“Sometimes when you pick up your child you can feel the map of your own bones beneath your hands, or smell the scent of your skin in the nape of his neck. This is the most extraordinary thing about motherhood – finding a piece of yourself separate and apart from that all the same, you could not live without.”
–Jodi Picoult
I am not a mother and probably will not be one in this lifetime. So I do not know of the struggles one has to go through for bringing a child into this world. For most people, it is easy, and even unplanned. But there is a segment of the society that craves it and the universe is unkind toward them for not providing them with something that is part of our biology. I know women who have become mothers after facing a lot of problems but very rarely have I come across literature and books that talk about their stories. This is what made me pick my recent read The Mess in Her Womb by Dr. Chhavi Gandhi Juneja.
I reached out to the author and was surprised at her readiness to be a part of the #AuthorCollaborative. Today evening, we had a nice long chat about not just our books, but also how the reading community needs to extend its support to indie and self-published authors.
The thing that struck me most about Chhavi’s book was that it was semi-autobiographical and also that it touched upon social messages like infertility and mental health. I wanted to understand how one can weave fiction around these themes so my questions were more or less around that.
Before the episode, Chhavi also read and reviewed my latest book, Under the Mistletoe & Other Stories.
She had her own set of questions related to my book and writing journey.
In the episode, we not only ended up talking about our books but also about our experiences as a reader and how readers can extend their support to writers like us. Before we ended the session, we did my favorite bit, the rapid-fire round.
Here’s a look at the questions Chhavi fired at me in this segment.
You can have a look/see at our full one-hour conversation in the video below:
Books discussed in the session:
- The Mess in Her Womb by Dr. Chhavi Gandhi Juneja
- Under the Mistletoe & Other Stories by Manali Desai
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A Rustic Mind 