Five Questions with Anupama Dalmia

 

Today, in Five Questions, we have the extremely talented, Anupama Dalmia, who wears many hats with great aplomb. No easy task this, I bet! 
Let us hear how

she does it, so that we too can take a leaf or two from her. So here we go!

Santosh Q 1: We know you as a multiple award - winning blogger, influencer, author, multi- faceted entrepreneur, choreographer and social activist. Tell us something about the real you.  In moments of solitude, what important conversations do you have with your inner self? What are the doubts \ apprehensions \ misgivings \ that plague you at times?

Anupama: What people know of me is also the real me, just that it is only a subset of me. All my life, I have always been someone people have opened up to and I have been there for everyone to provide support and comfort. Due to this, somehow I find it tough to show my vulnerabilities to my loved ones. They are so used to seeing me as a strong and wise and sorted person and somewhere, I also started living up to that expectation. I have realized over time that holding back is not good for me and in my moments of solitude, I try to understand myself. Not the Anupama the world knows but the one within me who probably does not get heard often by my own self. It is an essential process of self-discovery which is continuous and I think gradually, I can say that I have gotten to know myself better. For me, it is important to acknowledge and accept my flaws so that I can be a better person. I am blessed that so many out there love and respect me immensely, and am truly grateful for that. But, I also want to say that I am like just any other person - flawed, struggling and trying to find myself in this journey called life. 

 

 Santosh Q. 2:  All of us have our vulnerabilities, whims, fancies, idiosyncrasies – just in differing degrees. All of us are mad here, as someone so wisely said, but I consider myself the maddest –much to the absolute discomfiture of my family members and have no qualms about wearing my madness on my sleeve! Well, what would life be without flaws and trying to find oneself in this endless struggle?
In this struggle of yours, tell us how your e-novella Aarohi happened?  How do words treat you \ how do you treat words? Can you make them dance to your tune – you being a very popular choreographer.

Anupama: That is an interesting question! Well, how I wish I could make words dance to my tune :) Words often play hide and seek with me. There are times when they seem elusive. There are also times when it feels like I was chosen by them to take the shape of a story from my pen. And I thoroughly enjoy this game. I am a person who focuses a lot on the 'feel' while writing. So, whenever I write, I start feeling the emotion and the words flow - raw and unpolished. Once I let it all out, I then refine my writing keeping my readers in mind. I know my writer friends and readers are going to kill me for saying this but I feel I am an average writer who has a long way to go. I love this process of growing and learning. 

Santosh:  Yes, I know, one is always learning – I learn a lot from my students – every moment, every second and feel so enriched.

Anupama: The story of "Aarohi" was there within me for a while but I was not able to get down to putting it on paper. That time, my daughter was quite small and it used to be difficult to write for long stretches. Then one day I read about the Amazon KDP Pen to Publish contest and I decided to give it a try. I realized I had less than two days to meet the deadline so for a moment I thought I should chuck the idea. However, the writer in me pushed me to give it a shot and I ended up writing 5k+ words novella alongside taking care of an unwell toddler in a short span of time.
Initially, the name of the novella was something else but I had to change it because it was giving away the plot of the book. The name "Aarohi" was suggested by a dear friend Maitabi after reading my novella manuscript. When I finally published the e-book, I had no expectations whatsoever from it. But, I have been totally overwhelmed by the love "Aarohi" has been receiving from not just family and friends but also readers whom I do not know personally. The book was among the top 3 in Goodreads list of Top Kindle Reads for the year 2018 from Indian Authors. It was also featured on Women's Web among the "Must Read 9 kindle books from Indian women authors". As of today, it has 67 reviews on Goodreads with a rating of 4.2 and this makes me content because "Aarohi" is a one-woman show. 

Santosh Q 3:  This is indeed heartwarming. May all your future literary endeavors be crowned with more and more success
 Yes, we would also like to know something about Rhythms and Beats –your dance enterprise, and Tingle your taste Buds – your award winning cookery website.  

