Shilpa Seewoo Menon: A woman with grit and determination

Shilpa Seewoo Menon is an epitome of talent, patience and creativity. She is a vivid example of a multi-tasking person. As an engineer, author and an artist, she has excelled in various fields and is a role model for women.

Shilpa is known for her recent book “Scars do heal”, a book which depicts the infamous ‘Nirbhaya’ gang rape case of December 2012 in India. “As the details of the Nirbhaya episode came out in public, the news shook not only India but the whole world. The heinous manner in which a young woman was assaulted was beyond comprehension. Despite her fighting spirit, she didn’t survive. Her tragic death sparked a wild fire in the hearts of many across the world, including mine. Nirbhaya’s death stirred me to write this book about gender violence.”

Shilpa holds a Bachelor’s and a Masters’ degrees in Chemical from the University of Cape Town. “After completing my university education, I came back to Mauritius where I worked for a few years in the petroleum field. My decision to shift to India, coupled with my dream of setting up my own business made me take the plunge as an entrepreneur. In 2009, I started my own business and founded my own brand called ‘Jolie’.”  

From engineer to writer 

Professionally, Shilpa has an engineering degree but her passion for writing did not stop her from writing fiction. “I agree that engineering and fiction are poles apart but at the end of the day, we are all humans with emotions. During my stint at engineering, I had the chance to write quite a few articles which were published in scientific journals. So writing was something that came naturally to me. I have also been and continue to be an avid reader. When I found my purpose to write, the drive to author a novel was but automatic. It wasn’t an easy task though writing fiction is not a cake walk.”

She avers that life is short and unpredictable. “I believe that it should be our genuine endeavour to work towards achieving our goals and to live out our dreams.  Like they say, ‘where there is a will, there is a way. Likewise, I am of the belief that ‘where there is a passion, there can be no excuse’.”

Photography, baking and Cake decoration

Shilpa is a highly talented woman. She also has a passion for photography, baking and cake decorations. She loves to capture special moments through the lens.

“For nurturing this passion of mine, I keep practising with my DSLR, sonyalpa 77. I have studied a basic course on professional photography. To keep up to date with latest techniques, I keep going through online tutorials and discuss with senior professional photographers on National Geographic, where I normally post my best shots. I love to create beautiful and appealing cakes and hence every now and then I take up baking and cake decoration projects from which I get to sharpen my skills and use new techniques to create designer cakes for all occasions. Be it a birthday, a baby announcement or a wedding, I take up the challenge and achieve some self-learning through a library of books I have in the field, through interactive groups with fellow bakers and through online tutorials. I have even attended a few classes on cake decoration techniques. I have dedicated a page on Facebook to showcase all my projects.” 

Challenges she overcame 

The journey till now was not as easy as many people could imagine. The road has been rocky but still Shilpa handled everything intelligently five-year-old. “Initially, I was caught between running my export business and my priorities as a mother for my son. When I started writing, my son was about three, so my writing did demand a lot of planning and I had to effectively manage my time so that my writing didn’t infringe upon my work-family harmony. I used to write when my son was asleep. I made it a habit to write everyday, determined to complete my book. Although I did not have any deadline to finish my novel, the purpose of my writing was so strong that it kept me going.”

She confided that writing a book is one thing and making it available to a worldwide audience in both print and digital format is something else. “Distribution logistics is often as challenging as writing. With online shopping having become a global phenomenon, it was important for my product to be available online as well as in physical storefronts for maximising reach by leveraging the strengths of global partners with bespoke expertise in distribution logistics.”

Today, her book is listed and available in over 30,000 stores and libraries across 150 countries in the world. “Amazon - the world’s biggest e-commerce platform, was a definite place for my novel to be made available. I launched both print and electronic forms on Amazon. “Scars do heal” is available for global delivery through Amazon.com and all the international Amazon sites, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom.” 

A few lines about the book 

“Scars do heal” is the story of Sonal Kapoor, who is a reserved, hardworking entrepreneur running a florist boutique in London. She fights a paradoxical battle between her responsibilities at work and her only family there - her mother. And caught in between these is a story of Sonal’s past - a terrible event that got her to flee India. Scars from her troubled past continues to manifest in multitude of ways, reminding her constantly about that horrific event. 

Her dreams…

She is currently working on her next novel. “Currently, I am unable to divulge much about my next novel. It is work in progress. I am conducting subject matter research. I hope to have the novel published by the beginning of next year - this book will be dedicated to the destitute who are in search of support.”