“I was visiting my son Narendran who works as a professor at the Northwestern University, Chicago, and showed the short stories to him,” she says with a shy smile. He promptly sent her manuscript to a few publishers. “When one of them approved it, I got down to editing and fine-tuning it with Narendran,” says Vimala. The book was published last year, earned her a royalty of $ 11, and she paid $ 4 as tax. “I am now an American taxpayer,” she says with a laugh.
Called The Banyan, the book is a collection of seven stories which speaks about Indian joint family system, the recently introduced ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, transforming lives of the under-privileged by acts of kindness, a day in the Indian household, unselfish service rendered by Indian doctors, the magnanimous nature of Indians and above all, how a woman longs for India, despite enjoying several creature comforts in the US.
Originally written for DTNext, read more at https://www.dtnext.in/News/Citizen/2017/06/16112557/1036356/Model-citizen-A-cultural-ambassador-she-turned-author-.vpf