“Interviewing Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni felt like catching up with an old friend,” says Dr. Manju Sheth, a Boston-based physician by profession, having a passion for media and commitment to serve the larger humanity, with special focus on women’s empowerment.
“This is because I have been reading her books for decades and have been fully absorbed in the strong characters that she has created in her magnificent books. I have always believed that best authors have their essence and personality seeped in the characters, who also tend to evolve over the years along with the journey of the writer.”
Ms. Banerjee is an award-winning and bestselling author, poet, activist and teacher of writing. Her work has been published in over 50 magazines, including the Atlantic Monthly and The New Yorker
Describing her experience of meeting (via zoom) and having a face to face interview with Ms. Banerjee, Dr. Sheth says, “I was very impressed with her simplicity. She does not wear a burden of ego or of her tremendous success and is deeply interested in hearing from her audience.”
According to Dr. Sheth, “One of the most inspiring and fun part of the interview was her explanation of the difference in personality between Panchali and Draupadi of Palace of illusions and Sita from Forest of enchantment. Both are very strong women, yet one has a flair for drama and the other is very demure.”
A world renowned author, Ms. Banerjee’s works have been made into films and plays. A resident of Houston, Ms. Banerjee was born in Kolkata, India, and came to the United States for her graduate studies, receiving a Master’s degree in English from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Ms. Banerjee’s most recent book written in Covid times is “The Last Queen,” based on life of Rani Jindan of Punjab. A story of a strong queen and a mother with her invincible spirit, who though imprisoned, never gives up on finding her son who is forcibly taken away from her by the British.
In her interview with Dr. Sheth, Ms Banerjee “takes you to a visual wonderland with the spell of words that she weaves very effortlessly, so it is not surprising and perhaps was a prophecy that she was named Chitralekha by her maternal grandfather,whom she adored and was the earliest inspiration for her books with the beautiful tales from mythology that she heard from him in her school vacations.”
Dr. Manju Sheth is a Board Certified Internist, currently serving patients at Beth Israel Lahey Hospital.in the Boston Region in Massachusetts. Dr. Sheth is the co-founder and CEO of INE MultiMedia, a non-profit organization devoted to promoting and supporting charitable organizations, art, culture, education and empowerment through workshops, seminars and multimedia. Dr. Sheth is known to be a natural storyteller her popular “Chai with Manju” celebrity series is one of the most read news features in the New England region, where she featured celebrities and spiritual leaders such as Sadhguru, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the Kennedys and the like. She is the creator and host of celebrity interview series called Chai with Manju which has had over 2 million views.
Dr. Sheth says, “My interview with Chitra Banerjee is surely one of my most memorable conversation with a celebrity guest .I hope that the viewers enjoy it as much as I did.” Please click the link below to watch Dr. Manju Sheth’s Interview with Ms. Banerjee:https://player.vimeo.com/video/545402566
