Preeti Shenoy's blog.

Yesterday, my eleventh book The Rule Breakers went out into the world! It was a proud and a happy day :) I had an interview at Red FM, and in the video above, you can see me, along with RJ Zeishah, and she loved the book. It was wonderful discussing the book with her. The book is out in bookstores now. So, you don't have to wait anymore, if you wish to read it :) The story is a COMPLEX one. It begins very simply and easily. It is the story of Veda. But after she gets married (at 19) to a guy chosen by her parents, and shifts to Pune from Joshimath, new people enter her life.  The timid, shy Veda must now carve her own path. Here are a few characters from the book: Follow Veda's story, as she goes through life, and find out for yourself, who the REAL rule-breakers  are in this book! Get it from your local bookstore or order online and pay cash on deliver:  http://preeti.io/trb Folks in Pune and Ahmedabad, I am coming to your city! Folks

It was on this day twelve years ago that my father passed away. There was no warning, no illness, no ailments--nothing. He was alive one moment, chatting and talking to my mother. He had walked 5 kms , his usual  distance, that morning. He had meetings lined up for next day. He was to visit me in Pune, a week later. Instead he leaned back in his chair, while watching TV, closed his eyes and died. The death changed my perception about everything. It altered forever the way I looked at life. It affected all parts of my being--my health, my daily routine, my philosophy, my core belief system. My father was my strength and my rock. I used to talk to him every day. My day was not complete, unless I had a discussion with him on the phone. He had a curious mind, and we used to talk about everything  in the universe. When he died, a part of me died with him.  I had started this blog In October 2006,  forty five days after his death. I did not think about what I was doing or how long

There are several rules that society imposes on Indian women (and men too.). Some of these rules are so  accepted, that nobody questions them. It is how we were raised. It is a part of our culture. It is just how we are . I have always been a person who questions things. Even as a child, I was constantly questioning why things had to be the way they are. My mother, a strict disciplinarian would not encourage it, and there was no way out, other than just obeying whatever rules she laid down. In retrospect, it helped instill a sense of discipline in me. In contrast, with my father, I could question everything. There was nothing which was taboo or forbidden. At the age of nine or perhaps ten,  encouraged by my father, I had read books like  'I'm OK, you're OK' by Thomas A Harris, and we would discuss things and analyse our conversation in terms discussed in the book. (transactional analysis) My father did not believe in following anything blindly. He encouraged