Shrutee Choudhary - I Started Writing For Literary Fiction Platforms Like Terribly Tiny Tales, Frolic Media, Rattle, Etc. (Author)

What I love the most about poetry is how it could be interpreted in manifold ways. Its incoherent nature, the metaphors that urge you to contemplate and sit with emotions that would otherwise make you feel uneasy. Also, the fact that it comes from such a vulnerable place. I think it takes courage to be a poet.

1. Tell us about your background and journey?

I hail from the city of Ranchi but I’ve spent 4 years of my childhood in Bhutan. I have also lived in Toronto. I think being exposed to the vastness of the world at such a young age made my ambitions grow. I also used to read a lot and since a very young age, I knew what I wanted from my life.

So after completing high school, I moved to Bombay for college. I studied Mass Media and graduated in advertising from KC College. Post which, I went to NYFA in New York to study Acting for Film. Both writing and acting are of equal importance to me, although when asked to pick, I say writing is a passion whereas acting is a chosen profession. 

I started posting my poems on my Instagram and it was only when I started gaining an audience and the validation that came along with it, that I felt confident enough to continue doing so. That is when I started writing for literary fiction platforms like Terribly Tiny Tales, Frolic Media, Rattle, etc, and that helped shape my career as a writer.

2. What inspired you to write a book and what is it about?

I’ve always wanted to become an author. However, it had been a plan for the later stages of my life. The last couple of years have been tumultuous, to say the least. I got diagnosed with anxiety disorder and depression and that really changed my perspective. I used to be a woman with a plan but it was only when I was at my rock bottom when I realized you can’t control life. 

And now that we are in a pandemic, in the clutches of uncertainty, I realize more than ever, how important it is to embrace the present. Seize the moment. While I was struggling to understand my own thoughts, I wrote. Writing has always been therapeutic to me, a means of making sense of the chaos I’m constantly surrounded by, a catharsis of sorts. 

So I wanted others, who were going through mental health issues and felt alone just like I did, to also have a sense of healing and comfort. I wanted them to resonate with something. That is when I decided to not wait for a later time in the future but to publish a book now. So naturally, ‘A Garage Sale of Lovelorn Things’ is a collection of a hundred poems, which are about healing through letting go.

More often than not, we tend to assign meaning to inane objects and hold onto them. It is a metaphorical yard sale where I urge people to let go of the emotional baggage and objects associated with them. To declutter their lives to make space for better things to come.

3. What fascinates you about poetry?

What I love the most about poetry is how it could be interpreted in manifold ways. Its incoherent nature, the metaphors that urge you to contemplate and sit with emotions that would otherwise make you feel uneasy. Also, the fact that it comes from such a vulnerable place. I think it takes courage to be a poet.

4. How do you keep yourself inspired and motivated?

I think it’s impossible to keep yourself inspired and motivated at all times. But I try doing so by surrounding myself with things that bring me joy. Whether it is a simple morning routine of making myself a cup of coffee while listening to jazz, or making sure I travel or explore frequently.

I also do so by reading, a lot. That’s a means of exploring too. And by watching a lot of cinema. Another thing I like to do is to have deep, meaningful conversations with people I’m really comfortable with or close to. Trying to be present in the present and allowing myself to be as deeply moved by life is also a great source of inspiration.

5. Who do you admire the most and why?

I think I admire both my parents a lot but my mom has played a crucial role in developing my love for literature and for inculcating the habits that made me into the writer that I am. She also inspires me to be a better woman every day, simply by existing.

6. Which is your favorite book and why?

I have a lot of favorites but the one book that has had a great impact on me is ‘To The Lighthouse’ by Virginia Woolf. I love it for its thought-provoking nature. It urges you to introspect the complex human emotions and relationships with its play on perspectives. It’s also a feminist novel.

Shrutee Choudhary

Interviewed By  - Khushi Garg