Rakhi Kapoor has received the “Yuukke Women of Excellence award “. She has authored a beautiful book “Now you Breathe which has received the Prestigious Golden Book Award 2023 in the category Powerful Relationship guide. Let us know more about her . Writing has been a profession for many and a source of joy for many others. Let us talk to Author Rakhi Kapoor whose writing style always manages to create a special place in the heart of the authors.
Q1) You have quoted “My life has to manifest as a powerful manuscript “. Tell us something about how writing has created such an impact in your life and tell us in brief about your journey so far.
Writing a book was a childhood dream of mine. Every dream has to have a cloud or a foundation to build on hence I was fascinated with reading. I would constantly carry a book with me, read voraciously on weekends and spare time. I would even get caught and reprimanded by my mom for reading novels camouflaged behind a text book during my exams. Books began to transform my life.
Whether it is a work of fiction in which the story or the characters who inspired me or a nonfiction book where the author gave meaning and a new direction to my life; I gathered that after reading a good book, I will never be the same. Authors and writers get their inspirations from their own lives, characters they meet in real life amalgamated with their imaginations, experiences or occurrences in life or history. Something stirs them from within to express themselves in the form of a story or a direct message for the world which they translate in to a fiction or non-fiction book.
Life has been extremely generous with me, it gave me rich experiences, great challenges, opportunities disguised as failures and of course a hereditary flair for creative writing (which I received from my paternal Grandfather). So I have honoured life by transforming its gifts whether it’s in the form of an obstacle or opportunity by embracing it, growing out of it and decoding the secretive messages of the universe and presented it to my readers so that another individual’s life is transformed…someone out there someone will never be the same again after reading a book of mine. They would have transgressed in to the next stage of metamorphosis towards becoming a beautiful butterfly.
Q2)When you set your first foot on the journey of writing were you sure about which genre you would be writing in ?
I was absolutely clueless. I just wanted to write a book which was not materialising that easily. One can write a blog an essay and article but for a whole book to flow through with a story or an idea is a different ball game. I remember storming out of a book store all weepy and melodramatic thinking in this life time I was not going to be able to write a book ever.
Being an expert and pioneer in the field of prenatal counselling, maternity fitness and childbirth in India with over two decades of experience I tried my hands at writing meaningful books on pregnancy initially which was futile.
Trust me in spite of having rich experience and knowledge to write such impactful books I lacked the inspiration to start writing a book at all. So now here comes the plot twist. I believe that if you deeply aspire for something the universe and destiny will give you a chance to fulfil it. “What one wishes to aspire in life is never served in a platter. One fine day an opportunity will stand at the door step knocking, only the brave and the path finders will have the courage and insight to walk towards their destiny”.
The next part of the answer is relevant to the next question. So read on….
Q3) You also have interest in Trekking. Tell us about few of your experiences.
The day I walked out of a book store disappointed that by my mid-thirties I was unable to achieve my aspiration to become an author, the universe decided to test me. Shortly after a few years I signed up for an high altitude challenging trek summitting at a height of 18000 feet above sea level to see the Gokyo lakes. This trek was through the challenging terrain of the Himalayan Mountain Ranges in Nepal. I failed to complete this trek.
At 12000 feet I had to discontinue the trek for various health issues. For six nights and five days I struggled with health complications and my broken heart and spirit travelling solo through the remote towns in the mountains of Nepal gathering experiences and discovering the treasure of grit within me. In the wilderness, amongst strangers and deserted paths devoid of civilisation amongst the echoes of my broken heart I found my inspiration to write. I returned from this trek in 2014 and by 2017, I published my first book “ The Girl Who Was Left Behind” based on my experiences on the trek.
Since then there was no looking back. A flood gate of creativity ideas flowed through me to transpire in to 25 books both fiction and non-fiction.
The works on fiction varied from contemporary writing , travelogues, philosophy, romance, biography and anthology. The non-fiction books were based on mental health, self-help, relationships, entrepreneurship etc, on various neglected and complicated issues of life.
I managed to churn out not just informative ones but inspiring ones and on topics never touched upon for example a book on pregnancy for man called Expecting Daddy Delivers sensitising an Indian man towards his expecting partner’s needs. This book has been translated in to Hindi as well titled Behtar Pati Behatareen Pita. Mums mental health and milestones a book addressing the mental health of young women and moms dealing with mood swings and post-natal depression amongst other based on getting over the fear of childbirth called Deliver with Delight and another on Infertility. Then came my book which was the game changer “Now You Breathe”.
Having failed in my first trek I trained harder and went ahead to complete iconic treks like the Everest Base Camp, Mt Fuji, Mot Kilimanjaro, Annapurna Circuit , Harmukh Glacier .
Q4) ”NOW YOU BREATHE” has been a book that is so relevant to the situations in World today. Tell us something about how did you decide the plot for this book .
To fulfil my parents aspiration I had to pursue a professional course. Through my Bengali origins from birth I was gifted with creative writing skills. My father who was a mechanical engineer insisted that I would have to do a professional course. Taking up arts and literature for my undergrad was out of the question. Hence I completed my Bachelors in Physiotherapy from a renowned institution in Kolkata called the National Institute for the Orthopaedically Handicapped (N.I.O.H) governed by the Rehabilitation Council of India. All admissions in the courses of institutions all over India was based purely on merit and selection from their entrance exams.
I called it “tough love” my father always coaxed me to be intense and give my best in everything I did. He did set the bar always high for me but he walked every step of the journey mentoring and building me up. I was never admonished for my mistakes I was taught to take responsibility for the outcomes of my choices and actions. Fail you will but mend your mistakes was his philosophy.
