We here at Delhi Wire are here with Dr. Shadab Ahmed again, but this time for his other book A Quatrain of Moods, and this time with him we also have his co-author Dr. Malwiika Sisodiya.

Although, both the doctors have very busy schedules yet, they managed some time to give us their interview. We had a great time having a chit-chat with them and here it is for you to enjoy it.

Also, Don’t miss out their new book, ‘A Quatrain of Moods‘, it is available on Amazon now.

About the authors:

Dr. Shadab Ahmed was born and brought up in the resilient and magical North-East India, growing up between guns and roses. Moving pan-India at various ages, his voracious appetite for knowledge and wisdom led him into books, refining his perception and comprehension about the good, bad and wicked in life. He retains an inner child and has a combustible imagination. He is more adept into the administrative side of things and keeps a heavy hand and heart, though surgeons were always meant to be delicate and refined.

Dr. Malwiika Sisodiya Hails from the tribal, Naxalite infested & forested areas of Central India. She is naturally a keen observer and grew up having seen the good and bad in life. Despite all this, she is a big dreamer and nothing satiates her curiosity and perception towards the various bright and grey shades of life. She is a fashionista and retains both a strong and delicate feminine side as well as a vigorous and robust rugged heart. She is a pan-romantic, left-winged feminist vegan. She is an outstanding clinician and academician, boasting of national and international published researches corresponding to her specialisation.

Some glimpses of our conversation with Dr. Shadab Ahmed & Dr. Malwiika Sisodiya 🙂

1. If you had to give up either snacks or drinks during writing sessions, or music, which would you find more difficult to say goodbye to?

Dr. Shadab Ahmed – I would find it difficult to give up on drinks, I need the “Aqua Vitae” to keep my senses calmed down and to keep my writing skills refined and distilled. Guess I am letting go of my snacks and music then.
Dr. Malwiika Sisodiya – I like to sip on Lassi and Fruit Juices when am working, I think I will let go on snacks for the duration. Am a big music buff, but thankfully, keep music off when am working or writing.

2. Which is your favourite season to write in, and why?

Dr. Shadab Ahmed – Given freedom of choice, I would select winters and numbing cold, when the soul is in hibernation and entranced. You sense both genuine and delusional things then, and those things proposes new ideas. The ideas become a concept. But irrespective of season, I need downright solitude to write and think rationally.
Dr. Malwiika Sisodiya – My analytic powers are pronounced when it rains, I am a rain lover. It gotta be my favorite season to write in.

3. If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the world for a year while writing a book that took place in that same setting, where would you choose?

Dr. Shadab Ahmed – I would anyday select the good ol’ North-Eastern Indian mountain ranges to settle down for pursuing my cerebral interests. I started my first book here, I made candid observations on life here. I learned the good, bad and wicked here. There is always something new to see, something new to percept. My first family, my first love, my first success, my first failure. It has got to be the North-East India.
Dr. Malwiika Sisodiya – I am more of a civilized person, unlike Shad. If I get the opportunity, I will head to the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region in France for an year. I do have this nagging concept of a fiction in my mind, which I want to succulently put down in words, but the mood is not just clicking in. Maybe those cheese and baguettes there will help some bit.

4. How many drafts do your books generally to through before publication?

Dr. Shadab Ahmed – Usually, my books go through 3 draft revisions. The first revision is for grammatical errors and misprints, the second emendation is generally for alignment imprints. The final draft revision is post type-setting, positioning and sequencing. The book goes to the marketing phase then.
Dr. Malwiika Sisodiya – My books get edited a lot more frequently, since I mostly do academic book pertaining to my specialization. Once I have the draft ready and type-setted, I go through it frequently for some days, and keep making subtle revisions/corrections. There is always something new to put, new to share. I don’t regret it though.

