Welcome Mangalam!

Tell us a little about yourself.
MS: I am a retired Marketing Professional having about 40 years of working experience in Mumbai, India. After retirement I and my wife settled in Pondicherry, a quiet, peaceful coastal town in the South of India. I have a great passion for listening to Ghazals, Old Hindi Film songs, photography and reading fictions by Robert Ludlum, Robin Cook, Jeffrey Archer, Fredrick Forsyth, Sidney Sheldon, Harold Robbins, Tom Clancy and many others.

Have you always wanted to be an author?
MS: No. I was keen on reading for nearly 40 years but had the desire to write in the last five years only. When I looked around, I found many social injustices were taking place in India against Children, Women and weaker sections of the society. This propelled me to write short stories which reflected such atrocities. The stories focused on moral values which are gradually disappearing in our society.

What did you want to accomplish with your book, Empty Fists?
MS: As my age would not allow me to take any direct action against injustices, I decided to share my ideas and feelings addressing the various anomalies through many characters & situations using my imagination. I was hoping that those who read my stories will learn the realities in life and initiate some corrective actions. I am glad that those who have read my book have appreciated my sentiments. I got a novel idea of letting Raju the intelligent stray dog think and express his frustrations against human beings. Some of the stories were as told by Raju. This idea has been received very well by the readers.

Do you have another project on the go right now?
MS: Yes, I have finalized the manuscript for my second book with more stories with different themes and ideas. I am in the process of copy editing and hope to publish it by New Year 2016.

Is there a book or story in particular that had a lasting impact on you?
MS: The stories by Robert Ludlum, Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon and Harold Robbins had a lasting impact on me. The earlier novels “The Carpet Baggers” , “Adventurers” and “A stone for Danny Fisher” by Harold Robbins captivated me for a long time.

What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
MS: The excitement to face a new day and to write a few pages of my stories, inspire me to get out of bed each day.

After working as a marketing professional in Mumbai for forty years, author Mangalam Shiva finally took up the pen. A keen observer of life, the author has been following the myriad incidences of social injustice, inequality, corruption and abuse of power that our country has been beset with, and its impact on the common man. Unable to initiate direct action in rectifying these social evils, he hopes however, to create awareness, through these short stories. By touching a chord with the readers, somewhere, a life may change for the better.

“God, why has this happened to me? I have never hurt anybody in my life. I have been sincere to God, to my work, to my husband… Yet, I have to suffer this cruel brutality. Why?” A software professional who led a charmed life, finds that life destroyed by a single brutal incident…A man on his deathbed realizes a life spent in the US chasing money, filled his pockets but left him empty…An ambitious reporter with her dreams within grasp, finds them turning into dust…A beautiful woman is locked in a battle against unwanted male attention with shocking results…Meet these characters – strong, inspiring, wayward, cynical, ambitious, and share their journey, in this contemporary anthology of ordinary lives, extraordinary insights.

Available on Kobo or Amazon