Sheetal Sanghvi is an eminent Indian author writing in English. By profession a lawyer, she believes that writing is the chief sustenance of her soul and a staple diet which keeps her intellectually alive and kicking. Primarily a prolific poet, she tries her hands in various other literary genres too.Sheetal has three remarkable book to her credit such as The mirror of my soul, Reflections and Legal Agreements: Ready reference, Her two books are heart touching collections of poems and short stories respectively which certainly establish her as a glorious literary genius and the embodiment of creativity. She had an exclusive conversation with the team Daily Guardian about her literary journey. Here are the excerpts of the conversation .
Q. Tell us something about your books?
A. For me my books are scriptures. So far,I have published three books, one being an academic book Legal Agreements: Ready Reference. It consists of about 100 legal Agreements for use by students, lawyers, jurists and corporates etc. My second book The mirror of my soul is a poetry book consisting of poems on street urchins, girl child, women empowerment, love, change, unrequited love, nature, the other woman, politics etc. My third book Reflections comprises short stories which shed light on social issues like friendship, life in UK and Mumbai, terrorism, Kashmir and women empowerment etc.
Q. Tell us about your other interests other than writing?
A. I am a lawyer so that keeps me busy. Besides writing I’m an avid reader and like reading biographies, autobiographies, women empowerment books. I like painting, cooking, going for nature walks, travelling which I have written about in my short stories book Reflections. Bitten by travel bug, I have travelled around Europe, UK, USA, Mauritius, Middle East, Thailand, Singapore, Greece, Turkey etc. Doing social work and helping people who are suffering from poverty bring me immense gratification. I have intense predilection for listening music from Indian classical to western beats. I also dabble with social media and have made some videos showcasing my temple and religious rites etc on it. I also advocate being vegetarian and avowedly stand against cruelty to animals. I would call myself a person who uses both the right and left side of brain, chasing my twin fold passion for law and creativity.
Q. Are you a disciplined writer or a spontaneous writer?
A. I would say I’m a blend of both. For my legal book I have spent sleepless nights utterly dedicated to deep deliberation in solitary confinement and drafted my work with nuanced research. For my poetry book, The mirror of my soul, I have been driven by the element of spontaneity as I am at one with William Wordsworth who remarks that Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility. Thus, most of the poems are spontaneous which have come about exploring and observing the world. For my short stories book, Reflections, I would devout every day thinking for hours at an end throughout the day and finally writing one short story by the end of the day.
Q. What is your profession. Has it ever conflicted with your writing or influenced it?
A. I am a lawyer by profession. My profession requires me to read, analyze, think and draft a lot . It involves not just creative thinking but creative writing too. Hence, I love what I do that with great enthusiasm.
Q. How did you start writing?
A. Here, I would say that initially writing happened to me. I started writing as a child in the age of 10 to 12 years. I would keenly observe the world around me and then write poems. I never realized that the poems were poems or good and would throw them in the dust bin. It was only when I turned 15 or so that I started compiling my poems and writing them in a book. I would astonish myself too with my poems which I then felt were good enough.
Q. In your opinion how can India make reading and writing more affordable and accessible?
A. In my opinion for those below the poverty line, there are night schools and I suggest that the homeless children learn to read and write at such schools. For the others, there are book festivals and author interactions with like-minded people where people may meet other writers like them and share ideas. There are on line platforms and social media platforms too where authors can bounce off their ideas.
Q. Some tips for aspiring authors?
A. My advice to aspiring authors is that they must continue with writing journey, no matter how curvy the path is! They must be bothered of receiving negative criticism from. “Just write” should be the catch phrase.