Literary

Author interview: Reshma Kadvath on her book #FOR_THE_LOVE_OF_CREATIVITY

by Trans World Features | @twfindia 13 Aug 2019, 08:45 am

Congratulations on the release of '#FOR_THE_LOVE_OF_CREATIVITY'. What is the feedback from your friends and readers who have already read your book?

All those who have read my book have given me a positive feedback. They found the ideas unique, useful as well as creative & eco-friendly. They found the articles interesting and relevant.

What kind of books inspire you as a writer? Who are your favorite authors?

There have been many authors I liked from my school/college days ranging from Enid Blyton, Daphne Du Maurier, Somerset Maugham, Jane Austen and closer home RK Narayan, Ruskin Bond, Kiran Desai, etc, to name a few. Having said that, my all time favourite author is Agatha Christie, my instant pick me up. I absolutely adore her writing, which along with keeping the reader enthralled with the murder mysteries, also gives a deep insight into the minds of her characters.

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

My maternal grandfather, Shri Kilimanoor Keshavan, was a renowned writer in the field of Malayalam literature and poetry. I believe that his writing genes must have passed on to me. Add to that I seem to have inherited the creative genes from my talented paternal grandmother, who was a jack of many trades. Further, my parents, especially my mother, being voracious readers, I was always surrounded by books. So it is but natural that from a very young age, the written word fascinated me and becoming a writer was a cherished dream. Once I become an Army wife, I got ample to opportunity to give free rein to my creativity. Then to showcase these exclusive ideas, I decided to start a blog. From there my artistic and literary saga began.

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

A web page about the book is being made as we speak. The book is going to be available on various e-commerce sites too. Once that is done, the links will be shared on my social media. I have a modest following of more than 11,000 followers on instagram. In the Army fraternity too, the book is already in circulation.

Tell us something about your book. Some highlights.

It is a 227-page, full colour, coffee table book brimming with creative ideas, and some very interesting articles. The aim of the book is to spread the joy of creativity and at the same time create awareness about upcycling.  Every time you upcycle something you are saving it from ending up in a landfill… and every time you do this instead of buying something new, you are lowering your ecological foot print, thus saving our earth from further degradation. The ideas given in the book will again change the general perception that upcycled goods cannot look classy or upmarket.  In fact   upcycling can give you the most unique and exclusive pieces, which one can never find or buy from any mall.

For me, the highlights of the book are the unique, rustic trays, each one of them one of a kind, totally inspired and upcycled from nature. Another chapter which might interest the lovely ladies out there is the article on neck-pieces, where each piece is made from what one would see as scraps… be it a broken wind chime, leftover cloth pieces, postage stamps, key chains, chillums… and the list goes on.

Tell me something about yourself and your background.

I am a Keralite, born in the year 1977, who spent her entire childhood in ‘God’s Own Country’. Both my parents were working, mother was a banker and father an engineer. From a very young age, our parents introduced both me and my sister to the literary world, as they were voracious readers. From then on, books have been a crucial part of my life. During my teenage years, I used to pen down poems and was also quite good at writing essays in school.

After graduation and a romantic courtship, I got married to Satish Kadvath, an Army Officer, in 1997. Soon the Army way of life successfully managed to bring out the creative side in me. Creative ideas soon took the form of upcycling, initially due to the budgetary constraints and later on due to awareness. After my two kids became independent enough to manage their ‘teenage lives’, I started blogging to satisfy both my creative as well as literary passion. Blogging soon got upgraded to a book. My first book, ‘Creative Musings Of An Army Wife’ was published in 2015 by Concepts Publications Limited, a Delhi based company. Now when I look back, I find my work in the book ‘sweet but not savvy’ enough.

The present book titled ‘#FOR_THE_LOVE_OF_CREATIVITY’ is a much better presented piece of work. It truly advocates the mantra of ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ to the hilt and reaffirms the fact that one does not need truckloads of money to do up one’s home. All one needs is a pinch of imagination and a hint of perseverance to give flight to one’s creative dreams.

Presently I am pursuing my MSc (Psychology) and enjoying my newfound passion for instagram, where I have about 11k plus followers and share my creative and décor ideas with like-minded souls.

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

Of course I would love to take it up as a full time profession… because being able to do what one loves and getting paid for it is the ultimate joy.