When She' talks about He'

Delhi-based author, Astha Mittal, who launched her book She and He at the recently concluded Bangalore Literature Festival, shares her journey in A candid chat with  us.

Delhi-based Astha Mittal is a traveller, chef, painter and artist. An engineering degree under her belt, Astha was drawn to art in all its forms. Any medium of expression that allows her to express the things she sees or feels, immediately draws her in. She attended the Bangalore Literature Festival, and to launch her book She and He recently. She shares with us her journey.

An avid traveller, Astha Mittal is a very keen observer of her surroundings. She says, “The observations I made during my travels made me want to express myself and write. I write what I feel, and about the things that I see around me.” Her mother had many stories to narrate which Astha found out about only in the later years of her life. She recalls, “My mother had a lot to say and that made me want to repeat those things in my own words. If I am asked who my inspiration is, I will definitely say it’s my mother.”

Her recent book She and He just arrived on shelves. It’s a beautifully written book, perfect for a cuppa or the coffee table. On her inspiration for the book, she says, “I have always been very interested in human relationships, especially man-woman dynamics and more importantly, their interactions. I think one can’t be without the other.”

A strong believer in the concept of yin and yang, and also Shiva-Shakti, she feels, “I used to write small snippets which came from relationships I saw around me. This book is self-published as I wanted to give it an aesthetic and artistic element which would not have been possible if I had gone through a publishing house or an agent.”

Astha has always followed her heart’s desire, and so for her being an artist is an expression of love, emotion and relationships. “The first art exhibit that I did was figurative abstract on women’s relations in society. I saw a lot of melodrama around arranged marriages, women being subjugated to dowry etc. This has been happening for a long time but no one does anything about it.” Astha’s non-conventional parents have been her strong support system. She also adds, “The pride in my mother’s eyes during my first art exhibit and also my book launch in the capital city is my biggest achievement.”

She believes that considerable change is happening in Indian writing now. “Career prospects are very different from what it was 10 years ago. There are more upcoming authors, more publishing agents, more self-published authors and more online presence,” says the self-published author. She advises aspiring authors to write without being mechanical. Astha plans to launch two other books from her She and He series, one a cookbook and the other a short story.