Subhechcha Ganguly 
In a developing country like India there are several books that are being published every year. But rarely few of them turn out to be meaningful and they connect with people. Such a book is “ A cup of society “. It is authored by Alina Mohanty. Alina Mohanty is a tarot reader and author . She is extremely driven and the sky is her limit. She is two times Vajra Record holder She has recently received the Top 100 International Iconic Women 2022-2023, UTKAL Pratibha Samman 2023 . Let us know more about her in this interview.
Q1) Every author has a start to their journey. Tell us how did you begin the process of writing ?
Ans : Beginning was a tragic story of me fighting and struggling with depression. I was dealing with health issues and major emotional issues .When you are depressed, you feel nothing yet everything. It’s like a void . I was unable to express what I was feeling or going under, it was a regular battle between me and my emotions and I was not ready to face the world. So I used to scribble down all thoughts. Sometimes I used to post it, mostly on Your quote and WhatsApp. Then one of my junior added me to WhatsApp group where I came across many talented author. One of my writers friend, Harsh gave my write-ups to an anthology. So my first write up was published in a book that was selected for “Vajra Records of Book”. It gave me a hope and since then I started writing. So the world of darkness, depression gave rise to an author inside me.
Q2) Tarot Card Reading is something which is quite in different lines than being an author. How do you manage time for both of them.
Ans : Time Management and Discipline is what I take it very seriously. I start my day with planner and make routine accordingly. Everyday I distribute my time to the different activities. While I am taking tarot session or learning something new about it, I am totally dedicated to it . I put my energy and dedication to it . The next moment if I am writing poems then it is only about poems, it’s inspiration and it’s style, that time I am an author and not a tarot reader. So this helps me to do multiple activities in a day without getting anxious. “Whichever role you are playing, be loyal to it “- this is what my mentor,Ankit Bhaiya has taught me and I follow it very strictly.
Q3) How did the idea of “A cup of society” come to your mind? Tell us a bit about the book and also attach links for purchase.
Ans : This book is the treasure of many old poems that I started writing in my depression phase. So everything I was feeling or seeing around me used to trigger me a lot let that be news on TV and I used to scribble down. Most of the poems in this book are written in raw form , meaning just in one flow without any second correction. I never thought of bringing it together but Nikhil Sir and Rajvi ( Founders of Unite Publication) pushed me to write my own book and publish it. This book is like the mirror that show some of the reality of society that we even see on daily basis. There is good and bad in every story so it’s not about the shadow aspect but also the cosmic beauty of our society. I have tried to show both the female and male perspective of society along with some spiritual sparkles and some quote clouds.
Link for “ A CUP OF SOCIETY”:
Q4)The title of your book “A cup of society” is wonderful . Tell us more about the Title. How did you come up with the idea of the title.
Ans : Thank you so much for appreciating it. “ A CUP OF SOCIETY” is my debut solo book as an author , it was super special to me, will always be. The reference was ocean. So this book is like a cup out of huge ocean. Society is vast and there is so many diversity and everything couldn’t be summed up in a book so it’s just a cup out of the vast ocean. And another thought was we need many ingredients to make a delicious tea in order to soothe our mood and emotions so different raw ingredients ( topics) have been mixed to make this tea (book) pleasurable to my readers.
Q5) You have received the UTKAL Pratibha Samman 2023. Tell us more about the experience behind this award .
Ans : This was unexpected one as I was not knowing my name is in the nomination list . Rajendra Sir ( Founder of Happy Moments) and Kunja Sir just called me and said that there is an event and they have decided to award me for being one of the young International poets. This was right after my Top 100 International Iconic Women awards so I was still in that moment when I received news about this prestigious award. I was grateful, emotional, anxious all at the same time. Before going to event, my family was way more excited than me and they were like deciding what should be my outfit, my hairstyle and I was feeling very happy seeing their happiness and the proud feeling in their eyes . So this felt more like my family’s win and this is because of them I am able to soar high without any boundaries.
Q6) Finally is there any advice that you want to give to the authors who want to have a career in the field of writing.
Ans : “Just be authentic and keep learning always” ,this always helps us to grow and evolve. Three things that I have been taught and I would love to pass on these miracles to my beautiful souls
- Sky is your limit. Don’t fear to fly high . You take the leap of faith and Mahadev will give you the wings to fly. Come out of your comfort genre, try new and different things.
2.Never forget your roots cause that helps you to stay humble and grateful. When you are grateful even for the little things, it creates miracles in a thousand ways. It will open you to many new opportunities.
- Just be you ,the world can adjust . At first it will seem difficult but trust me you will be loved for your most authentic self only so will be your work.
