courtship, the girl figured out that he had anger-management issues. But instead of being retaliating, she changed herself and became more kind and more patient. She would remain calm when he would burst out, but would make him understand the problem later, after the storm passed. The guy also understood slowly that he had been hurting people inadvertently by not controlling his anger. And then, he changed slowly and transformed himself into a better person. As time passed, joyful conversations replaced heated arguments and sweet nothings replaced angry words.

I personally believe that, people change primarily during two circumstances – when they face an adversity and when they are in love. The latter is more common as not everyone goes through life-changing adversity, but almost everyone falls in love.  

Love is like magic – people not only change, but also evolve. They become better human beings in love. And as the clichéd line goes – love makes life beautiful.  So I do believe that one needs to change in order to keep the soulmate happy. After all, in the happiness of your soulmate, lies your own happiness. 

About the Author

Toffee is a simple guy who loves the complications of life. He used to write code by the day and books by the night earlier. But currently, he is busy writing assignments and chasing deadlines in his Master's in Business Analytics from the University of South Florida. Toffee loves narrating interesting stories with subtle insights. Through books, he wants to share beautiful stories, reach out to people and touch their hearts. Finding Juliet is his second book, written specially for India's Generation-Y.

Click here to know more about his book