Literary

Author interview: Dr Siddharth Suhas Kulkarni on his book Parenting: The Critical Thinking at Home

by Trans World Features | @twfindia 02 Sep 2020, 08:40 am

It was his wife devising interesting ways to teach their daughter new things during the pandemic confinement which served as an inspiration to pen the book on parental guiding, says Dr Kulkarni.

Congratulations on the release of your book ‘Parenting: The Critical Thinking at Home’. You are not a full-time writer. How and when did you manage time to write in between your regular career?

Thank you so much for your kind words. Yes, that’s correct I am not a full-time writer.

We are living through an unprecedented time of the COVID-19 crisis, where most of us have been stuck at home staying safe, and looking after ourselves and our loved ones, since March 2020.

As you know, I work full-time at Coventry University, as a Lecturer in Engineering Design. All of our classes had to be shifted to online learning as face to face teaching was suspended to protect us. Thus, after delivering my online lectures, and tutorials, I managed to find enough time to do something creative and productive.

What kind of books inspire you as a writer? Who are your favourite authors and poets?

My writing inspiration has come from reading several personal development and self-improvement books such as Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, and The Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki – to name a few, but I also like reading fictional, and non-fictional books. 

My most favourite author has to be Lord Krishna himself, as nobody can thank him enough for giving us The Bhagavad Gita. I also like Napoleon Hill, Paulo Coelho, and oh! How can I forget Shantaram or Gregory David Roberts?

Why did you want to become a writer? Who inspired you to become a writer? What triggered you to come into writing?

To be honest with you, I never really thought of becoming a writer.

After getting stuck at home, I realised there is plenty of time management that needs to be done in my life. Hence, working from home gave me an excellent opportunity to manage my time working from home, and observe my daughter’s ‘Baal Leela’ or ‘Child Play’ very closely.

My daughter Ridhi is the inspiration behind this book, and of course my wife Akanksha. Akanksha constantly researches and tries new ways to teach and introduce Ridhi to new things and games. My daughter’s child plays, her growing curiosity to try new things, triggered me to write this book.

What are you doing to let readers know about your book?

Nowadays, technology has made us reach places and people at lightning fast speed.  We have already let our friends and family know via all the social media channels that we use such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram etc. My wife Akanksha and I have started our own YouTube channel called ‘The KUL Couple’, so we have also promoted the video trailer of this book on our YouTube channel, Facebook & Instagram pages.

I am a strong believer in word of mouth publicity. Therefore let’s see what the future of this book entails. 

Tell us something about your book. Some highlights.

Parenting: The Critical Thinking at Home is a handy and easy-to-follow set of guidelines for parents to develop their children’s critical thinking at home. Parents can guide their children and make them enthusiastic in their tasks while enjoying the activities with their children. This book also promotes developing healthy relationships among parents and their children.

Tell us something about yourself and your background.

I was born in India, and I moved to the UK to pursue my studies after completion of Grade 12. After completion of my undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering, I went on to earn a PhD in Mechanical Engineering. At present, I am a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, who works as a Lecturer in Engineering Design at Coventry University. I live in Birmingham, UK with my wife and daughter. Our parents live in India.

Do you plan to take up writing as a full-time profession if the response is good?

Of course, why not? It was a fun and memorable experience writing this book. Let’s see what the future entails.