We were lucky to catch up with Jyotirmaya Thakur recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jyotirmaya , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I wanted to be a writer. The evidence was everywhere: in the journal I had been writing in since teenage, the half-finished short story on my laptop, the blog idea I’d talked about for years but never started. I felt a disconnect, a sense that the part of me that was most me—the observer, the wordsmith, the storyteller—would be systematically silenced by the daily grind.
The emotion was a cocktail: of restlessness, faith, and a flicker of hope that I tried desperately to protect from the downpour of “be realistic.” It didn’t start with a lightning bolt. It started with a low, persistent hum of frustration.Later after my resignation I had no other option or choice with my ill health.
The Catalyst, the Moment of Clarity wasn’t one moment, but a series of them, like kindling catching fire. I wasn’t just offering “words.” I was offering clarity, connection, and conversion. I was building a bridge between my mission and my audience. Then one day I was appointed as the chief editor of the school magazine in 1993 and a few of my poems and articles were published. After that I was invited by National and State magazines and journals for my poems and articles so I knew then that there was nothing I wanted to do except write.
3. What is your bestselling book title or piece of artwork?
My most popular books are in the series of soulful collections , ‘Unimaginable Spaces’ and the ‘Beauty of the Atlas‘in the series on Womanism. My other project is a collection of my motivational speeches and quotes published in a Journal series. My most popular project is a collaboration between global poets in the Anthology – Poetry Beyond Borders series which is ongoing for 3 years and have published 15 volumes till date.
And gradually I got recognised and received numerous awards and got invitations to many international Literary conferences as guest of Honor. My writing was being recognised as I was being published in international Anthologies and getting translated in many languages.
2) I am involved in many meaningful projects such as with NGO of destitute girls and women . I have also been taking free tutions to poor students in spoken English as crash course for their interviews . When I immigrated to the UK ,I worked as a tutor to Asian immigrants teaching them spoken English.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a retired Principal of Cambridge affiliated school ,bilingual author, poet, Columnist, Researcher, Translator, Reviewer, Editor, Motivational Speaker, Philanthropist, Environmental, Social and Cultural activist. I serve on various prestigious Committees as Ambassador and Adviser for literary and humanitarian organisations. Brand Ambassador for National and International magazines.
My most popular books are in the series of soulful collections , ‘Unimaginable Spaces’ and the ‘Beauty of the Atlas‘in the series on Womanism. My other project is a collection of my motivational speeches and quotes published in a Journal series. My most popular project is a collaboration between global poets in the Anthology – Poetry Beyond Borders series which is ongoing for 3 years and have published 15 volumes till date.
Amazon link of my books :-
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.in%2FPoetry-Jyotirmaya-Thakur-Literature-Fiction%2Fs%3Frh%3Dn%253A1318175031%252Cp_27%253AJyotirmaya%2BThakur%26fbclid%3DIwAR3bg1m0OFXy2Xgd4lVxnVztrPhtY_qgg5xirvg9TeKM05rO4Uf80tVnJLU&h=AT23vofsRAoEHTUirbcMek3bFHNhDkq02FFlj3WqITg5kNJoMi3oZQ56yTBmBEUVujYR1NsVcSM5BCBkeSEVEstGobCYgPiaalknFrUxB8NCP8YHS5DTDNmAwUuEEGQ-ypWO&s=1
The link of ebooks :-
https://shopizen.app.link/ej7d94T90Gb
My podcast link :-
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100065045198801
Facebook Profile:-
https://www.facebook.com/jyotirmaya.thakur

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

My father died of cancer after suffering for years. And one day in my mid life my husband had suffered a stroke. He lost his normal speech and his facial contour changed for a few months and he was on medication for years till he became normal but suffered from depression and irritation. He used to get angry easily and hurt most of the time. Then I lost my mother suddenly by cardiac arrest one day.Being a girl child and married abroad far away from family, I felt as if the wall behind my back had collapsed. I had no place to visit in my home town after my parents death. I experienced grief so intense that all my senses were on hold. I thought I’d never emerge from it. I was in despair. I was also depressed. I encountered a bunch of medical crises myself. Even writing didn’t give me solace. I was functioning as a body but deep inside I had become a zombie.
Then slowly I began to process my grief. I did so by writing about it. I would think about my parents and imagine what could make them proud. The answer was always that they would like to see me strong and resilient. They would want me to pick up the threads of my life and get my act together. They would want me to move past my pain and do wonderful things in life.
Then in the process of writing reviews in 2024 in March ,I became a victim of cybercrime as my account was hacked and I lost all my savings.
I got wrapped in the legal matters of the court to fight to get my money back as the bank did not take responsibility. But while fighting for the just cause I got into reality of many other victims of cybercrime.
That gave me the inspiration to keep going. It prodded me towards normalcy. I learned to tackle the huge vacuum that had arrived in my life. Bit by bit, I learned to shut the doors of the past and concentrate on the future. In the end, that is the only option one has.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I was married at the age of eighteen while I was in college doing my graduation. I completed my graduation and went abroad with my husband for further education. While completing my best graduation I became pregnant and bore a son during final examination. I could not complete my exam thus did not get a degree. I brought up both my son’s while doing my post graduation again after a break of five years. I joined a school as primary teacher and then was gradually promoted to higher classes teaching plus two , equivalent to O level and A level. With my sincere work along with my responsibility as a wife and mother of two children I became the Principal of a cambridge affiliated school. But suffered greatly from my diabetes and had to resign due to ill health. But my journey of a writer thus began . I had to unlearn the lessons of spoon feeding and trying to imitate great writers but become myself and respect myself ,thus my creativity became very personal and despite refusal from traditional publishers I continued my way of writing and ultimately after a few years I got publishers who invited me and published my work in traditional manner as I could not afford self publication in the beginning.

I am a social , cultural and Environment activist so my writings are focused towards highlighting the issues related to these topics .

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.facebook.com/share/1RryaScEBT/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jyotirmaya.thakur1 The link of ebooks :- https://shopizen.app.link/ej7d94T90Gb
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jyotirmaya-thakur-61b22611a?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@jyotirmayathakur6723?si=wW2r-numDeXvM_nb
• Other: https://shopizen.app.link/eL3bJj0OMWb

Image Credits

Jyotirmaya Thakur and photographers of the events