I am Bold and Strong now - Aparna Sinha

How amazing it is to acquaint someone with multi-dimensional personality! I had the same feeling when I got a chance to converse with Ms. Aparna Sinha. Though it is not necessary to introduce the already famous authoress who penned the magnificent book titled “Ashvamedha”, it would be exciting to get a sneak peek in the life of the brilliant lady.

Aparna Sinha is the middle child of a writer mother and an academician father who is the head and Dean at University of Allahabad. Her brother is an accomplished lawyer and sister is the Professor of Chemistry at a prestigious engineering college. She is blissfully married to an expert consultant in supply chain. Besides, Ms. Aparna is the full time mother of a cute kid who helps her to grow as an individual and a writer. She starts her day with cuddling her son and making him a bottle of milk. The little man, who has inherited the shining eyes from his mother, loves to copy her intelligent looks too.

Once her son permits her with a smile, Ms. Aparna loves to test her writing skills and spends hours after hours building up a new story. However, it is her husband Vishal who gets to read the first draft of her stories. The moment she snatches few leisure moments for herself, she loves to overlook a beautiful fountain through her balcony with her favourite drink ‘Virgin Mojito’.

Let’s know more about her:

1. Which form of art impresses you after writing?

     Painting. My husband is a very good artist.

2.     Do you plan to give a platform to your creativity in painting also?

     I might, once I am able to express myself through colors and illustrations, the way I want.

3. How did the idea of “Ashvamedha” cross your mind?

         The idea of story came to me long back after a discussion with my husband.  He was cooking up a story and the idea clicked and remained for two years. I took his nascent idea and made a story out of it. Besides it was practically becoming difficult to ignore the dramatics in Indian politics and its reach to the youth through media, so I thought it is the right time to share the story on politics and power.

4.  How unique is the plot?

    Political thrillers as a genre itself is not explored much by the authors across globe, so the concept itself is new and a break from regular pop fiction/romantic novels.  It is a story of making someone powerful only to destroy him and claim the ultimate authority. I have used global events from past and the possibilities to derive many situations in the book.

5. Which character of your book you’ll wish to see alive?

    I have lived every character before putting it down on paper so it would be unfair for me to name one character ; given a chance I want to see all of them (even those who didn’t make to the final cut) alive

6. How do you plan to surprise your readers by this book?

    Surprise is the innate virtue of thrillers. The book has many twists and turns and the readers will have element of surprise in every chapter.

7. Tell us about your favourite scene from the book.

     The negotiation scene between the terrorist and Ashwin Jamwal, is one of my favorites, wherein the terrorist spoke the unsaid truth- power comes at the cost and well-being of innocent citizens, it can be named terrorism or political strategy, result at many times is same

“And yet we are no different,”’ the man added calmly. “You too have weapons. There are treaties restricting your usage of deadly weapons, still you develop a deadlier one almost every year, better and deadlier than last. We both are killers of the same league, except you justify your killing by calling it political.”

8. How much did your little young man contribute in your book? Tell us about his role in your life as a writer Mom.

   Well, he came after the book was accepted for publication. In fact it was only after I realized my childhood dream I thought I am ready to be a mother. The period of waiting (till the book is published) didn’t go in anxiety as I had the most wonderful moments of my life. He is now one year old and every day he inspires me to write, though the perspective in which I used to think have changed a lot. I am much more clear and vocal in my thoughts and political opinions. I am bold and strong now.

9.  What is the strongest quotient of “Ashvamedha”?

    The book gives a glimpse of convoluted social and political systems of the world; it also shows how vulnerable we are now, when the control is not linear, now there are many power points controlling global events, from advanced extremists to technocrats, the global power is handled by many people. The common man is as confused as it was before and is being subjugated from all sides. Frustrated with being manipulated and controlled every common man at some point aspires to rise above all and take charge. The book is not whimsical; events are possible and can happen.

 10. Would you mind sharing few anecdotes related to the development and publishing of “Ashvamedha”? At least one?

     I wish I had something funny to share or at least something which is relatable to many people but the book happened while I was suffering from a painful disease; it was physically painful – as my body had itchy bumps outside and ulcers inside- it used to burn (for 1 year) and emotionally it was painful as my body was (still is) blotched with dark black marks; I lost a great deal of my hair and my face was ruined. I immersed myself into writing the book and it helped me recuperate fast; also the dark marks over my body are signs of my strength. I wear them with pride.