Hence with twenty years of experience as a physiotherapist, pioneering in the field of prenatal counselling I interacted with a lot of young couples. I started my practice through my centre called Dwi Maternity Studio (www.dwimaternitystudio.com) based out of Chennai. The first of its kind in India dedicated to young couples in the family way. This was the equivalent of the westernised Lamaze concept which I curated for the Indian couples. Starting with a few couples , a few obstetricians who believed in the need for such a concept I eventually had a roaring practice most busiest in the weekends. Professionals and celebrities from various walks of life and home makers attended my sessions with their spouses.
From the birth of civilisation and through ancient history it has been documented that women were merely reduced as baby making and rearing machines. Many women rewrote history by making significant contributions and discoveries and broke the tradition dawned by ignorance. A woman can get out of the ancient mould to make a place for herself in the outside world but it is impossible for men to step in to a woman’s shoes and biologically produce offspring’s. Nevertheless the men can step in and help their partners only if they could also come out of an ignorant mindset and become more informed about the challenges around pregnancy childbirth and parenting.
Education and empowerment of women is a battle the whole world is still fighting. Even if women are educated the biggest hurdle for them to be empowered is that they are torn apart by their role and responsibility as a mother and home maker versus that of a career woman.
Charity begins at home. If the partners and extended family could step up then it would be so much easier to protect and nurture the physical and mental health of a woman who was raising the children ; the future citizens of the world.
During these sessions I realised that so many marriages could be blissful by making both men and women understand each other. Couples began to have more stable, happy and strong relationships. While one lot was making progress there was one lot which was regressing over time or had a faulty start. Childhood trauma and abuse, poor quality of value systems and ignorance had altered the personalities of either the men or the women which they affected certain personality traits which were irreparable or needed therapy. It’s easier to raise healthy children than to repair broken adults.
Hence gradually over the years my book Now You Breathe – overcoming toxic relationships and abuse was writing itself in bits and pieces in my mind. That’s why the lines “ my life has to manifest as a powerful manuscript “ is the lines I live by. This book also has excerpts of my own personal experience of survival, being a victim of abuse.
Q5)As an author , what do you think the best quality of an author should be ?
An author has to be a keen observer, a thinker, a dreamer and an extremely determined person . To write a book thoughts need to flow uninterrupted. An author writes a book in his or her mind first . The ideas get imprinted as thoughts first then only does it translate in to pages filled with words and sentences.
Writing a book doesn’t happen just by sitting on the laptop or with a paper and pen. Only documentation of a humongous amounts of thoughts happens when a writer sits to write. A book is continuously being written in a writers mind. In today’s times with the plethora of distractions, it requires a lot of determination and discipline for an individual to complete the first draft of the book itself.The reason I took so long to write my first book in spite of having a rich source of content I was focussed on my counselling sessions and then after that to cool my mind busy socialising and doing fun things with acquaintances and friends and of course raising my family.
I have become introverted after becoming an author. I protect my time and energy meticulously. Only if I pay attention to my thoughts can I write my manuscript. If I drown my mind with constant meaningless chatter of the world how will the thoughts find a way in to the pages of a book? My first solo trek did the trick for me. It silenced the external chatter so that my mind spoke its heart out in to 25 books from experiences of the past, learnings of the present and the vision from the future. An author’s mind is the crossroads in which time stands still. The past present and future divulge from one intersection.
Q6) There is a big question , Can being an author be a successful career option ? What is your thoughts on this?
Any creative field has immense challenges. Not that there are any less challenges in other fields. The thing is that when you choose a chartered path you at least have a route map; under graduation, internship, post graduation and then landing a job.
To be a roaring success as an Author with commercial viability one needs exemplary and unique creative thought processes eg: JK Rowling, Amish Tripathi, Paulo Coelho etc. In spite of being gifted most of the successful authors have struggled to get in to the top. It took me twenty five books to start making noise.
My 25th book Now You Breathe has been nominated for many prestigious awards , the results are being announced gradually over the months this year. As I am answering the questions for the interview I just received an intimation that the book has received the Golden Book Awards as a Powerful relationship Guide. I am still awaiting results with Writefluencers award, I just received a confirmation a few days ago about getting the best non-fiction author award for this book by Ukiyoto Literary Awards, a south east Asia basis book awards forum. I am awaiting official press release from the concerned authorities and waiting to collect my award in the respective ceremonies. I have my fingers crossed waiting to hear from various international award forums also.
This is the recognition that has come after 25 books. I didn’t stop with the my first or tenth book. I continued to write meaningful and impactful books. My practice consulting expecting couples kept my professional life in progress. You can’t wait for the approval and recognition of the world.
Every author must continue to keep working on a parallel option to sustain themselves till they get the recognition and commercial success. After which the successful book becomes the author’s business card. The author can then pursue writing as a core profession or channelise in to various other channels to pursue success. Chetan Bhagat also runs a successful you tube channel interviewing leaders and personalities. Trevor Noah after the success of his book Born a crime became a host of a popular American show called the daily show and an activist against racism and apartheid from a stand-up comedian. Maya Angelou was a poet and an activist.
A painter will create a masterpiece will remain to be known as a famous painter. A movie maker will become an acclaimed director. An entrepreneur will be featured in the Forbes list and earn great wealth. All these people can be an author or an author can be have many other accomplishments. The possibilities are unlimited. Books are the doorway to unlimited wisdom, becoming an author opens doorways to unlimited opportunities.
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