Dr Sandhya Amiri-chetty could not have been a happier person as she debuted as a writer on Sunday at the Oxford bookstore. Her book, ‘Petals from my Heart’, which is a collection of 55 poems is the poetess’ first published work. Written in first person, the poems explore human experiences and aims to represent the various emotions that people face in their day-to day life. The point she explains is to “reach out to the readers”.
The book was launched by renowned writer, poet and actor Tanikella Bharani, and Osmania University’s head of journalism department, Karnam Nagender.
As a child, Sandhya discovered her talent in penning poems. The letters she had written to her pen-friends enabled her teachers and friends to recognise her ability to string words together and extract beautiful meaning out of them. “It was their encouragement that made me attempt writing small poems,” she says. When she discovered her talent in poetry, she decided to make the best out of it by nurturing it by studying English Literature. “I used to write sonnets in my school and college days,” says Sandhya. Though she deviated from writing after the completion of her studies, the poet, who has completed her Ph.D in women studies from Osmania University, says that she hopes to take up writing as a full-fledged career. Her principle interest also lies in writing about women. “I write as a woman. I represent her and talk about her feelings,” shares the scholar who believes that her studies on women have enabled her to write more eloquent poetry. Till date, Sandhya has penned about 200 poems and is now looking forward to making it a full time a career.
“It’s all about self-satisfaction and poetry gives me that,” she says passionately, adding, “I write from my heart and hope to reach out to the readers’ heart.”
Having begun her writing career with poetry, she now plans on releasing a mythological novel in the next few months. “I am currently looking forward to the audience’s response to my debut though,” she signs off.