Despite running a successful business, Manoj Jain finds time to chase his passion for writing. We caught up with the author called as ‘write of taboo’ for speaking on topics that are otherwise swept under the carpet. By Jigyasu Joshi
After the success of his first book, The BNO (Boys Night Out), Manoj Jain in his second book, The THC (Total Holistic Centre), highlight issues like impotency and depression, which are generally swept under the carpet. “Physical problems very often result from deeper psychological issues- example, facial tics are sometimes due to stress, nervousness, excitement. Unresolved emotional issues often result in psychosomatic symptoms. I have picked up issues that highlight one’s need to be emotionally well to be qualified as being fit. It should be our need, to cure such topics that are often titled as ‘taboo’,” said the author.
The book also has an interesting subtitle Under the Gibbous Moon. The phase implies an incomplete moon. Explaining the about the same, Jain said, “It is not yet a full moon, it is not shining with its full intensity and striving to be complete. I have used that as an allegory for the three characters in the book, who come to the THC (the Total Holistic Centre) to seek cure to their problems. Each of the characters is going through an emotional drain which has an impact on their physical being. They need healing and they need to learn from each other, help each other and resolve their past to shine brightly with their full potential, to be complete and full.”
Coined as a writer of taboo, it doesn’t bother him much. He rather said that someone needs to take the bulls by its horns. “Topics are taboo because people do not wish to openly discuss them. Someone has to address the elephant in the room, someone needs to take the bulls by its horns. So, I write what most people would shy away from writing. It is not like if you don’t talk about them that they will disappear,” he said.
Though writing about taboo was not always his intention. “I wanted to write about the inner concerns and feelings that many people would like to discuss but feel constrained due to societal norms. My objective is to encourage people to address issues which are generally not discussed and be open about expressing them,” he said. Jain now thinks that these topics should be talked about at other platforms. “Not talking about the sensitive topics saying it is taboo, creates more problems. let’s discuss things in open.”
Writing on the untouched topics, Jain confessed that he was nervous when he published the first book as the content was too bold. “I know the content is not openly discussed but when I wrote the book and read it again, I found it more of a psychological case study, so was unabashed.”
Unlike most authors, who like to pace their books, Jain already have the themes set in his mind for the next three books. “I am impatient and cannot wait. The THC was written when the first book was less than two months old. My books are not very long either, they are fast moving and very pictoral and graphic — I see the scenes in my head, so writing a book becomes so much faster,” he added.
Jain concluded by saying that he has no message or piece of advice to give to the budding writers. “We all travel in our space and find our own paths. We should just go for it,” he signed off.