From penning prescriptions to writing fiction

Saurabh Tankha

It is not every day that you win a prize in school for writing a humorous piece instead of a formal writeup on My Favourite Sport during an essay writing competition. That perhaps helped kindle the fire in Sania Siddiqui to express herself through writing. She was eight then. “I penned how badminton and lawn tennis are relatives and why I love the slimmer cousin better? Winning a prize was the most unexpected thing then,” says Sania.

Born in Delhi and brought up in Lucknow to Kendriya Vidyalaya teacher couple, Sania has recently released her first fictional creation, My Stuff Speaks. “Over the last 10 years, I have written about anything and everything – from journal-like, well-researched articles on vector-borne diseases to latest trends in bags, from product reviews to event coverages, from recipes to parenting tips. Now, it is fiction,” shares who studied medicine from Jamia Hamdard. “After completing studies in 2001 and working for a few years in the clinical field, I moved to healthcare market research and worked with a US-based firm for several years in Gurgaon. On moving to Pune a few years back, I started working in the field of preventive medicine,” informs Sania whose husband is DGM at the Pune plant of General Motors.

Ask her how easy or difficult was it to switch from writing prescriptions to writing stories and promptly comes the reply, “Easy peasy. Because creative writing comes to me inherently. My mother, Dr Shaheda Siddiqui, is a renowned satire writer in Urdu and has published several books till now. She retired as a principal from Kendriya Vidyalaya and is based in Lucknow now,” Sania shares, adding her mother is the most self-driven, motivated and full of life person. “Today, even at the age of 67, she is game to start a new venture, travels to far flung places and keen in learning how to create sponsored posts through her Facebook page,” she puts in.

When did this idea to bring things around to life and make them talk occur? “I have always been fascinated with the idea of personification of inanimate things. I once wrote a piece on Being a Sofa (http://www.allthingsgud.com/being-a-sofa/). I guess since then this idea of inanimate objects sharing their perspective vocally was lingering in my mind,” says Sania who has her 12-year-old daughter as her best friend and the worst critic.

Before we end the conversation and Sania heads to pen her second book, she has something to share, “One should never let educational qualifications become a hinderance in pursuing passion and interest. Being an engineer or an architect professionally should not limit you from becoming a successful photographer anytime later in life if that was your calling initially. And ‘NEVER SAY NEVER’ is my mantra.”

Readers interested in picking up a copy of her book, My Stuff Speaks can go online and order from :
Notionpress – https://notionpress.com/read/my-stuff-speaks
amazon India – https://tinyurl.com/y7z7z7j7
amazon US – https://tinyurl.com/y7jv7c52
amazon UK – https://tinyurl.com/y8nmel7k