From creating code to analysing business data reports and chasing top corporate honchos, software engineer-turned-business journalist and debutant author Vineetha Athrey has been the Jane of all trades. Her debut novel, Sexy, Successful Spiritual (Pentgonpress, Rs.595) is her attempt at a fresh perspective to the world.
Talking about the book, she says, “The book is about how you can stay in the zone of inspiration, high-performance and creativity all the time, without letting the inconsequential details drag you down. I call it staying ‘In The Zone, All The Time.’ It is an anti-thesis to conventional self-help books and methods.”
She says, “The idea behind this philosophy came when my mother had passed away a few years ago. I was constantly hassled by the thought that knowing that all this is going to end some day, how do you still stay creatively charged. I was battling the pace and pressures of TV journalism.”
She adds: “I read a lot of conventional self-help and motivation literature and tried out Tai Chi and the Art of Living modules. None of them worked in the long term. I found myself out of the zone and unable to focus. I read a lot and looked at the issues of creativity, imagination and high-performance through the lens of brain science, the psychology of motivation, and combined these elements to design a unique model. It helped me a lot. I also asked some of my friends to follow this model to remain in the zone and it worked for them too.”
The idea of writing the book came much later, when Vineetha was attending a spiritual retreat hosted by The Dalai Lama.
“I met a French Tibetan Buddhist nun, who was mourning the death of her child. I talked to her about my model and convinced her to return to her family. That experience convinced me that I had to share my model with the world and empower others. I quit my job and started working on this book.”
She adds, “This is truly something I have wanted to do for a very long time. I have always asked myself if I have ever made a change in someone’s life through any of my work. This book is the answer to that question.”
