A light in the darkness

 Panelist: 1.  Sonia   Mehta     co-founded Podsquad, a company that creates learning tools for children. children’s author (who sees India’s first dedicated children’s newspaper sections) conceptualising the Bournvita Quiz Contest for television; writing books, songs, poems, and stories for publishers in India, Africa, the USA, and the UK. 2.  Sohini   Mitra   P ublisher with over 14 years of experience. Collaborated with literary giants for content. Heads the children's and YA lists at Penguin Random House India.  The opening of the session was quite warm. Children's books have always been of interest to me, so this session seemed to be a boon. The discussion began with who makes decisions about which book the child should read. The answer is obviously the parents. Yes, for small children, it is necessary to pick one up for them. This way, they learn how to select books for themselves, but as children grow up, they start choosing books for themselves. They descr

Tired of the whole week's load, I long for the day off to refresh and rejuvenate me so that I have a week full of enthusiasm and sparks. So, the first thing that I love to do on my days off is to sleep a little longer. I loved to sleep for long hours during childhood, so when I sleep longer, I feel like I did something really good. Then my day-off drill begins a day before when I arrange for things that I would like to cook on this day. Cooking has always been a very good stress buster for me, so on my days off, I always try to prepare something special to have with my family. I never like to have meals alone, so I see to it that we dine for dinner together. We watch TV, talk, and laugh while we enjoy our dinner. But on my days off, when I make special lunches and breakfasts, I feel I have accomplished something very good in my life, and I love to cook like this for my family. The days off are my cleaning days. I clean my house completely and do the laundry. So, this is my day to m

Non-fiction had always been my soil. I have loved it very much. Today out of my busy schedule I managed to hear them and that was a great blessing. I myself write more in non-fictional writings so their sharing was a guiding light in my writings. Thanks to Ashdin Doctor and Reema Ahmed. Ashdin Doctor - Mumbai-based popular habit coach.                               - Founder of Awesome 180 - Habit coaching program                               - The habit coach- The popular podcast Take away from him: My best learning from him were many. 1. In present era everything is at our fingertips on social media and internet. They know everything. To attract this crowd for paperback publication we need to be creative. We should give them something that they don't find on net- a unique story line presentation, a creative presentation of the matter that touches their heart, and an unexpected insightful message that is not found anywhere. It should have something the readers are looking for. 2.

“Organisation begins  with the awareness of  what doesn’t work for us.” 1. Reincarnation Captured memories from the aperture of time befalls themselves into the family album in the chronological line. Their assembly joins hands to reincarnate the lived moment once again, giving us strength and refreshing our souls.  We all have seen photo albums.  Yes. We cherish making marriage albums, school albums, travel and trip albums. What we do here is gather all the moments and place them as we have lived or enjoyed. By this organisation I preserve my happy moments and live them every time I turn those pages.  If I had kept them thrown many would have been destroyed and many would have been lost also. Those moments might even get washed off our minds too.  Similarly, when I organise and make cherishable and liveable memories in my living space I am actually making everyday albums and store them in my thought diary. These thought diaries are the soil of creative ideas. Whenever I had dearth of