07 November, 2016

#Interview with Anupama Garg, #Author of The Tantric Curse

About the Author:

Anupama Garg is a student of Tantra and disciple of Baba Batuknathji , a well known Tantric and head of Bhoot Nath ashram, the main centre being Lucknow , Uttar Pradesh India. She is a post graduate in Chemistry, studied law and business administration.  She conducts experiential programs based on meditations, breathing techniques and introspection for organizations, students and hospitals.

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Interview with the Author:

When did you first realize that you wanted to be a writer/ a storyteller?
I am a student of Tantra and disciple of Baba Batuknathji, a Tantric and the head of BhootNath ashram, the main centre being in Lucknow, India. Media in general has maligned, misinterpreted and misrepresented Tantrics as dark mystical people, indulging in sinister activities. Often people get duped as they lack the understanding of what it is all about. They are lured by such people in the name of offering miraculous solutions to their problems. This also is primarily due to fact that there is nothing known about Tantra. I am not really a writer and often I would discuss with my Guruji about miscreants posing as Tantrics and maligning Tantra. It was then my Guruji recommended that I should write a book.

What inspires you to write?
This book was inspired by my Guruji “Baba Batuknathji” and my vidya “Tantra”.

How did you come up with the idea for your current story?
My Guruji directed me to write a book on Tantra which could be read and comprehended by a common person. There are enough scriptures and books about Tantra that hold no interest for a common person. Hence I decided to write the book in a story form which had all the ingredients like romance, sensuality, mystery to hold the interest of the readers.
I wrote this book as I wanted to bring out the truths of Tantra, certain facts to which I wanted to draw attention, and my concern is to get a hearing.

Are there some stories tucked away in some drawer that was written before and never saw the light of the day?
No, I have no such stories as of now.

Tell us about your writing process.
There is no process as such. I wrote The Tantric Curse at leisure when not travelling and was in a flow to write.

What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?
I like the beginning of the book as it is the point where the protagonist reaches her home irrespective of her biological parents and her Guru Satya also recognizes her. I believe in reincarnation and the fact that many workings of the universe are beyond our logical understanding.
I also personally like the scene where Rhea decides not to react to the negative vibrations sent to her by Bhairava to kill her, inspite of having the power to do so. She instead steps up to see the larger picture. However, she does not let the incidence pass and responds to the incidence by going to meet Bhairava. 

Did any of your characters inherit some of your own quirks?
Some great writers have quoted as belows:
“The best part of the fiction in many novels is the notice that the characters are imaginary.” 
― Franklin P. Adams
“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.”
—Virginia Woolf

Do you read? Who are your favourite authors and how have they influenced your writing style?
I am not an avid reader but I do read. I don’t have favorite writers but read whatever catches my fancy.

What is the best piece of advice you have received, as a writer, till date?
Keep your writing simple and easy, people don’t wish to sit with a dictionary while reading a book. 

What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?
There is no advise for writing, there can’t be as there is no fixed formula to write. However I do recommend reading and also reading subjects which are beyond one’s comfort zone. 

What would be the Dream Cast for you book if it was to be turned into a movie?
I would like a good director working on it and leave the casting to him.

How do you spend your free time? Do you have a favorite place to go and unwind?
I enjoy solitude and spending time in nature. Other than that I like dancing, reading, travelling and spending time with family and friends. I don’t go to any place to unwind, my favorite place to unwind is my home and my Babaji’s ashram and yes I like to shop !!

Can you share with us something off your bucket list?
I don’t have a bucket list and live the day doing little things that I wish to do. I believe do whatever you can today, who has seen tomorrow.

Tell us three fun facts about yourself.
- I am a very playful and non serious in my regular life. I am only serious in aspects that really demand gravity.
- I talk and discuss characters of books which I am reading as if they are real, a fact my family and very close friends have come to terms with. 
- I am a very good listener but after having a cup of coffee I am unstoppable and tend to talk very much and often when I am doing that a family member or close friend will ask “Have you had coffee?”

Is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers?
Before you have an opinion on Tantra and Tantrics do read “The Tantric Curse”. Don’t get exploited by people who claim to be tantrics, offering you solutions for everything at a price!! Be responsible for your own life and remember it is you who has to think and act to bring about a change in your life. I am not a writer but wrote as an attempt to dispel the myths about Tantra.

About the Book:

On an amavasya night, eight-year-old Rhea mysteriously lands at the doors of Shaktidham, a Tantric house of worship, in a trance. Realizing that she is blessed with unusual faculties, the guru of Shaktidham, Satya, chooses her as a disciple over his own son, Krishnam, to carry on his lineage, a privilege previously bestowed only to males. But the lineage has been cursed for generations, and it is up to Rhea to either break the curse or perish in the attempt.

Will she succeed in her endeavour? Will her love for Krishnam become an obstacle in her path? The Tantric Curse, an unusual story set in the world of Tantra that aims to dispel most of the myths about the practice, will keep you spellbound till the very last page.


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