5. How did you get the idea to write the book ‘A Quatrain of Moods’?

Dr. Shadab Ahmed – I have been composing poems and quatrains since long, maybe almost 10 years now. I wrote as a hobby, and the words often got submerged within the pages of some diary, where it was conveniently forgotten and live moved on one city to another, one hospital to another. Then Covid-19 came and with it came sudden lockdowns. At that time, the institution we both were working in saw startling and shocking number of Covid cases, and before we could comprehend “what and how”, the students and faculties were abruptly back home and life was in disarray. A handful of us faculties decided to stay back, we rose up to the challenge and uncertainty of those times. At one point in the lockdown period, probably it was a cold chilly Diwali night, Dr Malwiika snitched my diary and she triggered the decision which will subsequently become “A Quatrain of Moods”. We collaborated criminally and she took over the designing and art for the book, I concentrated on composing the quatrains. The idea was born, the waypoints were prepared and discussed. Today, we humbly present you the book.
Dr. Malwiika Sisodiya – Yes, I remember that lockdown period too, and Shad has described the notion of the book beautifully. That is how the idea of book was conceived. I did the cover designs and art myself. I totally loved it, I found a hobby and an interest. We both have never looked back since, and our criminal enterprise got established.

6. How do you think being an author of this book has helped you as a person?

Dr. Shadab Ahmed – Being an author comes with a certain level of challenge. The challenge to write more and expressively, to stick to your dedicated cognitive deadlines. This stimulates a certain level of self-discipline in your personality. When you improve the quality of your life, your overall quality improves as well. You make an impact around your environment as well. When people who don’t know me on a personal level come to know that am an author of several published books, they are genuinely surprised and acknowledge the fact with a sudden warm smile. In that tiny fraction of time, I see their own dreams and desires flashing in their eyes, resolving to be completed. Without a word exchanged, the message is conveyed. That is the beauty of the human emotions.
Dr. Malwiika Sisodiya – I found the tag of the “author” to be more exciting. What Shad wrote is true. When my old friends from school and college find out am an author, they are genuinely surprised and happy for me. To be honest, everyone wants to be an author, but seldom get the chance. Writing is easy, but to know what to write is the most challenging part.

Dr. Malwiika Sisodiya & Dr. Shadab Ahmed

7. What is the significance of the title of your book ‘A Quatrain of Moods’?

Dr. Shadab Ahmed – As this is my first published book, this book is exclusively special to me. I drafted and composed this book in the form of quatrains, using images/pictures to disclose the story. Each picture in the book conveys a subtle message in itself, keeping the story sporadically abstruse. The interpretation is left open to the readers, different individuals will expound and perceive
the anecdotes in conflicting ways. What makes this book unique is the fact that a majority of moods & emotions divulged in this book are actual life events, which happened with someone somewhere.
Dr. Malwiika Sisodiya – We both spent so many days selecting the title of the book. The title signifies the intention of the authors. The book is dedicated to the versatility of the human moods and emotions, their joys and happiness, their pains and sorrows. Let’s say it celebrates human life in general.

8. Last question, how would you define success as a writer?

Dr. Shadab Ahmed – I am far too humble to proclaim myself as a successful writer. Yes, several copies of my book has been sold. I have got warm and sultry reviews from strangers and friends alike, both nationally and internationally. My readers come from diverse multi-cultural socio-economic background. In their expressed cordial words, my raison d’etre is complete. I don’t write to monetize, I write for self-development and to sustain creation of knowledge.
Dr. Malwiika Sisodiya – I find success as an author beautiful and exciting. I like it when random strangers compliment me on my books. It is a different kind of feeling, something which not the money in the world can buy. Like Shad said, creation is beautiful. I do hope and pray someday I become an award-winning author. Shad never monetizes his work, so I keep that money safe with me.

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Image Credits: Clem Onojeghuo on Pexels.com

So it’s the end of november and for this month we are back with the top 10 books that you can read.

Whether you want a page-turning thriller, a gripping historical novel or a feel-good read, or a self-help book, we’ve got some great choices out this month.

So here is our list of Top 10 Books which you shouldn’t miss reading this month.

