TRODZA -the Blog- is about Life Situations

The Blog and Life Stories
We are never sure of what life has in store for us. We go through pleasant and unpleasant situations. Sometimes we don’t even have time to take stock of what is happening to us or around us. Yet some of these events can inspire us or perhaps haunt us for the rest of our lives. Sometimes the unpleasant experiences can leave us powerless at crucial times or perhaps speechless when we have to face up to their fallouts.

As a writer I offer a voice to those who want to tell their stories. While exploring their needs and sensitivities I do my utmost to empathise with them and use my understanding of people and my writing skills to turn even painful or distressing tales into motivational and inspirational reading. The six books I have written and the different topics I continue to write about explore these and other life situations.

The Blog and my Writing
Though I was not an avid reader when growing up, I was thrown in at the deep end, for more than 20 years, reading through stories and assignments of school and college students. Many of them inspired me. I did try to get the story written by one of them, a 12-year-old girl, into print. I didn’t get far with that but, many years later, one of my 19-year-old ex-college graduates compelled me into getting his story out as my first book, A Bumpy Ride (Chasing a Dream). The writing bug then just caught on and my second book, The Singh Saga (A Mountain Tale), followed the same year, 2012. My latest book, my sixth, about an Anglo-Burmese World-War-II-veteran, Boyhood Trials Shape the Chindit (Living through the War in Burma), was out in October 2014. My other books also speak of human or dysfunctional situations.

The career path I took from youth work, teaching and lecturing to career guidance, basic counselling and modern coaching proved to be an invaluable asset in understanding the complexities and the pressures of human living. My travels across countries and the encounters I’ve had with different cultures have helped enrich my writing. In addition, the projects I’ve been involved in usually with academic and social objectives sharpened my analytical ability to assess the workings of the human mind. Further, the secretarial and organizational skills I developed early in my career, working for a large institution, turned out to be the integral ‘supplement’ I needed as a writer, enabling me to process my thoughts effortlessly with digital efficiency.

The Blog and different People
As a writer I listen to what people want to say and then try and use their experiences and their suggestions as well to offer advice and solutions. They often experience a ‘bumpy ride’ (as in book 1) that ordinary folk don’t seem to be aware of. They also go through a Darwinian process of ‘the survival of the fittest (without complaining or looking for redress) all in the ‘silence beyond the pain’ (as in book 5) in a subtly complex and socially pressurised environment. I strive to use anecdotal evidence to suggest alternative methods that could be set in place to produce more balanced ‘human beings’ for today’s exciting yet complicated world.

However, while goodness overflows in the wider world the subtle insinuations and manipulations of human frailty would appear to influence and corrupt even the courts of those who are supposed to be the guardians of love, peace and authority. There is some evidence to show that the severe flaws in the managerial systems even of some religious organizations seldom brought to the attention of ordinary people, need constant appraisal or systemic reform. There is definitely a need for more empathy, a better understanding of human interaction and a holistic plan for the training of managers. These ‘victims’ of dysfunctional management often do not have a ‘voice’ to explore avenues for justice and redress. Some of my books attempt to convey the message to these and other individuals in any ‘saga’ even of ‘pain’ or those going through ‘a bumpy ride’ that they do not need to suffer ‘in pain’ and that they can be ‘redeemed’ socially, at least to a point, if they can ‘tell’ their stories.

The Blog and my Books
The Singh Saga is about a dysfunctional family in the Himalayas; Anastasia Redeemed is about dysfunctional management in an African setting; The Silence Beyond the Pain is about a trail of mismanagement mainly in India. Subtle comparisons can be drawn between A Bumpy Ride and Anastasia Redeemed when all the fallout of improper management is not properly reined in. While Ralph (in A Bumpy Ride) in some ways achieved his ‘dream’, Anastasia and Kevin (in The Silence Beyond the Pain) were not so fortunate. However the three protagonists show a faith that is really more heroic and sincere than that of their ‘pharisaic’ managers. This is what helps to make the books inspiring and motivating.

I enjoy writing and can sit through hours at the laptop when an idea is brewing or when a plot is reaching a climax. I am happy to write for those who do not have a voice or for those who find it difficult to get their ideas into print.

Though my books are largely about dysfunctional situations my blogs [-see my blog http://www.trodza.wordpress.com-] speak about inspirational stories. The bulk of my writing [books and blogs] is true even if some of it appears as fiction. Should you wish to get in touch with me, you can at trodza@ymail.com .

All the books are available on Amazon: A Bumpy Ride (2012), The Singh Saga (2012), Anastasia Redeemed (2013), The Silence Beyond the Pain (2013), Petals and Pebbles (2014), Boyhood Trials Shape the Chindit (2014).

–T.D’Souza for TRODZA – 100215