A Journalism Alumna under the Faculty of Arts and Design at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), Nivashni Nair Sukdhev will be launching her fourth book titled: Pillow Talk at the Durban International Book Fair, to be held at the Globe, Suncoast in Durban on Saturday, 12 August 2023.
The 42-year-old is an award-winning senior journalist at the Sunday Times. Throughout her career, she has interviewed presidents, superstars and travelled throughout KwaZulu-Natal to find untold stories of the ordinary South Africans. She is a mother, journalist, author and a bookworm from Pietermaritzburg. However, she now resides in Durban.
She has consecutively written and published three books. Her first book titled: What’s on my mind? Making Babies was published in 2020. According to Sukdhev, this was a non-fiction book which was based on a personal account of her victorious battle against Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and infertility. In 2022, she published a fictional romantic comedy titled: Fireworks. The following year, 2023, she published yet another fictional romantic comedy titled: Kissing her senseless.
Nivashni Nair Sukdhev will be launching her fourth book titled: Pillow Talk.
Speaking about her fourth novel: Pillow Talk, Sukdhev calls it a modern story of ambition and love. The book celebrates the power of friendship, following her passion, and embracing the unpredictable journey of life.
“Shona Shah’s life is complicated. She is shackled to a family obligation, has a causal relationship with a childhood friend, Senthil Aiyer, unfulfilled dreams, and a heap of clothing at the bottom of her closet that she just doesn’t have time to hang up. In a bold move, frustrated Shona walks out of her family business to forge her own path, but the twenty-something bridal designer soon realises to move forward, she must look at her family’s past. Shona’s chaotic journey of self-discovery is a whirlwind of humour, heartache, and personal growth. Senthil discovers that sometimes the greatest love stories can unfold right in the middle of the chaos,” said Sukdhev, giving a brief synopsis of the book.
She shared that the plot of her book developed in her mind during the last week of the second school term, when she was on her way to fetch her six-year-old son from school. She claimed that by that evening, she had written 3000 words, and two weeks later, a more than 45 000-word manuscript. The book was written on her cell phone and submitted to her publisher. She found it easier to write it on her cell phone as switching on the laptop seemed like more work, while balancing her day job, being a mother and writing a book.
Sharing briefly about her journey at DUT, Sukdhev obtained her National Diploma in Journalism in 2001 at DUT. She recalled the fond memories of basking in the sunshine in the foyer with friends between lectures and the most delicious bunny chow from the cafeteria at City campus. She feels without the knowledge gained at DUT, the constant advice and support (even today) from DUT lecturers, she would not be where she is today.
She knew from the moment she received a toy typewriter as a gift when she was a little girl, that she wanted to be a journalist. Back then, Sukdhev recalled writing stories and reporting the news of her family.
Responding to how she started writing books, Sukdhev said most people used to say to her “you should write a book” whenever they heard her story of how she finally conceived after numerous surgeries, being hospitalised for three months to save her unborn child who ended up being born at 32 weeks weighing 1.3 kg. She stated that she would not take these comments seriously until in 2020 when she met a nurse who was in tears when she heard her story. This gave her courage to finally start writing her first book as she realised that there are many people suffering in silence and who are looking for stories of hope and determination. Amazingly, her son is now a healthy, happy six-year-old.
“The title of my first book, What’s on my mind? Making Babies is actually based on my journey being documented on Facebook. When I declared a war on PCOS and infertility on Facebook, I gained an online following. The title comes from the question on the social network: What’s on your mind? For me, it was making babies,” shared Sukdhev.
Pictured: Journalism alumna, Nivashni Nair Sukdhev to launch her fourth book: Pillow Talk.
Simangele Zuma
