Anjali Kakar is based in Dubai.

Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer

Anjali Kakar is a resident of Dubai and she is an author who has published six books in the past eight years. Her most recent book — her sixth — is a work of fiction. It is titled “A Brand New Journey” and Kakar says that her “ultimate aim for it is to be adapted into a film.”

Here is a synopsis: Flight attendant Ana Kapoor has always felt something was missing in her life. She spends her life working, and glued to social media, unaware of how to fill the emptiness she feels within her. At twenty-five, she is betrayed by a man whom she didn’t know was married. Reeling from the experience, she finds a book on spirituality, which makes her understand the value of forgiveness.

She is able to forgive the man who betrayed her, and more importantly, she also reconnects with her estranged mother. When she calls her father, Aryan, for the first time in years, his phone is however answered by Ana’s stepmother, who informs her that Aryan has just suffered a stroke. Ana is immensely relieved when she hears her father is expected to make a full recovery; she plans to visit him immediately.

Ana and Aryan keep in touch regularly via video chat. She is also inspired to begin writing a novel: it is something she has dreamed about for many years. One day, as Ana and her father are speaking, Aryan suffers a second stroke and passes away with Ana at the other end of the phone. Devastated by her loss, and what she perceives as the universe’s betrayal, Ana begins to find solace in painkillers. She descends into addiction.

Her friend Sylvia insists Ana check herself into rehab. In the rehab centre, Ana is initially closed off, despite the gentle encouragement of her roommate Lisa, and counsellor Adam.

 A book of short stories by Anjali Kakar.

Ana begins to recover and also finds the inspiration to return to her novel, which she dreams of one day being turned into a film. Adam encourages Ana to send her completed manuscript to agents and publishers.

But when she is met with rejection after rejection, Ana is devastated. She sees the rejection of her work as a rejection of herself, and spirals back into the depression she had just managed to climb out of.

In the depths of her despair, Ana finds a pair of scissors, intending to end her life. However, at that moment, she is overcome by an overpowering sense of peace. She sees the beauty of universe, and the importance of facing her challenges and never being defeated. Ana’s epiphany allows her to fully recover and strengthen her relationships with her friends and remaining family. On her release from rehab, she continues her search for a publisher for her novel. She meets Jeremy, the man who becomes her husband.

 Debt of Gratitude is a book of poems.

The epilogue of the story takes place ten years later. Ana has passed away, and Jeremy and her friends are attending the premiere of the film based on her best-selling novel. Despite the sadness of Ana’s death, the event is inspiring. Ana’s loved ones realise that even in death, she did not let herself be defeated. Author Anjali Kakar speaks to Gulf Today about her writerly life

How have your educational and professional backgrounds impacted your writing?

My educational and professional backgrounds have impacted my writing significantly. My education and profession have compelled me to travel across the globe; it has empowered me to draw experiences and use my creative writing to create a world of my own. Ideas can be vast in dimension, and so is my imaginary world when I delve into writing, where there are no limits.

You write poems, short stories and fiction. How do these mediums help you express yourself?

Whether its poems, short stories or my recent fiction novel, they allow me to draw forth the highest potential that lies within me and create a world where, more than winning, it is important not to be defeated. They allow me to express myself where there are no inhibitions. It is a world where the journey is more important than the destination.

Have you had traumatic experiences in life? Are your trying to deal with them by writing?

My imagination can be colourful and transports me to a world where one keeps forging ahead and doesn’t get bogged by dogma. It can seem as if I have experienced trauma; but it a world of absolute fiction where my writing surpasses all boundaries.

Are you fluent in languages other than English?

I am fluent in English and Hindi.

Your books have more to do with heroines than heroes. Is it so?

My books are mostly focused on the ability to never give up. It focuses on the character and struggles. I am not gender biased. The books are conveying a subtle message of winning over one’s weaknesses.

Why do you think your latest book can be made into a movie?

My latest book ‘A Brand New Journey’ is about a character who undergoes a transformation in her life. Fundamental change only happens when she overcomes her weakness. I think her never getting defeated spirit is remarkable. Even when death lays its icy hands on her, her dreams come true. Even death couldn’t defeat her!  The book conveys a strong message, which can be shown through a film to inspire people who might have given up on themselves.