Anupama: Dance is my first love. My mom says I used to dance passionately from when I was 3 years old. Even today, I say that dance is so much me. It is my essence. If there are different avatars of me in a room depicting different facets of me, 'Anupama, the dancer' will be right in the centre ready to take on the world. For me, whatever be the question, dance is always the answer. I am a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and always harboured a dream to become a choreographer. When I resigned from Infosys, it was to fulfill this dream. Writing and mentoring happened much later, but initially it was the love for dance that pulled me towards it. I did a summer workshop at Shiamak Davar's Institute and also performed for their summer funk show. This experience further cemented my resolve to pursue dancing as a career. However, after childbirth, it took me a while to get back to dancing and choreographing again. And when I resumed, "Rhythms & Beats" was born. The tagline of "Rhythms & Beats" is 'We make your soul dance' because that is what dance is about, according to me. Through this enterprise, my vision is to promote the emotional and physical well-being of people via the medium of dance. It is so therapeutic and the best way to stay fit. I always try to come up with different concepts and endeavour to incorporate varied dance styles in my choreography during my workshops. I have also conducted some one-of-its-kind public events like Dance Marathon and Dance Relay. 

Santosh: Do you have some mantra for making people like me dance – people with two left feet! Jokes apart, whatever you are doing is indeed commendable. Kudos to you for your passion and spunk.

Anupama: "Tingle Your Taste Buds" is special because it is a venture I run along with my mother. So, when I resigned from Infosys to pursue my passions, I felt that I should also help my mom pursue hers. As kids, we do not realize these things much but as a grown up, I knew that she had let go of many of her dreams for our sake. During those days, she did not have the support to do what she loves. She has always been a passionate cook and dreamt of opening her own restaurant which never happened. I thought that it was my turn now to empower the woman who empowered me. She was initially hesitant because she was not at all internet savvy at that point but upon my insistence, we launched the brand as a small cookery page on social media in April 2012. After that, with great support from my husband and my father, we grew from strength to strength. Today, our website is an award-winning portal and we also have our own cookery e-book published. Our story has been covered by many coveted platforms, "The Better India" being one of them. I guess people find the idea of a mother-daughter venture unique and inspiring. I honestly do not want to be considered a hero for doing something for my Mom. This is the least I can do for her. 

 Santosh Q 4: Passions are very important in life, they make life very meaningful and worth living, but I have come across many youngsters who are driven by no passion; they stumble and tumble through life with stooped shoulders and lackluster body language. Your advice to them.  

Anupama: Passion is everything for me. Whenever someone asks me, "How do you do all that you do?” my answer is always that it is passion which gives you the zeal, courage and drive. I feel people tend to focus too much on the end result and hence, that passion may be missing. Whenever you do something, think about why you want to do it? There is too much hurry to reach pinnacles without realizing that it is the journey which will make it possible. There is no point in chasing success because success is an outcome of different factors. Enjoy the process and use your talent to the fullest. The joy it will bring you is priceless. Lazy, half-hearted efforts or short-cuts are not your stories. Your stories are in what and how you create and impact. Keep exploring yourself and you will forget about the results as the genuine high of doing something worthwhile is unparalleled. 

Santosh Q 5:  “Those thousands of wishes lying crammed up in the box of adulthood………… While we are busy ticking away our bucket lists, we can also create our wish lists. “This is how you write about why we need to dream, in one of your blog pieces in Momspresso.com, Hazaron khwaishen aisi.
 
Yes, I am a die -hard dreamer too, and guilty of dreaming with my eyes open. In fact, one of my essays in my book, Flights from my Terrace is titled, Dream on, and is closest to my heart as there I try to tell my six year old daughter why it is important to dream. Yes, dreams are very important.  
Tell me which of your many dreams is closest to your heart at present.  

Anupama: Oh yes! I think I have many such dreams. One is to be able to do a cartwheel again. As a youngster, I was able to do it but now after childbirth, I tried but it just does not happen. My body has changed. Another one is to visit Alaska with my daughter and husband. Then I dream of having this online class of creative writing as a part of Beyond the Box with kids across the globe. Like some thousand kids in one session! I know it is a crazy dream but the thought feels beautiful. And of course, this list is long :)

Santosh: It was a pleasure having this wonderful chat with you. May we have more such interactions in better circumstances, where tactility is not a strict No No. May your passion steer you on to new adventures and accomplishments and may you do that cartwheel again.  All the best! Stay safe, keep smiling.

