ON WRITING ABOUT GRATITUDE, AND HOW IT IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

Author Interview: Vasudha Neel Mani

Dr. Vasudha Neel Mani is a profound and illustrious educationist who is presently working as the Principal of Rockwoods International School, Udaipur. She is also an International Certified Career Coach, psychologist, counselor and author. She has recently come out with the book “Gratitude: The Purpose of Life”, which is her endowment to the universe for all those blessings in abundance she has received after practising the exercise of gratitude. In a candid chat with Chirdeep Malhotra, she talks about her book, her writing journey, her favourite books and authors, and much more. Read on!



Please tell us more about Vasudha Neel Mani as a person.

I am an educationist with over 27 years of experience spanning across teaching, administration, mentoring and advisory roles with 17 years in Cambridge Education and 10 years in leadership roles. I am also a career coach, psychologist, counselor and author. I conduct sessions on mental and emotional well being, meditation sessions and workshops on Gratitude for all age groups. I am also a regular blogger and write regularly in the fields of education, technology, spirituality, life-skills and many other diversed topics.



Has writing always been a part of your life? Or did you chance upon it later on and then instantly fell in love with it?

I have been writing since my childhood and have loved it. I wrote short stories, poetry, memoirs and later blogs to share my views on many topics including education, spirtuality, positivity and many more.



Please tell us more about your book “Gratitude: The Purpose of Life”.

Gratitude is a beautiful word and practicing it as a habit makes all the difference. When I began the gratitude journal, many people started following it and there was a point when I got a request from many of them to publish it in the form of a book so that it spreads across and more people start practicing it. If we are grateful, abundance will follow. Gratitude is key to that abundance. Keeping this in mind, I have developed a gratitude curriculum to instil the same in the students and children.
In the book, every chapter is dedicated to one gratitude. Follow that one gratitude every day. It ends with quotes so that you can relate to what you are practicing.
We start practicing gratitude from a micro level to the macro level, where we start paying gratitude to the blessings from personal life to the larger picture.
If readers follow and do all the exercises mentioned in the book for 21 days, they will begin to transform their lives in a big way and become positive, grateful and a compassionate human beings. Gratitude is the key to abundance. Those who are grateful for everything will receive everything they aspire for in abundance. Positivity and gratitude go hand in hand, and both are meaningless without each other.
If you follow the contents, the 21 days will endure a transformational journey. Whether you are an adolescent, an adult, youth, teenager, or even a college-going student, you’ll benefit. You will notice a difference. We will start with paying gratitude at a micro-level and gradually rise to the macro level. Gratitude is portable and we take it wherever we go. As eating, sleeping, and walking constitute an inseparable part of our daily routine, practising positivity and gratitude will also naturally become a part of life. The number 3 represents the number of creations. That’s why we say thank you thrice and the gratitude journal and journey are for three weeks.
In these 21 days, the first 10 days are for our blessings, desires, wishes, friends, family, health, studies, anger management, looking for positive outcomes in all situations, edibles. The next 10 days are about practicing gratitude with everyone, beautiful mornings, breathing fresh air, global health day, footsteps becoming footprints, compassionate heart, cueing the unseen, learning from mistakes and being grateful to one own self and the gratitude journey continues.



How has the response of readers been to your book?

I am grateful to all the readers and everybody else who spread positivity and gratitude. Many people have said that this book has helped in their journey of self-transformation.



What type of research went into writing this book?

For any book to be conceptualised and for putting those thoughts into words and paper, lot of work goes into the whole thing. After almost 7 years of practicing gratitude, positivity and manifestation and reading a lot about it, I planned to design a curriculum for students to practice gratitude and manifest positivity. And this curriculum was culminated into chapters, practice and testimonials.



What challenges did you face while writing this book?

This book is the by-product of the lock-down times. The gratitude curriculum that I had designed for the students gave a new pathway to the whole dimension. Many people from different spheres of life practiced the curriculum for 21 days and shared their experience. I consolidated the exercises into chapters, recorded videos, recorded the testmonials and slowly everything took the shape of the book.



Can you recommend five books from any genre, for our readers to add to their reading lists, that you particularly cherish?

These include “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho, “The Archer” by Paulo Coelho, “The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom” by Don Miguel Ruiz, “The Fifth Agreement” by Don Miguel Ruiz, and “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale.



There are many new writers and poets who are aspiring to get their work published. What would you say to them?

Follow your heart and passion and do your research well on the topic you want to write.



What are your other interests apart from writing?

I love reading, travelling, listening to music and I am a healer and meditation practitioner as well. I am a tarot reader and love to help people.



What are you working on next? Any exciting new projects our readers should look out for?

My next book is on my experiences with spiritual journey and it will be in the form of fiction.



Can you share with our readers a motivational quote that keeps you going?

Though I have written many quotes myself but few of my favourite ones are:
‘Tough times don’t last, tough people do.’
‘The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.’