Beautiful, talented, straight forward and amazingly humble Dhishna Radhay made a scintillating entry into the world of literature with her excellent debut novel “Obstinacy-The Dauntless Chase”.
Dubai based author Dhishna Radhay, although born and brought up in Mauritius, but her heart beats for India. She had been a secondary school teacher in various schools across the island but moved to Dubai in 2005 to join a prestigious company. Writing has been Dhishna’s passion since her childhood. This is her first book and she is currently working on a collection of short stories and a novel.
Here are the excerpts of the exclusive interview Dhishna gave to Spectralhues.
Susmita: Congratulations Dhishna for an amazing portrayal of Cléopâtre Lamaure in your debut book. Please tell us what kind of feedbacks have you been receiving?
Dhishna: This one is the best motivational quote from Waqas:
Feedbacks are mostly from male readers and they even mentioned that the book is not that bulky and dragging that make them uninterested, unlike other books. I was a bit taken aback- men and literature? Do they really get along that well?
I was surprised by the fact that male readers have come to me saying that they fell in love with Cleopatre, as she possesses all the qualities that men look for in a woman.As for the female readers, yes they wanted more details.One of the reviews on Amazon:
‘After reading this book, I could relate to this generation’s common issues-ego, relationships, ups and downs and above all of hope. This story is really inspiring. Cleo-a strong character, who teaches that life although not easy, we all need to find our way out and emerge as a winner.
Had tears in my eyes reading the story of suffering. The language is very simple and easy to understand-well written. Could be a literature book and would highly recommend it for teenagers and young adults.’
And I have a friend of mine who after reading it, she could finally gather her strength and follow the steps of Cleo. But of course my book is not to tell everyone to go for divorce when things do not work out. I always advise them to try their best because we all have ups and downs in life and we should not run away from problems, but that does not mean that we sit idle also and wait. If after trying hard, the other person takes us for granted, then we should come up with a solution.We cannot be martyrs.
Susmita: What is the motivation behind this story? How much personal influence is behind this story?
Dhishna:The ‘motivation’ is a person by the name of Waqas Tariq- OBSTINACY-The Dauntless Chase’s cover illustrator and my best friend. He pushed me into publishing my work, after reading some of my previous works. However, this is a story that I cannot read again and again, because of the horrible experiences that I do not want to be reminded of. I have moved on, like Cleo and I am still strong enough not to fall again. And just like Cleo, I have wonderful parents-especially my dad.
Susmita: How much Cleo is Dhishna? Is Stevie’s character basedon a real person known to you?
Dhishna: (Ha!Ha!) Very much…Bold, obstinate, outspoken, straight-forward, independent and dauntless. As far as Stevie is concerned, he is very much real too. You should meet him one day. I am sure you will fall in love with his personality-mature, strong and responsible, totally different from Benoit. I was hoping you would ask me about Benoit, but I guess no one is interested in him.
Susmita: How was your experience with your publisher?
Dhishna: Since it is the first experience, I must say it was pretty ok. But my expectations are always high and I set the bar high even for myself, that I find it difficult to be contented.
Susmita: Tell us about your journey from Mauritius to Dubai? How did you manage this big change?
Dhishna: I started my teaching career on my own by giving private tuitions at home when I was 19 years old. Then soon I started working in various colleges from 2001 and in 2005, I shifted to Dubai. I was lucky enough to start from scratch in hospitality industry. In 2007, I moved to a private company as Executive Assistant. I must say that Dubai has offered me a lot- career, fame, lessons, experiences and everything that a person requires to be strong.
Susmita: What kind of support you are getting?
Dhishna: Actually, I am an independent person, but I am surrounded by my family and close friends who supports me in all my important decisions.
Susmita: What is your advice for those women who are everyday suffering domestic violence around the globe?
Dhishna: Many women are confused about their rights and when this happen they think that ill treatment is part of their daily life-which is not true. Society has made us think that men are superior and that it is acceptable to be exploited by them. But real men are those who respect women and in turn women will respect them. My advice to all women out there, is to be independent. I have spoken to some battered women who wanted to leave their husband, but could not because they had nowhere to go and did not know how to start on their own. I do try to help them when they approach. They think that it is better to wait for their man to change into a better person and treat them fairly. On the other hand, the ‘husband’ knowing that he is the primary breadwinner, he does not stop exploiting and abusing. Always remember-when you are abused, society will not be there for you, so why should you be scared to lead a happy and peaceful life? God gives us asecond chance to make our life better, this is the right of everybody- be it for a man or woman.
Sad but true, children suffer the most in these situations. Women should make their children feel safe. Save yourself and your child. I too have a daughter and I have always made sure that she grows in a very healthy environment.
Susmita: Is there anything called ‘perfect love’?
Dhishna: Love is a mysterious thing. When we are happy, we say love is perfect, but when we are not, then we say the contrary. I believe that love is something that brings out the best in us and it could also bring the worst in us-depending on our experiences. No matter how many faces love could have we all need love to feel complete.
Susmita: what is your ‘Mantra’ in life?
Dhishna: Be independent and not to expect anything from anyone.
Susmita: Does writing come easy to you? What interests you other than writing?
Dhishna: Yes, I must say that yes, writing comes easy to me.I have been writing since I was fifteen and I had stopped at the age of twenty two. I started with ‘OBSTINACY-The Dauntless Chase’. However, I recall that when I was working at the Indego Restaurant at Grosvenor House Dubai, my colleagues used to request me to write about their performance so that they could be nominated for competitions like ‘EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH’, ‘HOW DID YOUR COLLEAGUE WOW YOU’.And when they used to win prizes, they would come to me and advice that one day I should seriously consider publishing books. Here I am! It was a dream come true.
Ever since I have published a book, people have started requesting me to give recommendations on their linkedin profiles. Other than writing, I love long drives, I love cooking and yoga.
Susmita: Tell us something about your future plans? Have you already started planning for your next book?
Dhishna: I will not stop writing because it is my passion, but I have other responsibilities as well that need to be fulfilled. I have a collection of short stories and a novel to be out, but I am still deciding on the publishers (Australian or UK-name cannot be disclosed) that have approached me.
Susmita: Any message to the readers?
Dhishna: Follow me on my official page https://www.facebook.com/www.dhishna.net
My next work is a true story, which will be more of some well-kept secrets that will be revealed to the world. The story takes place in Dubai, this time, my second home-town
I would like to thank my readers for making ‘OBSTINACY-The Dauntless Chase’ a success.
That was Dhishna Radhay! Devotion, hard work and honesty have made Dhishna to achieve success in life. Spectralhues is wishing her all the best for her future endeavors.
Book Details:
| Author: | Dhishna Radhay | ||
| Publisher: | Strategic Book Group, LLC | Year of Publication: | 2013 |
| Cover: | Paperback | Cover Illustrator: | Waqas Tariq |
| ISBN-13 | 9781625161598 | ISBN-10: | 1625161598 |
| Format: | eBook | File Size: | 194 KB |
| ASIN: | B00E2SLAIW | No of Page: | 57 |
| MRP: | Rs. 177 | Buy From: | Amazon.in (eBook) |
The book is available in paperback too. To buy the paperback format you can click on:
http://sbpra.com/dhishna/
or
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/obstinacy-dhishna/1115171448
