Shoba Trivadi is a multifaceted and innovative professional with extensive experience as an information specialist, program management, and publications expert. She has worked with both software and hardware companies, managing publications, and fostering customer and company relations for both internal and external communications. Shoba has built strong connections with partners, competitors, and government entities, including roles involving the White House.
Often referred to as a “Jill of all trades,” Shoba has mastered various genres that appeal to different audiences, including poetry, quirky couplets, limericks, fiction, novels, and novellas. In the realm of creative arts, she has performed as an actress, playing lead roles in several plays, and later transitioned to directing and producing dramatic works for school, college, and television. As a teenager, she was a compere on radio and television, hosting some of the first programs to air across India.
Shoba holds a master’s degree in English Literature and another in Telecommunications, Television, and Digital Communications from Syracuse University. After moving to Silicon Valley, she worked in technology, writing technical books and leading teams of writers in producing technical documentation. Shoba’S work as a writer has also explored the nuances of non-fiction, introducing and extolling various features of technology products.
Below are highlights of the interview conducted between World’s Leaders and Shoba Trivadi:
Describe your storytelling and writing background? What inspired you?
I was inspired by my illustrious dad, my empathetic mom, my colorful sisters, my own fertile imagination, and my compulsion to share our stories with the rest of the world.
My father was the renowned humorist and journalist, VD Trivadi, who regaled us with his unique perspectives every moment of the day. His wit, light-hearted observations, and tongue-in-cheek humor about all things both big and small were the fodder for many of my limericks, rhymes, and quirky compositions as I explored my own take on life and its foils and foibles.
My mother was a sensitive, intelligent, artistic, and strong woman who instilled both values and sensitivity to all things around us, all of which contributed to our drive and ambition. Stories from her past as well as those she shared about her mother and those of that generation, her siblings, and her affectionate and exuberant extended family became inspiration for the themes and characters in my stories. To all this, I bought my own interest in exploring the eccentricities and subconscious internal musings that are inherent within each one of us.
The spark of inspiration and talent were interlaced within the fabric of luck and circumstance. Born into a family of a genius, as my dad was considered, and a graceful artist, as my mother was, I attribute my penchant for writing to my genes and my DNA. Then too were the angels of inspiration and talent that intervened giving me both the gift of the pen and enlightenment. I say this since I have seen my pen take on an imaginative life of its own as it traces lines and lines of prose or poetry onto a paper as if lured by magic and passion.
What are your responsibilities as an author?
We write so we are heard. But we must be responsible for what we say since what we say could lure the world one way or the other. I first wrote to share my background, the country where I came from, its leaders, its people, and its times and tribulations. Very soon the responsibilities I had as an observer and story teller took over. Eventually, I had to be true to myself, my opinions, the representation of my characters, and the truth I wanted to bring forward to my audience. Of course, it was also my personal choice to share my enjoyment of writing to the rest of the world.
Being a woman and being influenced by the experiences of my kind, I steered towards their stories within the pages of my works, be it narrative prose and imaginary fiction or poetic verse and elocution sometimes. Contemplative and at other times exuberant within monologues or dialogues. As an author, I believe that my responsibility is to bring people of the world together by showing them not just the peculiarity and uniqueness of who we are but also the common traits and experiences we share. As a world citizen, my curiosity of great beings from all parts of the globe was palpable; their lives, their thinking, their internal rumination and how they shaped history was of prime interest. By imaging their thoughts and emotions before key events in their lives in some anthologies on socio-political works, I hope to have the next generation understand what could have transpired as well as gain a sympathetic view into their minds and souls enriching their experiential journeys.
Our backgrounds and experiences inhabit our minds and our senses providing each one of us new perspectives. Why not share them with all so that the next generation is driven to their appreciation and usage. Finally, I feel it is my responsibility, in fact our cumulative responsibility, to leave legacy rich in our heritage and background. This life itself is a gift filled with talents from above, from our genes, from our ancestors, and from our environment. Why not share it with everyone so everyone enjoys and appreciates the fabric of being who we are and what we can do.
I write to share my passion with the world. I write to encourage people to see the world and the various kinds of people who inhabit it. I write to appreciate the nuances of thought and the beauty encased in language. I write to capture the funny, quirky, quizzical, ironical and even the absurd. Finally, though there is no finality in this, I write because I enjoy writing, coining phrases and thoughts, bringing structure in form and rhyme, and sharing my madness, gladness, and to my sadness with all of you equally mad, sad, and glad folks around me.
What has made you successful? What do you value?
Success is truly in the eyes of the beholder just as beauty is. My accomplishments are no reflection of my success. My success on the other hand is a testament of my accomplishments. I have been on TV so I have faced the world stage just as I have been on the real stage. I have been on radio and on TV. I have produced, directed, and developed many television productions original ones as well. I have written several works dabbling in prose, poetry, rhyming couplets, novels, novellas, fiction, non-fiction, and others. I feel successful since I have been equally prolific in writing different genres of literature. My success comes from my comfort with words, the fluency of thought, the affinity to rhymes, meter, and propensity to unique phrases with the twists and turns of similes, alliterations, and other forms of delightful styles that language offers. I do not measure value by how much success I have gained in any conventional sense of the word. Success is more internal to me. So long as I have the gift of communication that delight others, it makes me feel successful.
What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
Have conviction. Have no fear. Be courageous. Have confidence. Be yourself. Think with your mind. Lead with your heart. Brave tough weather. Weather rough storms. Storm away from negativity. Negate unnecessary situations. Situate yourself where there’s positivity. Positively, unequivocally, unapologetically, unflinchingly follow your goals.
What is the happiest part of your daily routine?
The times I write. The times when I am surrounded by words as they flow from my heart to my pen and then onto others. Those are fulfilling and rewarding.
What is the significance of innovative ideas when writing?
Without innovation writing remains stilted and confined within the threshold of posterity. Innovation in language brings surprises, elevates our senses, and takes our experiences to the next realm of reality and fantasy bridging the gap between fact and fiction, immersing us into a world of what is, what could be, and what may be, allowing us to be enriched by the power of imagination. Above all, the human mind is so vast in its potential, the world is filled with amazing individuals with a myriad talents, the opportunities for excellence exist in abundance, why not have each individual explore innovative ideas and spread them into the universe for the benefit of all. So, yes innovation is everything. Without it we are nothing.
What advice would you give someone going into this career field/industry as an author?
SDo not be impatient for success to knock on your door. Follow your passion and your passion will find you your success.
