In Conversation with Ashreeta Mohanty

 

Ashreeta Mohanty is a beautiful writer and an ITES professional working as an event manager in academic sector in private firm in Odisha. She draws inspiration from different experiences and thoughts. She has been published in several books and magazines. She has received several awards in literature field. Let us know more about her in this interview.

 

1.     Hello Ashreeta, how you define yourself to our readers? Which profession are you working in?

Hello, I am Ashreeta Mohanty, a 31-year-old b-tech graduate. I was born and brought up in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. I completed my studies there. My work life started in 2013. At the start of my career, I was in Bangalore. After marriage, I am staying with my husband in Gujarat currently. Now I am in the educational sector, in the research and development field.

 

2.     When did you start and choose writing? What’s your inspiration behind it? What do you think most defines your work?

Writing is my hobby. I started writing in my school days. I used to write for my school magazine. I used to take part in writing competitions in my father's organization as well. As my career progresses, I stopped writing during my college days and initial year of working. In 2020, I have started blogging for the first time. One of my colleagues pushed me towards it. I did blogging for various sites on various social issues, work life balance, personal development etc. One fine day, my cousin introduced me to some publication house and encouraged me to restart my writing journey full-fledged. Here I am today, publishing a few of my articles, being a co-author of many books. Aiming to publish my own book very soon.

 My inspiration, I would say, is the younger generation. Looking at the sea of talent, I always push myself to the limits.

My writing, yes, although it doesn't totally define me, it has made a huge contribution to defining my integrity, shaping my character, filling me with kindness and gratitude.

3.     How has writing helped you and how has life changed after being a writer? What is your strength?

Writing helps widen your point of view. Your perspective changes. You start looking at things in 100 different ways. Life has changed in the most positive way through my writing journey. It made me calmer, productive, more expressive and clear-minded. These attributes help me in my work life as well.

 

My strength is my self-esteem, loyalty, and determination. In writing my strength is to express myself boldly.

 

 

4.     What is best part about being a writer? What were the challenges and how did you overcome them?

Writing keeps me positive and grounded. That's the best part of being a writer, I feel. 

 

The biggest challenge I faced when I started writing was a sense of insecurity. What if people will not like what I write? Eventually, that faded away. Now the biggest challenge is taking out time to write more. After marriage, life changed. Responsibility has increased. But I have to give it to my husband. He is extremely supportive. He always encourages me to take out time for my passion, be it writing, sketching or sports.

 

5.     What does success mean to you? What suggestion do you have for aspiring writers? How do you manage to bring out new ideas for your writing?

 For me, it's the journey that matters more than the destination. Success in life is not determined by comparing us with others, neither is it measured by how high we go up in life. It is always me vs what I am capable of and how many times I bounce back when I fall down.

 

To all the budding writers out there, I would say- there is no greater agency than bearing an untold story inside you. So keep writing, keep inspiring.

 

In this fastest growing world, in order to stay relevant in your writing, to strengthen your skills, you need to read a lot, irrespective of the genre. Every author has a different style of writing, analyzing, and imagining things. You can always learn by reading and following the work of various authors. It may sound orthodox but this is what I do. And, of course, we have to uplift our general awareness as well.

 

6.     What do you do apart from writing? How do you take out time for writing and are you writing something as of now?

I worked in the education sector. My job somewhere inspires me to write as well as come across and deal with researchers from various fields all across the globe on a daily basis. Honestly, writing is my stress buster. Whenever I feel low, I choose to write for peace of mind. As of now, I am writing articles on "Women Empowerment" and "Gender Economic Inequality".

 

7.     Is there any message you want to share with our readers?

 This is a great initiative and platform provided by Koala Kraft Organization. I am truly grateful for this opportunity.

 

To my fellow writers: Just write, get better. Keep writing and keep getting better. As they say- "The secret of becoming a writer is to write, write and keep on writing.

 

:)