Published Book: Selected stories from Shiva Purana!
ISBN: 9789354465796
Author’s Background: The Author Dr. A.V. Subrahmanyan, is a popular Neurologist of South India known fondly among his patients as Dr AVS had a distinguished academic career culminating in a Neurology Specialisation from the prestigious PGIMER (Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research), Chandigarh. His educational journey saw him move all over India starting from the south of India to the west and finally the northern part of India. He is in active Neurology practice for more than twenty five years. Apart from being a popular Neurologist, he is also a sought after speaker in various colleges, societies and clubs for his talks on Public health, Mental health and Mind body medicine. He has a passion for writing Fiction and Religion genres. Themes which fascinate him are Deep thinking, Emotions, Empathy, Ethics, Symbolism and Knowledge. His debut book ‘Selected stories from Shiva Purana’ is on sale now. Three more books in Contemporary fiction, nonfiction and a Travelogue genre are in the pipeline.
Questionnaires:
Neel Preet: Firstly, Big Congratulations on your book, “Selected stories from Shiva Purana!”What responses are you getting from this book of yours? Please share your experience about this book.
Dr. A.V. Subrahmanyan: Thank you. I can already see a very good response from the readers. The reviews posted on Amazon by the readers shows how much they liked the book. There is feedback from the readers to publish the same book in regional languages also, so that the friends and relatives of the readers of the present edition who are not comfortable with English may benefit from reading the book.
Neel Preet: What inspired you to write this book? What was the impetus behind this work of yours?
Dr. A.V. Subrahmanyan: I have noted in my interactions with the public that the younger generation in our country remains mostly unaware of our great heritage and our epics. They do not have the time to go through such voluminous texts like the Shiva Purana, because of the fast life they lead, I wanted to make our younger generation aware of the greatness of the Shiva Purana by creating a condensed form of it, which can be read in a holiday of few days or over a weekend. That was the impetus behind writing this book. That is why the writing style in the book has been kept simple so that children above the age of 10 years can read the book by themselves without the help of the elders. Of course, it would be ideal if the elders read it first and narrate the stories to the children thereby creating a permanent imprint in their mind.
Neel Preet: What do you expect that the readers will learn from this book?
Dr. A.V. Subrahmanyan: The speciality of this book is that it contains a Message page at the end of every story. There are 29 stories in all. After every story, there is a message page where the message (which is often hidden inside the story) is highlighted as a take home message for the readers especially children. These messages are practical messages for the readers, keeping in mind the present social mileu and the kind of world we now live in. For example in the story of the incarnation of Lord Shiva as Ardhanarishwara, the message of Female empowerment has been highlighted to show that just as Shakti is Shiva, so are all the women in the world. All the men and women of this entire world come from Lord Shiva and are hence equal in all aspects.
Neel Preet: While writing the book what was your mind-set? What are some of the learnings that you gained from this work of yours?
Dr. A.V. Subrahmanyan: The biggest learning for me after writing this book is that the holy Shiva Purana is a transformative book. You read it yourself and you will see some change in you and your mind. There is definitely a transformation. I sincerely hope that the readers also find a similar change in their lives and thinking after reading this book.
Neel Preet: A part from religion & spirituality, in which other genre would you like to contribute?
Dr. A.V. Subrahmanyan: Fiction, Motivational books and Travelogues.
Neel Preet: Reading this book, I am greatly impressed & I want you to explain us that which segment of readers are you targeting with the book of yours?
Dr. A.V. Subrahmanyan: As I said earlier, the main target is the younger generation. That is the intention behind this book. Of course, all people devoted to Lord Shiva will like the book.
Neel Preet: Next, I want you to tell us about some of those writers, who had inspired you!
Dr. A.V. Subrahmanyan: Swami Chinmayananda, Jiddu Krishnamurthi and Jug Suraiya.
Neel Preet: Is there any message that you would like to convey to your readers? Or any piece of advice, which you would like to give to the readers out there!
Dr. A.V. Subrahmanyan: My only message to the readers is – Please try to allocate some time of the day / night for reading. Even half an hour a day will suffice if you are very busy. Reading improves the outlook of the entire population, widens their perspective and helps positively in growth of the Civilisation.
Neel Preet: Are there any other books being worked by you? Please let us know about your future projects.
Dr. A.V. Subrahmanyan: My next book which will release within a month is a Fiction story which subtly makes an appeal against Animal Cruelty of all forms. I am also in the process of writing a Motivational Book (Non Fiction) and a Travelogue book.
Neel Preet: Thank you so much for answering all my questions. All the very best to you for future and your book too!
Dr. A.V. Subrahmanyan: Thank you very much.