Bio: Anupma Dalmia is a 20-time award winning blogger, author, social influencer, serial entrepreneur, creative writing mentor, choreographer and mother to a 5-year-old. Donning multiple hats comes naturally to her because she lives to breathe her passions every moment of the day. Her journey of having resigned from a lucrative IT job to pursue her passions and work for the betterment of the society has been covered extensively to inspire and motivate people to believe in themselves and never say “never”. By qualification, she is an MBA in Systems and Finance and B.E. in Computer Science.

Her literary works have been published in various coveted and leading magazines, newspapers and online platforms of India. She has been featured among the top women bloggers of India by Women’s Web and among the ten inspiring people who are driving positive change on social media by Youth Ki Awaaz. She made it to the list of "Top ten bloggers of the decade" released by Influglue and “10 Most Inspiring Indian Mom Influencers on Social Media” on Medium. She was also featured by Femina among the leading five bloggers of South India and has made her way into Newspaper dailies like The New Indian Express, Eenadu, Deccan Chronicle, The Pioneer and TOI. She is a Champion at Sheroes where she plays the role of motivating and guiding the community of 15 million women. She is an Amazon approved Influencer with her own storefront of recommendations on Amazon.

Anupama was conferred with the REX Karamveer Chakra Award (Silver) and Global Fellowship in 2019 which is a global civilian honour given by ICONGOs in association with United Nations. Recently, she was recognized with “Most Promising Entrepreneur of the Year” Award at India Inspirational Women Awards 2020. She was a finalist at the iWoman Global Awards 2019 in the category of "Woman Icon of the Year" and was chosen by Mompreneur Circle among the top 11 women entrepreneurs of India for their “Inspiring Woman Entrepreneur” series. She has been awarded as the "Influencer of the Year" at IBM Awards 2019 and the "Torchbearer of Blogging" at Big Blogger Awards 2019. She has won numerous short story writing and blogging contests across leading online platforms. Her blogs have been selected among the top blogs of the year/decade multiple times by leading platforms of India like Momspresso and Women's Web. She is the first Indian to have been invited by South Africa's Official National News and Radio channel as a guest for their Radio Talk Show. She is the only Indian woman who has been nominated in the category of "Digital Transformation" by Global Digital Women which is a Berlin based International network of female digital pioneers at the Digital Women Leader Awards 2020.

Her debut e-novella "Aarohi" has made it to the Amazon bestsellers list consistently and also finds a place in the top 3 in Goodreads list of best kindle unlimited picks from Indian authors. She was listed by Critic Space Journals at the 11th position for “Aarohi” in their list of top 100 Indian debut authors. She is a contributing author for "Muffled Moans" which is an international anthology on the theme of abuse and two of her poems have been published in "30 poems from 30 best poets" - an anthology of poems. 

She is the Founder and Chief Mentor at Beyond the Box which is her venture to mentor kids as well as adults on creative writing and thinking through unconventional methodologies. Her approach is holistic and she focuses on creating more sensitive, empathetic and thinking individuals. Beyond the Box won the "Best upcoming startup" award at the GTF startup summit in 2020. She has come up with many unique and pioneering initiatives and projects under BTB and the venture has been growing at an accelerated pace grabbing many an eye ball.

She is the Founder and Choreographer at Rhythms & Beats - a dance enterprise that is into dance workshops and events choreography. She has conducted many one of its kind public dance events in her city too. 

She also runs a cookery website along with her mother called "Tingle Your Taste Buds" which is an award-winning portal with a dedicated subscriber base. Her efforts to make her mother live her dreams has been featured by “The Better India”, “First Moms Club” and “Amar Ujala”.  

Anupama is a wanderer at heart and loves to explore new places. She also actively gets involved in social causes to make a difference in her own small ways. She has worked in the rehabilitation of rescued human trafficking survivors and believes that evolving and learning as a person with an open mind is the only way forward.