(Nominated in the category of English Non-Fiction for the REC-VoW Book Awards, 2019)
Excerpts from the interview with Roohi Soni:
By Tanya Singh
Your book is inspirational, and is really motivational for people of all ages in the world today. What are the things that you do to keep yourself mentally fit and to be able to inspire so many others?
Before writing this book, I worked on my mind, my thought process. I started spending time with myself, analysing what are my requirements and what things are important for me in life. As a female, that too in Indian Society, I always consider myself to be trapped in different circumstances. I start spending time with myself, analysing my priorities and visualising the things I want to be in my life. Before I started writing this book, I underwent many changes. I dropped all the negativity and started working towards the positive things of my life. Now I have fewer thoughts that are positive ones. I meditate for a few minutes daily, a few times, sometimes more, whenever I feel like and want to regularise my thoughts and mind.
What was the process of writing like for you? Was it cathartic as well? Towards Success also has exercises to help its readers on their journey, which is an added bonus to the book! Why did you think it important to include this element in your writing?
It was really a great experience. During the process of writing, I learnt many things, as these were coming out of me i.e. my mind and my life experiences. The true happenings of my life, the events that inspired me, and the moments that made me despair affected me a lot. All of my emotions worked together to form an inspirational and motivational piece of work. Yes, it was cathartic, as I felt the presence of an invisible force that led me to jot down everything that I felt and experienced throughout my life. Writing gives me pleasure, inspires and motivates me to go through the toughest situations with a very peaceful bent of mind. The exercises included in the book are to make the words of ‘Towards Success’ practical. While solving these exercises, I feel that readers get engaged and involved with the various chapters of the book.
How long did it take you to write this book, and how did you conceptualise the idea for it?
It took almost six to eight months to write this book. To be very honest, initially, I used to write with a pen and paper, then I had to type it on my laptop so it took double the time to complete it. After the completion of my previous assignment in my job, I thought of working on my mind and to follow my passion of writing. Even very small incidents affect my mind and life, so I thought of writing my experiences in the shape of a book.
Roohi Soni hails from Chandigarh. She happens to be an advocate. Her initial education was from Chandigarh and the remaining from different parts of Punjab due to the transferable job of her father. She has done her graduation from MCMDAV College, Chandigarh, her post-graduation is from the Government College, Hoshiarpur, Punjab, and Law Graduation from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab. She has done various private and public assignments. She worked as a teacher, coordinator, principal, Court Auctioneer, and President (Judge) District Consumer Forum. Presently, she practices at the Punjab and Haryana High Court as an advocate and is also a motivational speaker and counselor. She has deep inclination for the matters regarding self help and self growth. Her book ‘Towards Success’ is transformation of soul, a journey towards success.
For the complete interview, log onto www.valleyofwords.org
