Kiran Manral – Author

Kiran Manral

Popular Indian Author and Blogger

My Boss Girl today is no ordinary girl. She is in fact, nothing less than a magician with words. If “What to expect when you are expecting” is the bible for your ten months of pregnancy, then Kiran Manral’s Karmic Kids is a definitive guide to the time therafter. What Kirsten Bell says or does in ‘Momsplaining’ today, Kiran said it on her blog ‘Karmic Kids’ . Considered among the most popular blogs in India in it’s time, Karmic Kids was a lowdown of what to expect as a parent and trust me, no one said it better than Manral 🙂

Here’s a peek into Kiran Manral’s life, best and most lucidly put by the author herself. Go on, read up and get inspired :-
1. So popular knowledge- you moved from advertising to feature writing with a leading publication, then freelance journalism and then a very successful blogger and now a respected author. Do elaborate the journey for all my readers. Would be great to know from you 🙂

Well, I never had a plan. I just wrote. My first job in advertising came about quite by default. My then boyfriend now husband was working in sales at a white goods company and he’d visited one advertising agency and in the course of casual conversation, it cropped up that they were looking for copywriters. I went across the next day and landed the job. I quite hated advertising, I must be honest. I was there for a year or so I think, and then moved into journalism. Journalism was my career for the longest while, and then came motherhood and I took a break from a regular job, going freelance. So it has just been a series of default options that happened as life happened to me. But I’m glad I went freelance, because I then discovered blogs where I could write what I wanted to write and through those blogs, I found a readership who became my biggest cheerleaders when I finally bit the bullet and wrote my first book.

2. Not exactly to sound tragic, but then again, do you think there were any particular moments of low or personal struggles that you would like to tell our audiences about. That probably changed the very way you looked at your life, or career etc.

Ah well, there are always highs and lows in life and I’d like to consider them as learning experiences. In my late thirties when I was blogging and absolutely doing nothing with my life except my freelance writing and bringing up the offspring, I despaired that I hadn’t done anything with my life worth anything. But then these are all essential learnings and phases, and nothing can be hurried. When the time is right everything one is meant to do and be will happen.

3. Were all your career movements gradual or were their life situations in particular that triggered the changes.

Well most of it I would say, were ill considered snap decisions. But I’ve no regrets.

4. Tell me what and who inspires you as a writer.

As a writer I admire writers who can remain focused and true to their craft, and create works that draw one into them, not just for the single reading but over and over again. For me that is the test of a good writer.

5. Tell us more about your childhood and your growing up years. Your favourite authors? What did you like about them.

We moved around quite a bit and my dad had the bad taste to die when I was nine, so it wasn’t an easy childhood. But it gave me the space and the introversion I needed to read and deep dive into books and characters and words and all that has held me in good stead today. My favourite authors as a child… Definitely Enid Blyton, a world I could only imagine of boarding schools and scones and tea and such. And Roald Dahl. And Mark Twain. The list is quite endless.

6. Do you think Motherhood is a struggle more now than ever before? Or is it more glorified and easy? I hear a lot of women from our previous generations say that motherhood these days is like a fairy tale what with the diapers, nannies, day cares etc. What’s your take?

Every generation has their own challenges. I think this generation overthinks motherhood and underestimates mothering instinct. We need to let go more, and trust more. The kids will be fine.

7. There is a lot of discussion about how Motherhood and Parenting in general is so much tougher these days. The internet is one big agony aunt with numerous mommy help groups, parenting sites etc.What do you think about it?

As I said before, we need to let go. People raised kids perfectly well without this 24 hour access to information and opinion. We are overloading ourselves with too much info about parenting and that is stressing us out. Just trust your instincts. Read Dr Spock. And use commonsense. And yes, read my book Karmic Kids.

8. What is your support system like? You are a career woman too. How do you juggle?

I leave the home to the Mother-in-Law to run, which she does most efficiently because I am hopeless at anything domestic. I have great support staff at home, and wouldn’t get anything done if it weren’t for them. And the spouse is my backbone.

9. Describe a regular day in your life? Writing is not easy I know. So how do you discipline yourself ?

There’s bread and butter work which comes first. Writing happens between the bread and butter work. So I’m at my desk at 7.30 am after the offspring leaves for school, and the tiffin boxes are packed and he’s put into the lift. I’m at my desk till whatever time it takes. For instance, it is 22.01pm on my computer right now and I’m still working. And its a Sunday. The good thing is I work from home so work can be managed in between everything else and everything else can be managed around work.