It is never too late to switch your paths and do what you truly desire. Arun Malik, an author, who began his journey as a mechanical engineer, never discovered his true talent until he had secured a job. He is an internationally acclaimed author who has a collection of eight books to his name. His books only aim to inspire people to think optimistically and turn their dreams into reality.
In his latest interview, Arun talks about his journey from being an engineer to an author and what motivated him to write inspirational books. He tells how much his life has evolved and what changes writing has brought about in his life. Read to know more about the author-speaker Arun Malik.
Interview
Questions and answers
You are an internationally acclaimed inspirational writer. What gravitated you towards writing in the first place?
I found my love for writing accidentally. I was an MBA, working in the corporate sector when there was a lot of turmoil in my office and everything was getting out of hand. I needed to vent and thus, decided to jot down a few lines and post them on social media. Something which started as my means to let out my frustration gradually became a hobby and then something as great as this.
What was the stumbling block that initiated your journey towards inspirational writing and encouraged you to motivate others through your writing?
These books were written when I was going through a really hard time in my life. I had no job and there were a lot of other hardships. I started writing to motivate myself and through this practice, I later sought to motivate others and that is how I was encouraged.
Before becoming an author, you have worked in several big IT sectors in the US and UK. How did it prepare you for your life as a thought leader on the world stage?
Working in big companies enabled me to observe people more closely. Initially, when I worked in India, I handled large teams so I understood their point of view, their emotions, their personal lives and I’ve learned that despite the cultural and religious differences, the core of every human remains the same and I understood their personality a lot and assimilated all that in my writings.
In the initial phases of your journey, what are the hurdles that you had to overcome, and what compromises did you have to make to reach where you are now?
I faced a lot of hurdles in terms of genre. I used to transform people’s lives through quotes and many publishing houses weren’t ready to publish quote books and they’re difficult to break.
Did you ever go through writers’ block? If yes, how did you deal with it?
I don’t have writers’ block but there are certain points in a day when I can’t write. I can write easily with the fluency of my thoughts at night and that’s when my words flow out of me.
According to you, what makes a book “a good read” and how did you ensure that for your writings?
I believe that a book should be written in such a way that it fulfils its purpose. If the book is meant for entertainment, the writer must ensure that is written in such a manner that it will entertain the reader. When I write, I ensure that my book will fulfill the purpose it is being written for.
What are some of the promotional strategies that you had to adopt for your books on multiple platforms and why did you decide to make them available on Kindle?
As far as promotions are concerned, I offered free books and they would give me reviews in return. I’ve also hired social media teams who look after my social media handles. Paperbacks get lower share so I decided to make my book available on Kindle.
How has the pandemic and lockdown affected you and your work.? Has it given you a greater realization of the need for optimism in life?
It was always clear that optimism is very much required in every facet of life and that is the sole purpose of my life. Therefore, the pandemic has proved a great way of my intention of writing my books.
You once said, “Sending someone flowers regularly may not represent love as much as planting flowers together.” Could you elaborate on that?
Buying flowers for someone merely means expressing your emotions by spending your money on them. According to my if you invest your time rather than your money, planting the same type of flower for that person or with that person, depicts deeper sentiments and emotions, and will also hold more value in the other person’s eye. Therefore, love has a plethora of dimensions, and planting flowers is one of them.
Tell us about the illustrations on the cover page of ‘Unfolding Dreams’. Does it convey a deeper message?
Yes, it does convey a deeper message. If you notice, the top head of the smiling lady is blank. Success and failure are all made up in our minds and we need to let our dreams unfold before we actualize them.
Your book ‘The Reflections’ has received much acclamation from your readers. How did you conceive the idea for writing it?
“Reflection” is slightly different from the rest of my books because it’s based on four themes while the rest are based on general themes. People don’t favour unexpected works like my other books, while Reflection was kept simple.
You are a graduate in Mechanical engineering from NIT Allahabad and therefore have been well-exposed to the education system in India. What according to you needs to be changed to make it more efficient?
The general perception around the education system in India is that most of the talent comes from the big cities. Yet in my course of life, I’ve observed that the real talent flourishes from small cities. Unless we recognize that talent, we can’t progress further as a nation. We need to tap the talent.
What is your opinion on the motivational speakers on YouTube and their life solutions?
I’ve no negative affirmations for them. Everybody in life is destined for something and so are they. You can only motivate someone if you’ve been self-motivated.
Quick 5
a. Favourite author – Veronica Roth &Sudha Murthy.
b. Stories or poems – Poems.
c. Writing or reading – Writing.
d. Toughest poem to write – Reviving Her Hope (it was quite emotional).
e. Guide throughout your journey – My parents and all kinds of books!