The Women Behind Women’s Web: Kiran Manral

In a series of posts called The Women Behind Women s Web , we present to you the people involved in bringing you this website some who ve been there from the very beginning, and some who joined in enthusiastically during the first year. Hope you enjoy reading more about the team that contributes to Women s Web. Presented in a Q&A format, this one is with Freelance writer and popular blogger, Kiran Manral. (Earlier post in this series – with Women’s Web Founder, Aparna V. Singh is here.)

Intro: Tell us about yourself in a few lines.

In an earlier life, I was a lifestyle journalist. I now freelance write and blog. I also founded India Helps which is a volunteer network to help disaster victims, and we worked intensively with victims of the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Apart from this, I co-organised April 2011 as Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Month on the twitverse and the blogosphere. I have a novel due out fromWestland, and am currently working on the next.

Q1. Why do you blog/write? What attracts you to it?

I blog to keep itchy fingers at bay. Seriously. I do a lot of bread and butter writing, a lot of which isn t to my liking, so blogging lets me write about what I want to write. What I like about blogging? It gives me an audience. That too an audience across the world, and people ready to pay attention to what I have to say. Given that no one in my house is ready to pay attention to what I have to say, unless I say it through a megaphone, that is the definite attraction.

Q2. What do you like best about writing for Women s Web? Of all the pieces you ve written here, which is your favourite?

I like writing for Women s Web because the features are not ’20 ways to seduce your man’, (though I have done a What to Expect on Your First Night). Seriously though, the features are solid, relatable and topics which every woman would have an opinion or a viewpoint.

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I have done many features here, but the one that stands out is the one I did on women and heart disease, because, god knows we have enough cooking oil ads trying to con us into believing only men suffer heart attacks.

Q3. What do you think Women s Web can do better/do differently?

More fashion and beauty. For sure. I m frou frou that way.

Q4. What are the things that trigger you to write, that make you go, I have to write about this! ?

The thing that triggers me to write? God I haven t posted in X days. All my readers will run away to other blogs never to return. I have to post today. That s it.

Q5. Who are your favourite women writers/bloggers? What do you admire about them/their work?

The Mad Momma, because she writes with a passion, straight from the heart.

Rohini Haldea, she s practical, assured, and blogs in bullet points at times. How organized can you get?

Parul Sharma of Radio Parul, love her wicked sense of humour.

Women writers is a much vaster pond. From Charlotte Bronte, to Margaret Atwood, to Sophie Kinsella, to Erica Jong to Ayn Rand. Love them all. To paraphrase Sir Vidia, women writers write with sentimentality. And to me, that is a wonderful thing. They re not writing a thesis that they need objectivity. They are hormonal, emotional writers and that s what pulls you into their work.

Q6. What would you like to say to people who are interested in writing/blogging but are hesitant to start?

Just start. Write. A word at a time. The rest will follow.

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