It took a trip to Los Angeles for corporate professional Amisha Sethi to understand spirituality.
In the middle of her business trip, Sethi had come across the sight of a few American chanting mantras on the beach, inspired by a saint in Thiruvannamalai. The incident not only piqued her curiosity about spirituality, but also catalysed her to pen the book It doesn’t hurt to be Nice.
“Many years ago, these foreigners prompted me to research on the Upanishads, Vedas, Yoga Vasishta and the spiritual books from Germany to understand the essence of spirituality and by reading them, I deduced that it’s all about being kind and a good person at heart,” said Amisha, who had written it during her stay in Chennai.
Having captured the essence of the books after extensive research, the author also took to meditation to undertake what she calls “an inward journey”. The combined knowledge made her want to pen a book, which would be a work written in a simple and relatable way.
“I chose fiction as a form to narrate concepts such as kindness and understanding in a non-preachy story with sketches and illustrations to enliven the narration. The central character Kiara’s everyday incidents shape the book, but at the end of each chapter there are some lessons to imbibe. When you read them, you will know that I have written every word after a lot of research as you can find references to a lot of scriptures in them,” shared the author.
The 35-year-old added that one of the primary goals of writing the book was to quell the misconception that spirituality and meditation are for the old folk. Besides, the book can be read by anyone aged above 14.
“Kindness and being a better person — what spirituality means to me — is not an attribute meant just for the aged alone. So why just confine this knowledge to them?,” said the author.