Happy Reading! 🙂

1. It Was Always You by Sudeep Nagarkar

Have you ever regretted a lost love?

Karan and Shruti are a happily married couple. Until Karan’s ex resurfaces in his life one day. Soon Karan finds himself getting nostalgic over matters of the heart and thinking fondly of his first romance. Will he put his steady and seemingly perfect marriage at stake for his ex-girlfriend?

Meanwhile, his best friend Aditya finds his own relationship with his wife Jasmine going through emotional turmoil. Will both friends work towards keeping their marriage afloat, or make a decision they would later regret?

2. The Living Mountain by Amitav Ghosh

A new story from internationally renowned author Amitav Ghosh, The Living Mountain is a cautionary tale of how we have systematically exploited nature, leading to an environmental collapse.

Recounted as a dream, this is a fable about Mahaparbat, the Living Mountain; the indigenous valley dwellers who live and prosper in its shelter; the assault on the mountain for commercial benefit by the Anthropoi, humans whose sole aim is to reap the bounty of nature; and the disaster that unfolds as a result.

The Living Mountain is especially relevant today when we have been battling a pandemic and are facing a climate Read More..

3. Ananda by Acharya Prashant

What is that one fundamental thing for which we go about toiling all our lives – sacrificing, negotiating, scheming, praying? Intuitively, one might answer – happiness. But do we really know what happiness is?

Most of the existing literature paints a fuzzy picture of happiness, beautiful in words but lacking in practicality. In this book, Acharya Prashant shatters all misconceptions about happiness jargons like ‘loving unconditionally’ and ‘living in the present’. He explains how what we commonly understand as happiness exists only in the backdrop of sadness, and what man is really looking for is not just happiness, but Ananda – an Read More..

4. Unlayered by Priyanka Dewan

The book is an endeavor to share some insights into perspectives of life that will enable one to stay positive and appreciate the beauty of life in all its glory.

The collection of quotes might appear random, however it depicts author’s journey into life. Author’s encounter of panoramic thoughts through life events witnessing highs and lows. As they say life is a true teacher, author believes that she is still work in progress however each time life has thrown its vagaries, author has churned out these quotes. Through these quotes Author has derived immense strength to remain afloat in adversities and at the same time score wisdom during steep adulations. Read More..

5. To Beyond and Back by Riya Kewalramani

With just a visit, Mother Nature revived the explorative spirit in Professor Robin. Having retired from a huge list of research, with the instance of snowflakes falling from the sky, he decided to carve his path towards his biggest discovery, alongside Professor Rekha Murray.

Searching for answers about our mind and space, they fled into a supernatural domain which was both hilarious and terrifying.

With a grasp of magic and fantasy, this transitional realm of superiority between science and religion, and the brain and the mind was a monumental struggle for these two Read More..

6. The Art of Winging It by Dr. Kaushik Sridhar

In this book, you will read about my life and learn how and why traditional structures and ways of doing things have never really worked for me.

Throughout my life, I’ve learned how to break away, make often frightening leaps, and forge my own path, flying by the seat of my pants! It’s not always easy to run against the wind. You will encounter resistance. You will have doubts and doubters. You will need an inner resolve, one that can be cultivated and enhanced. Having grown up in India, Nigeria, the United States, and now calling Australia home, I have found that when it comes to forging your own path, there are no established rules. You Read More..

7. A Sonnet for Every Day by Devidasan Vellat

The book ‘A Sonnet for Every Day’ subtitled ‘101 Musings of DD’ is a superb collection of sonnets written by Devidasan Vellat over a span of about six months. It has an extremely ardent style, characterized by fanciful, intertwined, methodical and variegated themes.

It is simply an exposition of all that is and that would be as far as mankind and universe are concerned. Further, it is a get back to or a revisitation of the sonnet form long after Shakespeare’s times. It deals with a unique description of the mundane and the extra-mundane influencing human life. The book is undoubtedly a fine emergent from the golden quill into Indian Poetry in English.

