Anuj Tiwari: From a small-town Sanksrit-speaking boy to an English-novelist
Having studied in a Sanskrit-medium school and watching other children read English books, life has come a full circle for small-town author Anuj Tiwari, who now has four novels in the language to his credit. But the journey has not been an easy one for Tiwari, who was born and brought up in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, where he dreamt of writing books. Here's more.
What did the novelist say about his dreams?
The small-town author said, "I have not read any book... I come from a school where there were no English books. Anuj Tiwari added, "Seeing my neighborhood reading colorful storybooks, I started building dreams about writing books rather than reading them as that looked fascinating, but I kept those dreams to myself for fear of being mocked at."
His determination led him to write his first book
Tiwari recollects that his Sanskrit was much better than his Hindi, and of course, than his English. But it was his determination to impress someone that led him to write his first book "Journey of Two Hearts" that changed everything for him. "Life is so stubborn and teaches us everything that we don't want to," the 29-year-old remarks about the seemingly daunting task.
Tiwari writes stories on real-life incidents
Two more novels followed in the next four years, turning Tiwari, who writes inspiring stories based on real-life incidents, into a motivational speaker too. Tiwari's latest "I Tagged Her in my Heart", brought out by Rupa Publications, hit stores recently. When asked why he has stuck to the same genre in his fourth novel, he insists that more than commerce, inspiration drives his writing.
I only write what inspires me: Tiwari
"I only write what inspires me. There are no commercial benefits I think about before writing a book, or there is nothing I am stuck at. I feel connected with what I write, and I make sure that my readers feel the same. I enjoy what I am doing, so that continues," Tiwari said. "And that's the sole purpose I continued writing," he added.
First two books are autobiographical, the other two inspirational
Tiwari said his first two books were autobiographical, and the other two were inspirational. "When we are in trouble, we know people cannot solve our problems, even the ones close to us. But we do need those people to provide us with a shoulder to cry on and to make us believe that we are not weak. My books are those shoulders," he said.
