A conversation with Riddhi Pranay Waghle, author of To petrichor, published by Bluerose Publishers
- Tell us about yourself.
Ans. I am the girl you see sitting in a park with a notebook and pen, the kind of person you see walking alongside an elderly couple, secretly admiring them, or the one who keeps short notes in the restaurants I visit, for someone who’d come to clean my table after I leave. I have been the happy-go-lucky person since my childhood, yet I grew up believing that books make better friends. I find poetry, my safe place, my home. I am pursuing English Literature currently, and with all my passion. Besides, I wish to make people read more poetry, because verses don’t lie, and lately; we’ve stopped Living and just started Surviving. I find solace in verses, and soul in fiction. I sincerely feel that words have more power, if directed correctly.
- If not being an author, what was your dream in life?
Ans. My impulsive trait has taught me to be versatile. I studied Science up to class 10, Commerce in Senior Secondary, and Currently, I am going with Arts. Since I like trying new things, there is no One Dream I could’ve turned into reality, if I wasn’t an Author. But I would have gone with Travel Journalism to satisfy my Wanderlust. This is on my list, for the time being. I had started writing since a very young age, since the days I had newly turned a teenager. When kids my age would wander around with their friends on their bicycles, I would hawk fiction to tuck my mind and conscious in them. My love for books is irreversible. It can be said, I haven’t really known anything else apart from Reading and Writing.
- Who do you attribute your success to?
Ans. I was the student in the class, who would never get up on herself to take a stand, or even answer a question, even if I had practiced it a ten times in my notebook, and was confident about it. Everything was running fine, until I wrote my first poem. It was class 8, and I straight went to my English teacher Mr. Rajendra Singh Aluna, who not only appreciated me for that piece of verse, but also encouraged me to write more and interact more. The seed had germinated, and it brought confidence, light, hope and positivity as it grew. My paths were now clearer than before, my ship was ready to sail.
Secondly, it is my family, my home. Not only I learnt the basics of my Native language, but the basics of Life; to give, to forgive, and to achieve. I know, my parents live their life in installments, that we (I and my sister) bring to them as we walk each step towards our dreams, to conquer life. They have wholly shaped me to be a better version of myself till the day I die. Their enormous support is the reason why everything that I have achieved, was marked. So this, is for them. For making me a good human being first, and to let me design my life in my own way, to make things the way I want, to keep me in the limelight.
- Any message you would like to give to your readers?
Ans. ‘To Petrichor’ is a creation solely from the Heart. Each word, each verse has been felt with a lot of Gravity not only to be written, but also to make others feel the same depth as they read it. I feel readers are as important as writers, but being a good critique as you read, is more than important when it comes to a path full of writers. Find art, is also an art, which starts when you read good, and you read more.
The book I present to you, is a rollercoaster ride from 9pm to 3am, from 4:30 pm to 10:30 pm. It has perspectives, it has sentiments, it shows both, male and female perspectives, but in the end; it isn’t what I felt once, it is what we all feel every day. It is when we call take up our call and answer the universe. It is when we all, randomly find ourselves sitting and smiling, and that; is exactly when we react to the signs sent by the Universe. I sincerely hope, you find yourself in the pages of this book, that you find yourself smiling randomly as you recall one of the verses that you most connected to.
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