Rashmi Singh is a Personality Development Trainer and a Counselor based in Faridabad. Rashmi A well known figure in literary circles, Rashmi is also an excellent painter of portraits. She has four books to her credit. Two of them, Love’s journey and Taming the Restless Mind, continue to be best-sellers.
In an interview with Susmita Bose, Rashmi Singh talks about herself, her books and above all her journey.
Please tell us something about yourself. What motivates you to continue writing?
Well, I am a very sensitive human being. I have been writing since, I was in K.G., but as I grew up, my feelings started taking shapes in poems, essays and articles. Some of these were even published in local newspapers. You know, my ‘feelings’ are my best friend. I am a very adjustable person and adapt to situations easily but sometimes people and life do get back to me in very mischievous and in negative ways. These are the time, I feel like writing. Many a times when I read or hear any heart rending incident, then I am inclined to write. I am very observant. My relationship with my friends and people around too motivate me to write.
Apart from writing, what other interests do you have?
I am a very good portrait painter. Just like writing, this skill too is God gifted. I love cooking and travelling as well. When I was expecting my daughter, I was given complete bed rest for three months. You know, I made best use of this time and learnt knitting. I knitted as many as 9-10 pullovers in three months. My interest keeps changing with different phases of my life, like I was a voracious reader in my college days and every second day then, I was having a new novel in my hand (laughs) But I never left writing.
What transition have you gone through as you rolled out one book after another?
Love’s Journey is my debut novel. I learnt many skills and traits of ‘Publishing Industry’. Before this novel happened, I did not know anything about publishing etc. Then came Taming the Restless mind. This was a non- fiction and this book taught me about illustrations etc. My third book, The Fallen Love taught me that one should very carefully do one’s editing oneself as the best of editors too are human beings and make humanly errors. Back to School @ 30 has made me almost perfect! I have matured and seasoned as a writer.
Rashmi Singh
What kind of response have you been receiving from the readers? How do you like the experience of talking to readers directly?
Response is mind blowing. Very soon I have been taken notice in almost all parts of India and abroad. My readers communicate with me on facebook through messages as I don’t have time to be online, but I make it a point to reply them. My facebook page has this tagline invented by me ‘Readers Make Authors’, and I staunchly believe in it. I do not believe in remaining an enigma or writing by any pseudo name. I sometimes get, love-drenched and obnoxious mails but all this part of this profession..
Has any particular book or author influenced you significantly? Which are your favourite books? Who are your favourite authors?
Favourite authors are Jane Austen, Sidney Sheldon, Aurther Hailey and many more like Premchand and so on… I read ‘Airport’ by Arthur Hailey, when in school and still has glimpse of it in my mind. ‘Maharani’, read from my father’s library made my mind go tizzy for so many days. It was you can say, somewhat close to Ruskin Bond’s ‘Maharani’ but not the same..I don’t remember the author’s name but it was a kind of an adult book and I was just in Std X! So, I had to, in fact hide and read (big smile). But I read it and came to know about many realities of the yesteryears’ rulers and their spouses. Parts of this book still sometimes invade my thoughts..
How do you rate your publisher?
Till now I have had very good relationship with my Publishers. Pustak Mahal Publishers are very professional. They take the best of authors and matter. Pigeon Books too is very professional, hard working and take up excellent projects. My next project is with them only.
In your latest book ‘Back To School @ 30’ you chose a very different subject about handling midlife crisis. Could you tell us something more about the book?
Thank you so much. ‘Back To School @30 is written for men and women in their thirties and beyond, struggling with their lives and trying to make big! While doing all this, they forget the basic disciplines, once taught to them in schools. This book is written with the motive to provide them those school programmes which are badly needed to ‘school, tame and channelize’ to improve and foster their physical-mental health and relationships.
Do you think that education helps a person overcome the difficulties in life?
Education hones, polishes one’s perspectives towards life. I respect all, even those who are not educated. But I personally feel, those educated can handle problems of life in a better way. Moreover in case of crisis, education can become their source of income. But the biggest problem today in the society is of the ‘educated who behave in an uneducated way’…
What is your idea of perfect life?
Do you really thing we can have a perfect life? I have actually dealt this topic too in my latest book. Perfectionist attitude can be killing. Everyone wants perfect happiness, perfect child, perfect spouse but this is just impossible. My idea is to enjoy and savour the happiness which comes to us in parts. But being an emotional writer, the flavor of the lost happiness often forms a hangover! This I think should be avoided.
Who are all the persons who have contributed to your writing directly or indirectly?
Very simple- all my friends and foes! Friends and well wishers cheered me up and the criticism of foes energized me to do hard work … but I don’t think, I have any foes, though I have critics. So you can say ‘life’ itself has directly and indirectly- contributed to my writing. 🙂
With Mr Kaushal Goyal CEO Pigeon books
What is the best tip that you can give to aspiring authors?
These days, due to vanity publishing, many new authors have sprung up like mushrooms but as we say all mushrooms are not nutritious- some are poisonous too. My advice to aspiring authors is to first set their skills right. I had already two blogs, Riviera and Lost Tranquility running on an International website, news.net, and then I came into proper ‘writing’. Book is not only about getting published, it is about satisfying ‘yourself’ and ‘your readers’. Secondly, I want to tell them, to write sex scenes when they are really ready to handle them- not for the sake of making their books saleable.
What message do you want to convey to the readers through your books?
See, my both my non-fictions are based on relationships and problems of life and how to overcome them. So the books have a direct impact on reader’s minds. Fictions are different. They are light reads and take the readers in an imaginative world. Love’s Journey is based on communal riot, hardship of a woman and again relationship of a girl with four men in her life. The Fallen Love very truthfully, boldly and dramatically brings out the real face of our society and hidden crime. So you can say I try to enter the human mind and unveil the real face of humankind.
What are your plans for the future?
Right now, I am writing a historical fiction. It’s of Pulkasein II’s period. It is a very intense story which revolves around war, conquests, lust, greed, hate, revenge, infatuation, love and finally repentance. I had to do lots of research for this story and I am still doing, because I live with my stories. When I do any fiction, I, in fact breathe, live and stay with it, till it is born and becomes real!
A successful writer, personality development trainer, career counselor, motherhood – what else do you want to explore in your life journey? 🙂
Life makes one to explore many shades of it. At present, I will continue with writing as I have many good offers coming my way from very good Publishers to write non-fictions and I have almost committed too. However, after a couple of years, I want to expand my coaching centre and establish ‘my own line of training’. But we all know ‘Man proposes-God disposes’….(smiles with fingers crossed)
That was Rashmi Singh! Spectralhues wishes her glorious success and hopes she would come up with many more remarkable books.
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