It is said that one always returns to their first love, so did author and yoga Acharya (a title bestowed upon her by the Sivananda Vedanta Yoga Centre) Ira Trivedi through her new book, Nikhil and Riya. It was at the age of 22 when Ira fell in love for the very first time, “Love strikes stronger when one is young. It is something one never forgets,” she sighs. But now, she has not one but two loves — yoga and writing, both complementing each other.
“Yoga is my lifestyle, my passion, whereas writing is my profession, in fact, yoga has helped me become a better writer as it balances me,” says the New Delhi-based writer. Between shooting for Yoga Ira, releasing Nikhil and Riya and the subsequent book tour, and writing a new book on yoga — balance plays a key role in Ira’s life.
Ira agrees that sometimes books and movies are guilty of setting such high expectations when it comes to love, but she tell us that Nikhil and Riya is different, “a love story grounded in reality,” she says. Nikhil loses his love Riya and the book narrates their journey. Now, loss is a familiar feeling for many, but do we truly know what love is? According to Ira, love cannot be found in another person as human life is finite. “The only way to achieve infinite love is through the love of God, love of something higher than yourself,” she enlightens us.
She also firmly believes that love, unlike what others think, has not changed, “just the way we find it has changed. Now, it’s more complicated because we have more choices. Then there is also the pursuit of careers,” says Ira. But to get away from the complications of her own life, she turns to one of her loves – reading, her favourite genre being fiction, “undoubtedly”.
Currently, she is reading a book on yoga as part of some research for her upcoming book. Reading aside, when it comes to writing she is fully focussed, “Half-way there, half-way here just doesn’t cut it for me,” and we are not surprised that she would know the importance of focus, being a yoga Acharya.”
She loves how the winds of the publishing industry are changing to include more women authors. But pin her down and ask for her favourite book, like any voracious reader, she protests, “Not fair! It’s like asking for a favourite child.” Another choice she cannot make is between yoga and writing, “Writing is my profession, yoga is my lifestyle,” she simply concludes.