8. Distilled Musings by Dr. Shadab Ahmed & Dr. Malwiika Sisodiya

A Collection of Verses, Bards, Hymns, Poems, Qitahs, Masnawis, Muwashshahs, Sonnets, Zajals, and Couplets of famous Rhapsodists and Rhymesters of their respective eras – spanning the European Courts, Indian Darbars, Irish Taverns, British Pubs, American Diners, Russian Battlefields, Italian Countryside, Persian Winehouses, Mandarin Riverbanks, French Bistros, Spanish Twilights, Australian Deserts, and Mid-Eastern Prisons – all unified by the same celebratory euphoria and exhilaration of the “Aqua Vitae” which enraptured such critical and unique pieces of art and literature.

This book is written by Dr. Shadab Ahmed & Dr. Read More..

9. Mahabharata by Vibha Ashwin

The Hastinapura royals live a peaceful life, absorbed in singing their own praises?but they get a rude shock when their seemingly innocent, forest-dwelling cousins, the Pandavas, appear at their doorstep as competent young claimants to the throne. With the Pandavas and Kauravas both vying for the throne, Hastinapura is torn apart.

Everyone must choose their sides in the tumultuous war that ensues. Trapped in this chaotic competition are innocent warriors, helpless old men, sightless royals, guilty old women, and a certain child of the sun god, all having to choose sides in a war where despair is the only winner. Embark on this action Read More..

10. MEMOries by Satyen Chattopadhyay

MEMOries is a journey of a retired senior Indian bureaucrat from a joint family in central Calcutta [Kolkata] in a newly independent nation to the corridors of policy-making and power in New Delhi at a time when the nation was on the threshold of liberalization and globalization.

It is his tribute to a nation on its 75th anniversary through the central message that each of us can play a crucial role in nation building, in our own individual ways.

The author of this book is a retired bureaucrat of the 1959 batch of the Indian Defence Accounts Service [IDAS], possibly the oldest civil service in India, dating back to 1740. Born in a Read More..

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This is a month for celebrations. We know that you are busy enjoying yet we have a list of books for your TBR.

From gripping thrillers to literary gems, here are some brilliant reads out this month. 🙂

1. The Living Mountain by Amitav Ghosh

A new story from internationally renowned author Amitav Ghosh, The Living Mountain is a cautionary tale of how we have systematically exploited nature, leading to an environmental collapse.

Recounted as a dream, this is a fable about Mahaparbat, the Living Mountain; the indigenous valley dwellers who live and prosper in its shelter; the assault on the mountain for commercial benefit by the Anthropoi, humans whose sole aim is to reap the bounty of nature; and the disaster that unfolds as a result.

The Living Mountain is especially relevant today when we have been battling a pandemic and are facing a climate Read More..

2. The Illuminated by Anindita Ghose

‘When the light shifts, you see the world differently.’ A superbly nuanced work of fiction, Anindita Ghose’s first novel The Illuminated revolves around two women: Shashi and Tara.

After the sudden death of her celebrated husband, Shashi is alarmed to realize that overnight, she has lost her life’s moorings. Meanwhile, their fiercely independent daughter Tara, a Sanskrit scholar, has been drawn into a passionate involvement with an older man, which threatens to consume her in ways she did not imagine possible. Amidst a rising tide of religious fundamentalism in India that is determined to put women in their place, Shashi and Tara attempt to look at themselves, and at each Read More..

3. In an Ideal World by Kunal Basu

Altaf Hussein, a young Muslim student, has been abducted from his college hostel. The authorities have washed their hands off the matter and the police are accused of a cover-up. Rumors claim he has gone to fight the jihad in Iraq. More sinister rumors have him tortured and murdered for opposing the Nationalist students who are on a rampage to create a Hindu homeland in India, driving out Liberal supporters like Altaf and their decadent ideals.

The divide between Liberals and Nationalists invades the Sengupta household in Kolkata when Joy, a bank manager, and Rohini, his schoolteacher wife-both compassionate humanists-learn the shocking news that their only son Bobby Read More..

