Aashisha was chosen as one of the 75 pan-India authors under 30 for the PM-YUVA scheme for her work of historical fiction with National Book Trust, India. She was the winner of Times of India Write India Season 2 for Shobhaa De and among the top 6 for both Manu Joseph and Twinkle Khanna. She wrote for various Readomania anthologies and e-books by Women’s Web and Inside IIM. Her articles have appeared in The Hindu and she has a Star Wars fan fiction column on SilverLeaf Poetry. A winner of Kaafiya (the Delhi Poetry Festival), she showcases her short stories on Readomania Premium. An MBA from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, and a computer engineer from Jamia Millia Islamia, she reads and travels compulsively, and blogs on her online diary of sorts—The Mind Bin. Her debut novel by Rupa Publications is releasing on 1 Sep, 2022
1. From working in sales and marketing to authoring a book – it’s an interesting journey. Please tell us more. What was it that encouraged you to write a book? How much time did it take you to write Mis(s)adventures of a Salesgirl? What were some of the biggest challenges in the writing process?
> I will be honest, the transition wasn’t tough for me since I have been a self-confessed dabbler and have dreamed of becoming a writer since childhood. I have been straddling two careers since college, working as a sales manager by day and scribbling down ideas by night. However, the novel I wanted to pen down five years ago was a different one than the one I ended up writing. It was the sheer overwhelming experiences I had as a sales manager that whitewashed my perspective and gave me a fresh outlook of what it is to be a people manager, especially a woman leader. The glass ceiling, casual sexism, intellectual assault were all just words for me once; when I started writing MOAS, they became a reality. I felt I needed to create something that would be a story handbook for anyone who has just stepped into the professional world and wants to know what the industry is like, especially, the one of sales, and more importantly, how it is like for a woman who is looking to grow and lead in sales.
I wrote the book in phases. The first phase was the diary scribbling one – nothing made sense but everything I wrote felt important to me. And that was done within two months. It was when I went back to those entries a year later when I realized I wanted to tell a bigger story and then the actual writing began which went on for another three months. But I would say that writing was the easier part. It was far more arduous to edit, refine and basically decide which paragraphs need to be trashed and what needs to be kept. By the time the editing process began, I developed an almost umbilical attachment to my writing and it was a humongous task to detach myself from the manuscript and be a critic. I would say that was one of the most insurmountable challenges I faced while writing the book. Then there is that weird voice inside you which keeps harping on about how awfully you write and how desperately you need to chuck it in the bin and start afresh. And of course, there are the outside voices- the people and your life that surrounds you that keep you from your fortress of solitude where you cocoon yourself to write. If you can get over these, you will be far ahead as a writer.
2. Please tell us more about Mis(s)adventures of a Salesgirl. The book is based on your own experiences in sales and marketing, right? How, and in what ways? What are some of the highlights of the book, and the most notable escapades of the book’s protagonist?
> Yes, this book is partly autobiographical and the sales anecdotes mentioned in the novel are almost all true. Even the horrible ones, yes. Sales is for the thick-skinned, someone told me once. Today, I feel one needs a snake’s skin to survive sales, a skin which one can shed as and when needed. The whole coterie of salespeople, managers, and leaders in sales have historically inspired a lot of memes; I now realize why they are memes; it’s because they are true and what better way to express truths than couch it in a joke? Maybe this book is a joke. You might enjoy it.
For me, the highlights are the times Ena, the protagonist, makes a fool of herself- be it atop a glass table, trying to save herself from dogs or on a ‘date’ with her mentor/manager. I especially enjoyed the part where she plans for Pondicherry (well, she doesn’t…but that you can find out in the book). The entire trip is the highlight for me and I personally wanted to keep writing about it, perhaps add a few more beaches, extend it by a few more nights… the Pondicherry bit is important also because I mentioned ‘Lakshmi’, the elephant at a historic temple in Pondy who recently breathed her last. I feel a strange connect with her and am so glad she is alive in the book and will always be there.
Ena has been shown as a plucky, funky, spunky girl who will stop at nothing and no one to achieve what she wants to achieve. If she has decided she wants something, she will go to any lengths to make it happen and that is a quality I personally find admirable and romantic. I remember penning down the Mahabalipuram escapade, the call to her stalker and the whole bike fiasco. Imagining the scenes made me cheer up at the end of a fatiguing day and I hoped they would produce the same effect on my readers.
Here is one of my favorite episodes:
‘It’s really hot, isn’t it?’ the Sales Director asked her, eyeing her blazer. It was a pertinent question since she was possibly the only person in all of Chennai in full formals that day.
‘Oh, yes,’ she replied, her black blazer causing prickles in all the wrong places. ‘Although, I have seen it get hotter in Delhi.’
‘Blazers and all are not to be worn in this climate,’ he said, smiling. Ena wished she could wipe that smug smile off his face. Yeah well, my utter lack of common sense, she thought to herself, reddening and sipping the milk, which had been sweetened to death.
Who on earth offers people hot, disturbingly sweetened milk at the height of summer for God’s sake?
