“I’ve written this book as something that only lightens the mind and I’ve made sure that it doesn’t victimise homemakers,” remarks Delhi-based Payal Mittal Talwar about her recently-released book, Kanta Bai Pvt. Ltd, which is a story about a work-from-home mother, who sees humour in everything, amidst chaos, drama and multiple challenges. Owing to its quirky, yet thought-provoking nature, the book has been getting warm responses from the readers.
Kanta Bai Pvt Ltd: Musings of a Homepreneur Notion Press pp.132, Rs 249
Payal tells us that she doesn’t take life too seriously and that the book is a mere reflection of that. “I’ve been working from home for a long time and I’ve had several interesting experiences while managing and balancing chores at home, work, raising my children and more. I’ve always been passionate about reading and writing — I’ve written for army journals and things like that, and this year, I wanted to take a step upwards and came up with Kanta Bai,” the mother of two children says and adds that she got the idea of penning the incidents which she previously used to share as Facebook posts. “But as soon as I started to treat it as a book, I was able to structure it perfectly and everything fell into place,” she remarks.
Speaking about the impact she wishes the book makes, the author says, “I just thought of penning the everyday routine of a ‘super-mom’. I love humour and the basic concept of the book is that all mothers struggle to find an identity for themselves. While this struggle for being someone surfaces, they should also realise that there are a lot of funny things that happen in their life and if they take them on a lighter note, it would help them immensely.”
Payal also states that a book has to be personal for it to be effectively communicated in words. “There’s a lot of myself in Kanta Bai. And traits of my children, my husband, and even my dog are also there! Apart from this, the book is also hugely inspired by my friends’ lives. For example, there is a part about a woman joining a gym and about the difficulties she faces in allotting time for that — it’s inspired by my friend. And, I’ve also written about the challenges in raising kids — I think it has come out very well and exactly the way I wanted it to. The name Kanta Bai was suggested by my daughter.”
Quite happy with the feedbacks she has been getting for the book, Payal, who’s a huge fan of Shashi Tharoor’s writings, states, “Many felt that my style of writing is similar to that of Twinkle Khanna’s. I don’t want to be presumptuous, but I think people like the story because it’s conversational. The most interesting thing is, even men like the book — they say that it’s fascinating to read something from a woman’s perspective.”
On a concluding note, Payal gives a word of advice for mothers who would wish to take up writing. “I would say, take out time for yourself. If something’s a passion for you, it should to be done. Don’t hesitate, just start,” she says and takes leave.
