Journey of Life – Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra
Neelam Saxena Chandra
(We salute “Women Power”. Yesterday, we shared journey of life of Ms. Malati Mishra. Today, we would like to share literary journey of Ms. Neelam Saxena Chandra, who is having a number of published books and awards in her credit. She is working as a General Manager (Electrical Engineer), Pune Metro.)
Date of Birth: 27/06
Education: BE (Electronics and Power), PG Dip in IM&HRD, PG Dip in Financial Management, Certificate course in Finance from London School of Economics
Field of Interest: Writing poems/stories/novels
Introduction: Neelam Saxena Chandra works as a General Manager (Electrical) at Mahametro, Pune. She is an Engineering graduate from VNIT and has done her Post Graduation Diploma in IM&HRD and also in Finance. She has completed a course in Finance from London School of Economics. She has authored 4 novels, 1 novella and 6 short story collections, 29 poetry collections and 10 children’s books to her credit. She is a bilingual writer; writing in English and Hindi.
- She holds a record with the Limca Book of Records -2015 for being the Author having the highest number of publications in a year in English and Hindi.
- She has won II prize in a poetry contest organized by American Embassy and in a National poetry contest organized by Poetry Council of India, 2016.
- She has received Humanity International Women Achiever Awards 2018,
- Bharat Nirman Literary award in 2017,
- Premchand award by Ministry of Railways,
- Rabindranath Tagore International Poetry award,
- Son Inder Samman,
- Freedom award by Radio city for Lyrics along with other awards and honors.
- She was listed in Forbes as one among 78 most popular authors in the country in 2014.
Your Literary journey:
I was a very coy and introvert person as a child. My classmates must have rarely heard my voice, except when it came to answering questions raised by teachers. However, I would listen to books and open up my heart to my diary. I used to write poems at that time.
After joining Railways, I began compeering for events and I loved using short poems written by me. I also started writing short skits and would not only act in them, I would also direct those skits. After my daughter was born, her craving for a story a day kept the imaginative person in me live till I finally wrote down those stories and sent them for publishing. That marked the beginning of my writing journey.
Best and memorable events of life: In 2010, I won II prize for a short poem written by me in a contest organized by Arushi and American Embassy, for which Gulzar sahib was the judge. This marked a turning point in my writing journey.
Toughest moment of life: There can be nothing worse than ill-health and my toughest moments were when I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. However, subsequently, I learnt to fight and survive.
Strength: My patience, my staying grounded and my creativity.
Weakness: Occasionally, I do lose my temper.
Literary work: Since I have written around 53 books, I will only name the ones written in 2017 and 2018:
| मैंने पिरोये हैं अलफाज | Aug-18 | Authors Press | Hindi | Poetry |
| कसम मटमैले मशरूम की | May-18 | National Book Trust | Hindi | Children’s stories |
| Tales from Venus | May-18 | LiFi Publications | English | Short story |
| The Frozen Evenings | Dec-17 | Authors Press | English | Poetry |
| दहलीज़ | Nov-17 | Virtuous Publications | Hindi | Children’s stories |
| ज़िंदगी का अलाव | Sep-17 | Authors Press | Hindi | Poetry |
| एक शमा हरदम जलती है | Jul-17 | Authors Press | Hindi | Poetry |
| आज बादल बन बरस जाना है | Jul-17 | Authors Press | Hindi | Poetry |
| A Princess, A Goal and A Mole | Jun-17 | Omji Publishing | English | Children’s stories |
| The Soul Unbound | Apr-17 | Authors Press | English | Poetry |
| Trove of Musings | Apr-17 | Authors Press | English | Poetry |
| मैं बहने लगी हूँ | Apr-17 | Authors Press | Hindi | Poetry |
| मैंने रंग दिये अलफाज | Apr-17 | Authors Press | Hindi | Poetry |
| मैंने तराशे हैं अलफाज | Apr-17 | Authors Press | Hindi | Poetry |
| रंगी मैं तेरे रंग में | Apr-17 | Authors Press | Hindi | Poetry |
| सप्तरंगी परी एवं रंगबिरंगी कहानियाँ | Feb-17 | AlokparvPrakashan | Hindi | Children’s stories |
| In the Flickering of an Eye | Jan-17 | LiFi Publications | English | Novel |
| Stella | Jan-17 | Prabhat Prakashan | English | Novel |
Work life balancing journey and how you manage to write in between:
I adore my job and I am passionate about writing. So, I am able to find time for both. Writing comes to me very naturally, and it’s like a stream waiting to flow. It always tends to find its path.
Positive message to society:
Always believe in yourself, for no one knows you better than yourself.
Email : [email protected]
© Neelam Saxena Chandra