In a conversation with author Tina Sadhwani

Hello readers,

Today we have on board, the beautiful Tina Sadhwani a writer of Indian Philosophy and Vedic Culture. She is a passionate researcher of Eastern Dharma-Schools, Yogic Mysticism, and ancient Puranic Literature. She has a Masters degree in Psychology, and has taught Indian and Transpersonal Psychology at Montfort College, Bangalore.

So without further delay, let’s get started!

Hello there, I am a student/disciple of the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo. I have done my Masters in Psychology and taught Transpersonal Psychology at Montfort College. About writing, well, the journey was never just about writing for me, because I don’t even carry the regular pre-requisites — I don’t have a good memory, I don’t have that literary bent of mind, and I don’t even specialize in any particular genre. So I would say that my journey is not really the journey of a scholar or a writer, but the journey of a seeker, a devotee, or a pilgrim, because as long as I can remember, all I have had is this intense passion for ancient Indian teachings, and in the process of learning and gathering this mystical knowledge, the experience of writing has somehow magically manifested on its own.

The first book that made me cry was Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. It was so powerfully moving, so poignant that I could feel everything that the character was going through… the betrayal, the unjust fate of being incarcerated, the loss, the final redemption. I have never, before or after this book, ever encountered a character so real and impactful.

I don’t know about the traditional publishing industry, but I haven’t so far encountered any unethical practices in the self-publishing industry since the author is in full control of the process.

Thinking about writing, or planning the book stresses me out. But the actual writing process, when it comes in a natural flow, energizes and liberates me.

According to me the biggest trap that an aspiring writer will face is the feeling of being compelled to write what is popular, what will be accepted by the masses or what will sell in the market. I feel that this will always obstruct the writing process. The American author, Jeffrey Carver, once said, ‘write from the soul, not from some notion of what you think the marketplace wants, because the market is fickle, but the soul is eternal.’ The writer Toni Morrison also put it very aptly, he said that ‘if there is a book that you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it’. So to avoid this trap I feel we should write what our soul most eagerly wants to read.

I feel a big ego can only hurt us as writers because it makes us get attached to the results, and this leads to developing all sorts of great expectations. Then our whole focus shifts from the process and the work, to the ‘results’ of the work, which is actually never in our hands.

The answer to this is still a mystery to me, and even today I wonder where the ideas for the Shiva book came from, because it wasn’t inspired from research, imagination or anything outside in this world. I am a big fan of the Goddess, Shakti, and so the first book was still within my field of knowledge. But Shiva, I practically know nothing about him. He has always been an enigma for me, and I often feel that he cannot be known by the human mind. And so the second book, I had no plans or thoughts about it, because I couldn’t even pull anything out of my imagination. And so this may sound absurd, but what happened was that, in my altered dream states and states of deep meditation, there would appear an intense energy, a moving Force, which would transform into streaming images, inspirational flashes, sound bytes of dialogues, sudden insights and momentary intense experiences. It felt as though I was watching a big screen movie. And so all I did was record everything that I saw and heard. And this is how all concepts and ideas of the second book were downloaded from that subtle and mysterious database.

Yes. Sometimes I cannot read anything for months at a stretch or even a whole year.

Yes, I did. And I still often do consider writing under a pseudonym, because detaching from my identity enables me to write better, to explore greater world-views and vaster fields of thought.

I am by nature very sensitive to the collective mind and to what people feel or need. Yet, when it comes to writing I only put down what comes to me by inspiration. Sometimes I do not even write what my mind wants to write, because I feel the mind is often influenced and conditioned by society. So I only follow the inner calling. In this regard I relate to what author Alfred Kazin said, that ‘the writer writes in order to teach himself, to understand himself, to satisfy himself; the publishing of his ideas, though it brings gratification, is a curious anti-climax’.

I am friends with two other authors, Prashant Saxena and Shama Patel. They both write non-fiction. Sharing the journey with them has made it more enjoyable and even easier for me to face challenges as an author, because I feel that most fellow-writers would have an inherent and almost intuitive understanding of each other.

Yes, I am trying to build an integrated and multifaceted universe where all stories, themes, characters and plots are interconnected. The very foundation of my series is the ancient civilization of India and its magical heritage, and so in a way I am trying to bring back this entire arcane world.

That’s a lovely question, because by nature I am prone to OCD, to episodes of anxiety and stress. And so looking back now I would love to tell my younger writing self to not think so much, to not worry so much, to let go of the control, because there is an intrinsic intelligence guiding the universe by which everything unfolds beautifully on its own, with or without us stressing about it.

The best money I ever spent as a writer was on trips to the Himalayas and mountainous regions. I find the deepest inspiration and greatest ideas coming to me only when in nature or in other such sacred spaces.

So that's all for now, keep reading and keep writing everyone and we'll keep bringing you more such content, take care!

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