4. Paradigm Shift by Prateek Singh

In 2005, during the US-Iraq war, one of the most horrifying war crimes occurred in Haditha, Iraq. Daniel Ryan was going through a military trial for causing a massacre. During his trial, he was sent to a secret location in Israel.

He met a CIA official in Israel who guided him on his new journey to New York City. Rachel Green went rogue and was on the run in Syria. CIA and ISIS were trying to track her down. She knew something that the agency did not want the world to know. Meanwhile, ISIS was conducting a training program under which youngsters were targeted to execute deadly missions around the world. They found someone in the Zaatari Refugee Read More..

5. The Empty-Handed Altruist by Dr. Jyuthica. K. Laghate

The opulent were thrifty,
But the paupers, magnanimous!
It wasn’t charity of the ‘Big Bucks’,
But the role of a teary-eyed, starving elder brother
Feeding his baby brother, the grubs he collected from the garbs;
‘Benevolence’ and ‘charity’
Coming from the fist of the ‘Empty-handed’.

A doting boy, Manas, takes care of his infant brother, Manan, after his parents succumb to addiction and live like mere vegetables and wolves waiting for wild drinking and lying on the roads near the gutters whilst their two boys are trying to look at Read More..

6. The Highway by Prashant Pathak

Vijay, an electrical engineer sees the death of his family on the highway but failed to save any of them. He dedicates his life to saving every life on the highway. Vijay uses all that he gets from his money and education to save every life who meets an accident on the highway without any expectations.

The author of this book is an entrepreneur who has spent the last decade reading and writing.

The highway is his debut book, You can order this book from amazon & flipkart.

The book is also available in the kindle edition.

7. 108 Soft Morning Musings by Aalok Sood

Aalok has stirred up the ‘humans’ from their slumber with such strong messages that he has given through his ‘morning musings’. The musings make an effective read and are related to our day-to-day happenings!! The author has put across the thoughts in a subtle manner for us all to listen before it gets too late!! A wonderful piece of work by Aalok!!

– Yash Sharma, Managing Editor, Asian Tribune, Canada

The author is an ex-Indian Army Colonel. He is a Corporate Master Trainer and a Life and Business Coach. He can be termed as a ‘Human Resource Transformer’. He works on the rise of the ‘Human Intellect’, aligning the Ego, and balancing Read More..

8. My Mind’s Café by Juju’s Pearls

My Mind’s Cafe: 28 Stories for a Love Tooth, as the name suggests, is a collection of stories encompassing various elements of love.

In this book, the author has tried to cover a few major dimensions that everyone can relate to. Love is an emotion, a feeling, and it can be with anyone and anything. Love needs to be conveyed and expressed.

Besides the usual love between parents-children and man-woman, love is way beyond our thoughts and follows no rules. Love follows the heart. These stories are all about love? unconditional, unspoken, extra-marital, LGBTQ, conspiracies in love, Read More..

9. Portraits in Dignity by Eva Bell

Portraits in Dignity is a collection of twelve short stories of brave young women, who were subjected to different kinds of gender abuse and have emerged victorious. Each story resonates with their individual strength exhibited under difficult circumstances.

The author of this book is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists. She is also a freelance writer and her short stories and articles have been published in magazines, newspapers, anthologies, and on the Net. Her published novels are Silver Amulet, When Shadows Flee, Halo of Deceit, and Runaway Widow.

You can order this book from amazon & flipkart.

10. Unparenting by Reema Ahmad

Through her own awkward journey as a confused single parent, Reema Ahmad explores what it means to explore newer ways of bringing up children-ways that nurture their sense of innocence and curiosity while giving them the freedom to choose their own truths.

Reema invites you to hop along as she and her son, Imaad, learn to laugh and make up stories about why penises shape-shift, the mysteries of pubic hair, the magic of adolescent crushes, and the confounding maze of dating and sex. Join them as they explore these mysteries and other serious topics like abuse, adult relationships, divorce, and dying issues that adults Read More..

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