Interview with Kiran Manral

Our September issue is a celebration of womanhood. So this month we interviewed a dynamic and versatile woman of influence Kiran Manral.

Kiran is one of the most acclaimed authors and has published a total of 14 books across genres. Her short stories have been published on Juggernaut, in magazines like Verve and Cosmopolitan, and have been part of anthologies like Chicken Soup for the Soul. Her articles and columns have appeared in the Times of India, Tehelka, DNA, Shethepeople, Scroll, Buzzfeed, New Woman, Femina, Verve, Elle, Cosmopolitan, and more.

She is a TEDx speaker and was a mentor with Vital Voices Global Mentoring Walk. She was awarded the Women Achievers Award by Young Environmentalists Association in 2013 and was shortlisted for the Femina Women Awards for Literary Contribution in 2017. She was named as one of the Womennovator 1000 Women of Asia 2021. In 2022, she was named among the 75 Iconic Indian women in STEAM by Red Dot Foundation and Beyond Black, in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India, and British High Commission, New Delhi.

Here’s a snippet of our conversation with Kiran Manral:

Vandana Bhasin: Kiran you carry in your repertoire, not one or two but fourteen books authored by you across various genres. That’s an amazing achievement for any writer. From romance to horror, and thriller to parenting, your books have always found a special place in the reader’s hearts. Which genre do you enjoy writing the most? Which book of yours is closest to your heart?

Kiran Manral: I enjoy reading humor and horror, and I think I enjoy writing these two genres as well. I do recognize that these are two opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to genres and perhaps there is something to be said for the fact that I like to be amused and terrified as a reader, and I try to do the same for my readers.

As to which book of mine is closest to my heart, I would think my first book The Reluctant Detective, which is pure humor is very dear to me and after that, it would be The Face at the Window, which is slow burn horror or ‘Himalayan Gothic’ as one kind reviewer put it, which I feel strongly about. It was a radical shift of genre and voice for me when I wrote The Face at the Window because I had already written in the humor and romance space and this was a risk I was taking. But the book was very well received and went on to make international lists of best horror books from Asian authors, being mentioned on international sites like Desiblitz, BookRiot, MonsterComplex, HoneyKidsAsia, and more, as well as being mentioned in studies on global women horror writers in academic papers in the US and India, and is stocked in some of the best libraries across the world.

Vandana Bhasin: Our lives are full of stories. From mundane to special occasions, from traditional to contemporary, from youth to old, from adjustment to rebellion, we find stories everywhere. Where do you seek inspiration for your tales?

Kiran Manral: Well, the answer to this lies right in your question itself. We have stories in all our lives, our own stories as well as the stories of those around us. We may be lead characters in our own stories, supporting cast in the stories of those in our lives, and peripheral characters in the stories of those we come into casual contact with. For some people living full and rich lives of their own, we may be just like that extra on a film set, just there to fill up the crowd. I always think that in someone’s life, I am an extra, I am the woman who is next to them at the airport line to board a flight, I am the woman who is sitting at the table next to theirs in a restaurant, the woman browsing the next shelf in a store. As an author, as someone who calls herself a custodian of stories, I draw from everywhere, stories that are mine to tell, and stories of others which might not quite be mine, but which I draw from, to create my own stories.

Vandana Bhasin: Kiran you have been in influential roles in media, writing, and digital space. You are the voice of modern women. Do you think that we are progressing towards gender equality in some areas or are we largely a patriarchal society that has found new ways to suppress women?

Kiran Manral: This is a question that has no easy answer. The more we win in terms of gender equality, the more we find we have taken two steps back. The control of women’s reproduction, something women fought for centuries ago, which women finally gained control over with the introduction of the birth control pill in the 1960s, has been taken away in countries like the US where women no longer have the right to terminate a pregnancy. Statistics at the workforce say that equal pay is a long way off yet, and for there to be complete gender parity in the workforce we still have many, many years to go. Women continue to be violently sexually assaulted across the world. The girl child is still discriminated against. We still have a long, long way to go before women in India and around the world can truly be said to hold up half the sky.

Vandana Bhasin: You have authored two books on parenting. How would you describe parenting in today’s world in one line?

Kiran Manral: Tap dancing in a minefield.

Vandana Bhasin: You have a versatile profile that speaks volumes about your efforts, commitment, and perseverance towards your work. You are an inspiration for women who find it challenging to balance their work lives and personal lives. What advice would you like to offer to women who have to sacrifice their dreams for their personal life?

Kiran Manral: Be selfish. Put yourself first. It took me a long time to learn to put my work and my writing first, but when I did so I managed to get a few books out. You would be amazed at how much women can achieve if they only manage to let go of the guilt of not being perfect wives, daughters-in-law, mothers, sisters, or daughters. If they say to themselves one fine day, you are enough, and you deserve better, there is no dream they cannot achieve, no ambition they cannot make come true.

Vandana Bhasin: Digital space has transformed the paradigm of the writing field. The attention span of readers has reduced from a few minutes to less than a minute. You have been writing for a decade. What nuggets of wisdom would you like to share with other writers that can assist them in creating their identity?

Kiran Manral: I have actually been writing for three decades. As a journalist, a content creator, a researcher. I think the most important is to put in the work. Writing doesn’t just happen, you have to be at your desk, writing the words, putting in the effort, every single day. The rest is all practice, destiny, and luck. And yes, to read extensively. Across genres, across fiction and nonfiction, across languages if possible. Only through reading will you be able to tell the stories you want to tell with the ease of a storyteller because you would have understood the process of crafting the story. And finally, to have one’s own voice. While, as a reader and an author, one always writes from the shoulders of the authors one has read and loved, but one needs also to have a voice that is unique and distinctive so that your reader immediately identifies it with you. I feel that is non-negotiable.