11. What are your future writing plans?

    Another Crime thriller is done. Post that there is a plot for one more thriller; yes, I will continue to write.

12.  Your message to our readers.

     Read. Write. Express.

Favourite Fives

1.     Favourite Five dishes

Oh, I love to eat…

Aalo chaat (no brainer)

Baati Chokha

Farra (it is a rustic steamed dish)

Oh Yes, steamed dumplings (xialongbao , siu mai, momos, all types)

Alfredo Pasta

2.     Favourite Five tourist places

·        Phuket

·        Macau

·        Kumarakom

·        Vrindavan

·        Jaipur

3.     Favourite Five accessories

·        Rings

·        Watches

·        Clutches/handbags

·        Belts

·        Sunglasses  

4.     Favourite Five books

Very difficult to name five

·        The Madman (Khalil Gibran)

·        A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseni)

·        Parsifal Mosaic (Robert Ludlum)

·        Dark Crusader (Alistair Maclean)

·        Travels (Michael Crichton)

5.     Favourite Five persons of your life

·        My mother

·        My Son

·        My Husband

·        My Brother

·        My Sister

Good luck Ms. Aparna for your future endeavours.

Stupendous Start-Ups : Amit Mishra's Uniting Earth

Gone are the days when career options used to come with limited scope in traditional strata. Nowadays, the Young India loves to explore beyond boundaries and challenge their limits. They welcome the risks of new ventures, work out on the strategies and emerge as winners.

Amit Mishra, with his venture “Uniting Earth”, is the new face in this league. The idea of giving new spectrum to Journalism was the reason behind its conception. He along with his team defines new age Journalism in a very artistic way. Whole functioning of “Uniting Earth” itself displays their zeal towards their goal as the team mates haven’t even met in reality but their operations never face any miscommunications.

Team “Uniting Earth” comprises enthusiastic young bloods who hail from different locations of our country giving true meaning to their venture.

Amit Mishra is the chairman of “Uniting Earth”. He is an alumnus of St. Xavier’s School, Sahibganj. He is also the co-founder & Partner (Operations) of Financial Freedom (A Partnership Firm), which renders services on Financial Matters. With years of studies & experience in overall management at different levels he stepped in at St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata for his Post Graduate Diploma in Mass Communication & Public Relations. While he had completed only half the course, he decided to launch his venture, i.e; Uniting Earth.

Prerna Daga is the co-founder & Chief Editor of Uniting Earth. Education carved out an engineer of her but passion fastened her with the wings to quit mundane hours and pilot her dreams to be an editor. She has volunteered with Feeding India, a social organization working to establish a hunger-free nation. She has a long list of writings which have been published at various platforms. She is alongside pursuing her Post Graduate Diploma in Mass Communication & Public Relations from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata.

Kriti Dhara is the Associate Editor of Uniting Earth. Having graduated from management stream and with a wish to fly higher, she chose the field of Journalism to fulfill her dreams. She has worked in the Public Relations Department of a famous daily Newspaper. She then got admitted in St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata to pursue in Mass Communication & Public Relations. She is also going to change the news reporting pattern that has been followed for years in the world.

Isha Sharma is the Editor & overall in-charge for Hindi section of Uniting Earth. She is a bilingual writer and is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) from Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad (Uttar Pardesh). She has a passion for writing and her articles are published on various Online & Offline media houses/publications. She has also been editor for different Organisations. In 2015, she was awarded “Aagman Yuva Pratibha Sammaan” by Aagman group in Greater Noida.

Adrija Shrivastav is handling the HR department of Uniting Earth. Although a novice in this area, she has the mental ability and tact in dealing with people intelligently and em-pathetically. Been an active social service volunteer since school days and also interned with IIM-C on a project to help reach out to the unprivileged children by providing free education. She has also interned with an advertising agency for a short period of time. Being a Xaverian for the past 18 years and counting, she takes pride in having a moral sense to discriminate between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, ‘just’ & ‘unjust’ and that’s where the quality of a true HR professional lies.

