May 01 2018.
views 8805Today on the Buzz, I feature a stunning lady who has lived her life in advertising, but now she is playing multiple roles - Mum, wife, looking beautiful, running a small ad agency with her friend and even being creative.
But you can never keep a creative person silent, and how ever busy she is, she will find a way, and she did. She has her debut book out, called, Poison Apple - which deals with love, lust, longing, and loss, captured vividly through short bursts of poetry, prose, and quotes.
Today she speaks about her book, life and everything in between.
Tell me about your book?
Poison Apple is a collection of short poems, prose and one-liners, sectioned into four parts that take the reader through the befores, durings and afters of a wildly passionate relationship likened to taking a bite of the forbidden fruit. The writing is simple and short, and even those who have not been readers of poetry per se can easily relate to and understand the content. It is mostly quite melancholy though, so if tearjerkers are your thing, grab a copy!
How has the feedback been after the online release?
It’s too soon to judge since it was only released a couple of days ago. Having said that, there have been a few followers of my instagram account who have written to me to say how I’ve put into words things that they have failed to be able to express themselves, or to tell me they were in tears after reading a certain piece, and feedback like this is worth everything!
Would we be seeing a printed edition of the book?
Yes, the paperback edition is available on Amazon and will be available in Colombo in a couple of months as well.
How has your life been after moving from advertising?
You can never really move from advertising! Haha! I tried about 3 years ago and failed miserably, having been sucked back into the field by my close friend and current business partner Dillai Joseph. We now run our own little niche ad shop The Next Big Think handling smaller growing brands.
You have worked on many art projects. What’s going to be the next one?
I’m currently toying with the idea of bringing my poems or the general concept of my book to life through the medium of contemporary dance, with the amazing Umeshi Rajeendra. Nothing is concrete yet but keep an eye out
How is to be a mom, wife and chase all your dreams?
It takes time! A long time!
The general ‘running’ of life usually takes over all your time and energy and plans for dreams usually take a back seat. It’s harder when you want to be many things at once, but the bucket list awaits, and I’ve crossed one off the list so it’s motivation to move on to the next. And I have many ‘nexts’ lined up!
Would you be working on another book?
I’ll never really stop writing, and new work is out almost weekly on my instagram. If things go well with Poison Apple, then a new collection will definitely be a possibility.
How can one read the book?
Since it has been released only in the United States at the moment, you can download the Kindle version on Amazon or purchase the paperback there too. In a couple of months, you can buy the book in Sri Lanka as well, when it is launched here.
Who or what has been your biggest inspiration?
My daughter Navya Rae is my biggest strength and purpose. My mom, the woman I have tried so hard to be at least half like, my biggest inspiration.
What would you say is the biggest challenge women face today? And how do you overcome it?
In a universe of ‘live and “like”, where everything one does is watched, judged and needs validation, it’s becoming increasingly hard to stay true to who and what YOU are. You are constantly questioning your ‘ratings’ as a mum, daughter, homemaker, career woman and you can never really be enough. So a bit of ‘no social media’ time is a good practice
I also practise Yoga, which helps to some extent with caring for oneself first, and helps put things in perspective. But mostly it’s actually a one-day-at-a-time scenario because I tend to overthink and complicate things if I don’t do that!
1 Comments
V.Sathasivam says:
May 04, 2018 at 03:02 pmMarvelous achievement Dhakshini our best wishes go ahead,no turn back achieve the highest . If you feel uneasy and tired meditation may help you .