Saluting The She-Roes – Nita Bajoria
Nita Bajoria renounced her avatar of a businesswoman to pursue her passion for knitting stories around relationships, emotional needs and perceptions that build up the drama of life.
Creativity is in Nita Bajoria’s blood. As a little girl, she had exclusive access to her mother’s maroon jacket diary in which she would write poems as an expression of her day-to-day feelings. This gave birth to her interest in reading and ever since she read her first Enid Blyton novel, she could not turn her back on the world of literature.
Books play an integral part in Bajoria’s life. Since childhood, each time she came across a captivating book, she too wanted to write something similar. She was writing as a hobby—just like her mother—however, she vowed to publish at least one book before she drew her last breath.
Joining the family business
Coming from a Jain background herself, Bajoria completed her graduation and got married into a Marwari business family of Kolkata. “My husband Namit Bajoria ran a kitchen appliances business under the brand name Kutchina, and joining him was a natural course of action. I studied an interior designing course and joined Kutchina Modular Kitchen to help him develop the division, while also managing home and motherhood,” she says. However, she always felt that tinge of uneasiness while leaving her daughter behind and stepping out of the house for work. “As I turned 38, a thought started crossing my mind. I had passed almost half my life but my passion for writing still stayed a secret within me! Hence, I decided to quit my work and pursue writing.” It was a tough decision but her calling to write was too strong.
Playing second innings
With no formal education in literature, Bajoria took up her writing venture as a new challenge. From being a boss, she was now a struggling author. The decision resonated well as the mother got more time to spend with her daughter during her growing years. “I believe it was beginner’s luck that helped me further to continue with the decision. My writing journey started with short stories and travelogues and most of my work got a place in magazines—I still have my first remuneration cheque that was lovingly framed by my husband for posterity,” she adds.
A few months later, Bajoria came across an article about migration to mars that gave her the idea to write a novel on the subject—Migration To Mars. “Being my debut novel, it took me three years to finish thanks to all the research that went into it. However, the publishers told me that science fiction was not as popular as romance and thrillers in India. Not ready to give up, I opted for self-publishing my novel on Amazon,” says the author. Eventually, she published two graphic novels (Urban Chronicles 1 and Urban Chronicles 2), duo novella (The Casket and Besky), and a children’s book (Myra and the secret library).
Over the years, Bajoria sensed a gap in her writing and wanted to update her writing skills. Inspired by her husband who signed up for a Harvard Executive course of three years (with one month of class attendance at Harvard University in Boston), she pursued a Master’s in Creative Writing. Being a mother, it was challenging to do a fulltime course, hence she opted for a part-time online course from Manchester Metropolitan University and attained her Master in Arts in Creative Writing.
The survival instinct
In a community where you have countless leaders and business magnates, it is natural to have an identity crisis. Bajoria had to struggle to explain to her relatives that writing was her career and not a hobby, and that she needs to give as much time to writing as to any other profession that exists under the sun. “Unfortunately, women’s work is considered secondary in a man’s world. So, while my husband could be busy with work and my daughter could be engaged in studies or sports, I was supposed to be always available. With the prevailing notion that no concentration was needed for writing, I found my work getting shelved most of the time. Even my friends thought once I had written a book and submitted the manuscript to any publisher of my choice, the book would be published instantly,” she relates. With much pain, she had to explain that there is a fair amount of struggle and rejections that an author has to go through before getting a book published. However, she is glad that she has been able to educate them about the importance of her work and the publishing process.
Belonging to a Marwari background, she had challenges convincing her in-laws that a woman can be more than just being a housewife and that it is her right to utilise her talent and not waste it under the pretext of becoming a good housewife. However, with her husband’s support—who always believed in her dreams—she was able to cross the hurdle. Things have changed now for the better and her inlaws are proud to introduce her as their ‘author bahu’.
Scaling greater heights
Knitting stories around relationships and emotional needs is her forte. Currently, Bajoria is on an experimental mode and exploring varied types of fiction. Nevertheless, she is sure that her readers will drive her toward the style she is best at and help her find her niche in the writing world. She prefers to call herself a budding writer now, and aspires to become a renowned author in the future. Writing is destressing for Bajoria. She loves reading while travelling and is at her best when left alone to scribble on her laptop in a library or a café. Writing is the pillar that has held her in the face of all adversities of life and kept her sane. She is also grateful to her family, teachers, mentors, friends and readers who supported her in this journey.
A writer who is yet to touch the ceiling of top publishers in India, she is hopeful that her work will reach them soon and will get appreciated too. For now, she is in no hurry and wants to make the most of her journey.