These beautiful young souls create a perfect harmony in operating their venture. They mostly communicate via phone calls and emails. For the comfort of operations for this Proprietary Firm which is registered under the “Udyog Adhar”, they have divided team in two groups. Isha, Kriti and Prerna are in the First group which supervises the Core Activity including Editing and Publishing. Adrija and Amit manage all other activities. Any disputes or difference of opinion is handled and settled mutually considering the opinion of the person’s expertise in the area.

Amit Mishra, the chairman of “Uniting Earth” agreed to share few words.

     Q - What is it in journalism that attracts you so much?

Amit - According to me, “It’s better to be unique than trying to be perfect”. Journalism gives this option. Unlike all other career development paths, Journalists can convey to the world in their own way, whatever they feel, think & analyse. These days Journalists act as perfect Opinion Leaders for the masses. Being hungry for knowledge, I will also get the privilege to information, people & places easily.

      Q - What in "Uniting Earth" makes it unique?

Amit - We wish we will be able to Unite the people on the Earth into one family, i.e; Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (वसुधैवकुटुम्बकम), as in Maha Upanishad. Uniting earth is a start up with young blood, college going students, who will write & report based on facts and at this age anyone gives the most in their workplace. These days, print & electronic media are being replaced by social/new media and we wish to work totally on them. We are virtually connected & from the very beginning we are getting writers from international locations. We wish to keep the writing open for everyone, from every location and on variant of topics starting from World Updates, National Updates, Political articles, Government (State & Central) Plans & Programmes, Business, Science & Technology, Social Affairs, Environment, Spirituality, Lifestyle, Health & Education, Food & Recipes and anything to everything you can imagine of. The writer’s content will be published only when the editorial team deems it to be fit.

      Q- Do you think it is easy to convert your hobby into job especially in India?

Amit -  Answering on personal level, I love any work in which I become responsible and I get an opportunity to act as a leader. So, my work is generally my hobby.

Answering on a mass level, yes if one wishes and gives his/her best during the college & initial days of job, hobby can be converted to job in India too. Love what you do, and it becomes easy going.

      Q- What challenges you are facing in your venture?

Amit - To be very honest, since we are open from anything to everything and still very new, major challenges are yet to come. However, the number of people in the team will increase, and that has to be managed efficiently, and hope it to be easy as the communication channel (via internet) has become so smooth these days. The biggest challenge, which we are considering is trying to reach our article to maximum number of readers.

     Q- Your message to our readers.

Amit - Uniting Earth – In Search of Truth, as the name suggest, we will always provide true & fair information. We also wish the world attains our Objective, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, i.e. the attributes of an individual who has attained the highest level of spiritual progress. We make the option available to the readers, to join our Family of Writers by getting in touch with the HR Manager (hr@unitingearth.com). We wish to keep our contents crisp, true & related to the headline of the article. Also wish, you remain tuned to our website, i.e. www.unitingearth.com.

Good Luck to Amit and his team for their venture!

Few thoughts on "The God Factor" by Nitin Shrivastava

“The God Factor” is a non-fiction penned by Nitin Srivastava. Nitin is an Asstt. Professor in an Engineering College. His continuous interaction with his students and a lot of other people provided him enough insight of an unhappy and discontented mind which encouraged him to write this book. The book is actually a detailed analysis of different perceptions and their impact on our life.

Author Nitin has taken reference of ‘Maya’ from Hindu mythology and efficiently explained our wishes and desires and sometimes, our ‘greed’ on its basis.

Why we are never happy or contented no matter how much we get? Can’t we learn to live the moment and leave the rest of the life in the hands of ‘God’? Why do we dwell in past and let it ruin our present as well as future? Why we rely more on destiny than ‘karma’?

These are the few questions which find focused answers in this book by Nitin Srivastava. According to the author, there is a permanent melancholy cord in us. Happiness is a choice and even a childless couple can have it if they wish to. Happiness leads to success in life. Nitin Srivastava has chosen some folk stories and anecdotes to elaborate his point and he certainly seems to be successful about it.

“The God Factor” could prove to be useful for such people who prefer pessimism to optimism. The book is short and simple yet powerfully speaks for itself. Proper editing of the book could have made it more appealing. However, Author Nitin Srivastava succeeds in a thoughtful interpretation of one of the most important aspects of life.

Author Nitin Srivastava could be contacted at http://www.nitinsrivastava.net/