The buzz word on social media these days is depression. After the suicide of a popular Bollywood actor, people have started a heated discourse on mental illness and how best to cope with it. As someone who was clinically diagnosed with depression twice, Mr. Sandhu is no stranger to mental illness. He has also been a caregiver to mental illness sufferers, and that has prompted him to center his next story on the mental health aspects of the current pandemic.
My first autobiographical fiction novel Sepia Leaves was about schizophrenia. I am a strong advocate of healthy mental health practices. That is what interested me to look at the mental health aspects of the coronavirus outbreak and the lockdown(s).
As we gear up to read Mr. Sandhu’s latest work, it would be a crime to not talk about his previous pieces. He is best known as the author of ‘Panjab: Journeys Through Fault Lines’, which saw him travel across the state for three extensive years and witness many of its horrors. His second novel, ‘Roll of Honour’ depicted the ‘internal conflict felt by a group of Sikh Indian army cadets at the time of the government sanctioned destruction of the Golden Temple’, and was nominated for The Hindu Literary Prize, 2013.
An author par excellence, Mr. Sandhu believes that to write well, one must enjoy reading. He himself is super passionate about reading and takes joy in the ability to ‘inhabit different worlds’ through the simple act of picking up a book and getting lost in a story. When asked about whether he adopts a different approach for print and digital media, he says that he would go for print media when he hopes to reflect, and digital media when he wants simple information.
This Prime Day, we are delighted to have Mr. Sandhu’s pieces available for your perusal, and we hope to keep the conversation on mental illness going in these troubled times. Reach out to your loved ones and check in on them this Prime Day, with a new book or a Kindle. Nothing says you care like a gift that contains stories!
