Gitanjali Sreepal was introduced to the world of literature at a very young age. Her parents used to read out or narrate stories to her when she was a kid and later started buying her books and taking her to the nearby library. The fragrance of books and the flavor of stories built her love for words. It comes as no surprise then that today, besides being a PR Manager at ShareChat, Gitanjali is a published author and is penning her second book.
“One of the first novels I ever read was Sidney Sheldon’s ‘Tell me your dreams’. I think I found it in my cousin’s house. It is not unique in our family to be a big reader. Everyone reads. In fact, when we all used to catch up for summer holidays, we would have a book each at the lunch table. Those were the good old days when we were not obsessed with our mobile phones. We would discuss various books, and characters and even act out some scenes. Living in the world of books has been a part of my life and I grew up reading complicated books like ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’ by the time I was 20. A bit too early in life I suppose,” recalls Sreepal.
It also helped that her house was filled with books. From a granduncle alone, she inherited over a 1,000 books. “The feeling of a pre-loved book is a different high. I used to find his boarding passes in the books and would imagine his experiences when he traveled the world and found these lovely books to enjoy,” she adds.
A Different World
She used to talk to her parents Sreepal and Sailaja Warrier about writing a book, but never found a story she was sure about pursuing. Years later, she randomly chanced upon the idea for her first book, ‘Dreams of Reality’. In fact the pandemic-induced lockedown fuelled her creativity, she says.
“I sat for 10 days straight and finished it. I could barely sleep those nights because the story was lit in my head like a bulb and it would not let me sleep till I put it down in words,” recounts the communications professional.
“I remember making tiny little flash cards to keep track of the story and asking my husband, Arvind Rao, to tell me what he thought of the storyline. Of course, he never knew the climax of the book till he sat and read the published book. Sci-fi is an exciting genre. You get to live in a different world with a different reality. X-men was my inspiration because I always believed that someday I might meet someone with the x-factor and superpower to save the world,” she notes.
The book is about Lena who is caught between her past and the present and she leaves the door open to allow her past to reappear. Throughout the book, the reader is trying to figure out what and why she is seeing things that are not real – is it hallucination or magic, one wonders, explains the author.
“You have to read it to find out. But I was very determined to make sure the girl is not saved by a guy, which happens a lot in the fairy tales we grew up on. The movie ‘Frozen’ was my inspiration where one sister saves the other. We women don’t need to be saved, we just need to be understood,” says Sreepal.
Getting a publisher for the first book wasn’t easy. After approaching a few publishers who were not very responsive to new writers, she got through to Notion Press – a publisher the new author says ensures authors get their due.
Why science fiction? It’s a genre she enjoys as a reader. The author believes that the magic realism and unlimited possibilities in fiction are things we should allow ourselves to enjoy. She believes in a different world of fiction.
‘Born to Run’
The lady with a love for the written word and flair for storytelling is also a marathon runner. It may have been the fear of putting on weight that started her off on the running journey, confesses Sreepal. Incidentally, her running was also influenced by a book,
“I never thought I could be a part of a marathon or an official race. That’s when a cousin of mine gifted me the book ‘Born to Run’. It is the best book to read for anyone remotely interested in running. It’s a cult in itself,” she says.
The book inspired her to do more than 5 or 7 kilometres. She also credits her first running coach Nirupama who ‘encouraged her like no one else ever’. She kept training with Nirupama and eventually other coaches. The love for running stayed and she even won second place in a 30K trail run. A plaque with her name on it stands next to her husband’s many cups won playing cricket and football. His encouragement has egged her on with the running too.
When she worked at Unisys, Sreepal was selected to run in the ‘City to Surf’ race in Sydney. The 14km run in the middle of winter ended at Bondi beach, which she notes is one of the cleanest beaches with the clearest water.
She runs in a different city or town every vacation, notes Sreepal, who has been to most races in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Mysuru and Delhi. She is now planning to run the Ladakh Marathon sometime soon. Even for the runner who has been at it for 15 years, that requires ‘a different level of training’. But she is keen to do it.
Writer Inspired
Sreepal’s favorite writer is Haruki Murakami.
“His magic realism is something I enjoy and I always have a hangover after reading one of his books. The recent book which I fell in love with is ‘The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared’. It’s a book everyone must read and experience his crazy journey. What I loved the most about the book was how he goes through life not planning too much and faces all kinds of situations with a brave face. He has no fear of death but he wants to keep experiencing new things. That’s how we should live our lives. Without fear, without planning too much and going through each experience with a strong face,” underlines the multi-faceted author.
She also mentions her other favorite author, Ruskin Bond. She grew up reading his short stories and watched nature closely.
“Living in cities we don’t see too many birds or bees at our windows, and we definitely don’t see strange creepy crawlies coming into our bedrooms. So we live vicariously through books. During a visit to Landour, I tried to meet him but could not but I did take a picture outside his house without disturbing him,” she adds.
She is now working on her next book and Bond may have had an influence.
“I was in Dehradun on a holiday with my husband when my publisher called me and said, ‘It’s ready to go live right now’. I remember a lot of people calling me to congratulate me (on the first book) and I had a very patchy network out there. To add to it, the power in the resort we lived at was out and the internet disappeared. So we just sat down, my husband and I, and we watched the rain coming down. And spoke about how life has changed over time and how proud he is of me. That’s when I knew, in the middle of Ruskin Bond’s peach and litchi trees, and the dark clouds, that I am going to write my next book soon,” she concludes.