The tiny shop suddenly looked like a bevy of corporates had descended on it. The only shop boy in there seemed to have gone a little crazy, handing out his tea cups and emptying his sugar canister into them.
‘Yeah, the heat made the poor girl tired and she fell asleep in the car,’ Anand added innocently.
Ena glared at him. Really, Anand?
The Sales Director erupted in laughter, ‘Oh, I have seen it happen before.’
Great start, Ena.
‘I will be off then.’ After some conversation, the Director and his retinue continued on their market visit, leaving Anand and Ena behind.
‘So, you have met Uncle before, huh?’ Anand asked her. ‘Uncle?’ she asked him, confused. ‘Aah, I am sorry! I forgot to tell you the Sales Director is a
distant uncle of mine, although I don’t address him so at work,’ Anand said with a grin.
Ena grimaced.
‘But I do know all the titbits and gossip, you know,’ Anand continued conspiratorially. ‘You better watch out. Not for no reason is my uncle called the Komodo Dragon.’
She smiled weakly and tried to return the jest, ‘Why Komodo? Why not just Dragon?’
‘Because the name Dragon has been given to the GBM of the
Chennai region,’ Anand said in all seriousness. ‘You saw the man who gave away the prizes? Mr Nagavenkata N.? Or Naga sir, as he is commonly known...he is the one.’
Ena spluttered, spilling milk all over her shirt. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to chuckle or be wary. They had used such little creativity in crafting the name—‘Naga’ in Sanskrit, at a far stretch, translated to ‘Dragon’ in English.
[For the above question, I would also request that if possible, please give us a 300-400 word excerpt from your book. It can be from any chapter that you find most interesting, and which most closely mirrors your own experiences in sales and marketing.]
3. You have also written short stories, which have been published in newspapers and various anthologies. What kind of short stories do you enjoy writing most? Are the characters in these stories based on people you’ve met in the real world? What’s your own personal favorite genre when it comes to short stories?
> As I said before, I am a dabbler and I have dabbled widely and freely in different genres like romance, erotica, crime, mystery, historical fiction, and mythology. I guess I enjoy writing slice of life stories that have a deeper meaning somewhere. Perhaps, it mirrors the innate human desire for meaning and purpose, something that is common in all of us. My stories are definitely inspired by real life, just like all stories, I believe, are.
I doubt any writer has ever written anything completely from their imagination. Even science fiction works like Star Trek, Invisible Man, The Three-Body Problem, Snow Crash etc. have all sorts of characteristics that exist somewhere within our observable universe. So, yes, my stories have real believable characters you may see walking around in your school, home, workplace, market; or maybe you will find yourself in the tales I concoct.
My favorite kind of short stories are witty, mischievous and deep ones; stories that jump out of the book to talk to you, tease you till they get under your skin and speak your language. Like ‘The Open Window’, ‘The Gift of the Magi’…I don’t know what genre they belong to but they are my favorite kind and I love to write them. 4. Do you also read a fair bit? If yes, what kind of books do you enjoy reading? Any favourite genre? Favourite authors? Any favourite Indian authors? Any writers/authors whom you consider your idols and whose work may have inspired your own writing?
> To say I read a fair bit would be a bit unfair because I read like my life depends on it, which probably does. I can’t imagine a world without books. They have shaped me into the person I am today. I read all kinds of books, right from fairy tales, armchair detective stories, action-packed racy thrillers to profound philosophical stuff as well as dry clinical and complex books. In short, I am nuts for the written word. But since you ask, my favorite genres would be contemporary fiction, dystopian, philosophical, romantic tragedies as well as comedies. Toni Morrison, Jane Austen, George Orwell, Margaret Atwood, Jostein Gaarder…I can go on. And then there are Rabindranath Tagore, Ruskin Bond, Arundhati Roy, Jerry Pinto, Amitav Ghosh. Every writer creates a haven for their reader and shapes their personality if the reader lets them. All the above writers worth emulating and idolizing are those who made me think and feel differently and for that, I will always be indebted to them. I remember when I was a kid, I always wanted to meet Ruskin Bond and Enid Blyton, and I have always thought of them as the literary benchmarks. I do believe that every writer has a different message to send to their readers but I would like to deliver my message as effectively as the two above did.
5. Would you like to name the three books that you have read in recent years, which you found most memorable? Why do these books stand out among all others that you may have read? Any books in particular that you’re looking forward to reading in 2023?
> Three would be too small a number for impactful books but my top three would be Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert Pirsig), A Man Called Ove (Fredrik Bakman) and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman). These books have a heart, a deeply beating pulsing heart that tears you from inside, makes you experience deeply and then stays somewhere in you. I have a huge list of books I am greedy to read and the list keeps going up with the list of foods I want to try. I regret not having read Don Quixote till now despite having visited the birthplace of Cervantes, the author. So, maybe I should start with that. I would also love to read a science fiction highly recommended by a friend – Neuromancer. And there is the whole Colleen Hoover bandwagon I haven’t yet gotten on. So, 2023 looks busy books-wise
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