The Indian Awaz™ | © Author Awards 2020 | Dr. Vibha Shihorkar | Nominee

I am an Obstetrician and Gynecologist by professionand a writer and music aficionado by persuasion. I currently have my private practice at Nashik. I am a mother to two beautiful children, a son and a daughter.

I have been a medical practitioner for the last sixteen years. I have always been an ardent lover of the fine arts, especially literature and music. I first discovered my writing skills when I was thirteen, when I composed an essay in Hindi on the topic ‘kyaaap yudh chahtey hain ya nahin’ which was to be written in twenty minutes with a word limit. My Hindi teacher(Late Mrs. Padma Pagare)complimented me on this essay and told me that I would become a famous author one day.

Later in life, however, the ambition of becoming a medical practitioner and the rigors of accomplishing this aim nearly pushed my passion for writing into oblivion. It is only lately after settling down in my professional life that I decided to express myself through my writing. I sincerely believe that music and writing are my truest means for expressing my innermost thoughts and feelings.

I strongly advocate the cause of women’s empowerment. I have dealt with many women in my professional life and I have been privy first-hand to women of all ages narrating their plight to me and I have counseled many of my patients through their personal travails and tribulations. I passionately advocate feminism but not misandry. I genuinely feel that men should actively involve themselves in empowering women and only then will harmony and balance be achieved. Yin is meaningless without Yang and vice versa.

I have been passionate about music for the longest time. I am fluent in Marathi(my first language), Hindi and English, but can sing in fourteen languages. I have immense affinity for the ghazalgenre. My favourite ghazal-poets are MirzaGhalib(Asadullah khan Ghalib), Faiz Ahmed “Faiz” and Allama Iqbal. My favourite ghazal singers have been Begum Akhtar, Farida Khanum, Mehdi Hassanand Ghulam Ali. Amongst semi-classical and classical singers, I like Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammad Rafi, Sonu Nigam, Shobha Gurtu and Vani Jayaram.

I have grown up listening to fairy tales and as my sun sign Libra also suggests, I have a strong affinity for the romance genre. I have read many romantic stories till date, but I strongly believe in practical romance and not fantasy-based romance. Fiction inevitably involves an element of fantasy, but I prefer writing romantic fiction which is premised on pragmatism. The ending might not always involve the clichéd “they lived happily ever after” but it is certainly attuned to everyday life and what happens around us.

I also like reading books on spirituality and have been profoundly touched by Buddhism. Indian mythology also greatly interests me and my favourite character is the multifaceted Lord Krishna. My favourite author is Osho. His books Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy and Om Mani PadmeHum have endlessly inspired me.

I have been a life-long believer and practitioner of the values of compassion, love and loyalty and I fervently believe that these values reflect and reverberate through my writings

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Book: Our Little Secret
Author: Dr. Vibha Shihorkar