Pallavi Lumba
By: Sakshi
Tell us something about yourself?
Hi Kenya!!!!! Hope all are doing well today and are safe and healthy.
Sorry Sakshi, had to greet the people of Kenya first! Hi Sakshi, thank you so much for this opportunity. It’s a pleasure conversing with you today and through this interview interacting with many people, the world over. It’s a pleasure to be here today. I have some fond memories of Kenya, having visited it way back in the 1990s.
Thank you, Kenya, for your hospitality, love and kindness at that time. It remains with me in my heart even today.
Coming to myself, I am Pallavi Lumba, I was born in Kolkata and raised in Delhi, where I completed my schooling and college education. I am the firstborn of my parents and I have a younger sibling. We are a closely-knit family and were bought up in a fairly free environment where men and women were treated at par with each other. We were taught to respect all religions equally and celebrate each festival with elan. My parents and grandparents ensured that we stayed humble and success did not get to our heads. My late maternal grandfather, Mahesh Jugran, served in the Indian Foreign Service, while my late maternal grandmother, Manju Jugran, worked for the non-profit organisation SEWA Bharti. My late paternal grandfather, Har Swarup Lumba, moved to Rampur, a tiny industrial town in Uttar Pradesh, while India was still under the British administration, with the hope of starting a new life in a booming new industrial sector. He headed the Dalmia Operations in the area. He worked closely with the then Nawab of Rampur in resettling the Sikh Migrants from Pakistan, during the partition, as he was a close friend of the Nawab. After being widowed at a young age, my late paternal grandmother, Lakshmi Lumba, taught herself to read and write in Urdu and bought up five kids on her own.
Capt. Shakti Lumba, my father, is a retired aviation professional pilot and former Vice President Operations of IndiGo Airlines. He recently published a Memoir of his aviation journey titled “The Old Bold Pilot”. My mother, Mrs Ila Lumba, is the founder & President of two non-profit NGOs – The Laksh Foundation & Laksh Foundation Education Society. The latter provides free tuition to children in the rural Haryana area of Mangar, Dhauj, Silakri, and Alampur. The former, The Laksh Foundation, is a women’s self-help group, focusing on women’s empowerment. My brother Shiv Lumba is a professional golfer. He also looks after The Laksh Farms initiative of Farm Tourism under the Haryana Govt’s Farm Tourism Policy. My greatest joy is the birth of my nieces and nephews. My cousins and my sibling are my best friends. I don’t make friends easily and have very few friends whom I refer to as my people. They are mostly the one’s I have grown up with (family friends and school and college friends) apart from a couple few in the industry.
Photography is something I’m very enthusiastic about. I love to travel and also enjoy reading, cooking, and dancing, which I believe is a terrific stress reliever. In addition, I believe in the power of the universe.
How did you start writing?
In school, we were encouraged to write essays and think from a deeper perspective. While I was growing up, I wrote a lot of poetry and maintained the same in my notebook. I’ve loved reading and writing since I was a child. My aunt and uncle instilled a love of reading in me. Every year for my birthday, I would receive novels as a gift. A compilation of poems by William Wordsworth was one such birthday present. His literary style captivated me, and I began writing poems in response. I’d try to figure out which word would sound phonetically accurate and match with what I was trying to say. Slowly, poems and poetry emerged, and I began to put pen to paper what I was genuinely feeling. Shakespeare, Charles Dickins and Emily Bronte are some of the writers I have grown up reading. My go-to books are Wuthering Heights, Scarlett Letter, Far from the Madding Crowd and Pride and Prejudice. I can read them over and over again.
Travelling has allowed me to become more aware of things and people. I began by writing articles and stories on topics that I was passionate about, and I gradually developed characters based on features and personalities I noticed in myself, my family, my friends, and others.
What motivates you?
My motivation to write comes from issues plaguing the world. Other than that, the drive to do something for humanity and to give back to society motivates me.
Who inspires you?
My family. The desire to give back to society comes from my grandparents and parents, who have had a huge influence on me. My brother is also a source of inspiration for me. My paternal grandmother was widowed when she was young and raised five children on her own. I never saw her moan about her problems; instead, she always had a smile on her face. I have grown up seeing my maternal grandmother face every adversity with grace, strength and dignity. My maternal grandmother and mother instilled in me to be financially independent and contribute to the household. My father instilled in me the values of being enthusiastic about what you want to do and never giving up. My mother taught me that respecting and loving oneself is the greatest gift we can give ourselves, as a woman. She also taught me to be kind, giving, forgiving and helpful without expecting anything in return. I learned to treat everyone with respect from my brother. Giving faith the world over, the same kind of reverence, one would to their own is something I learned from my grandparents. My parents have worked tirelessly throughout their lives to ensure that we had a good life. I hope to be there for them in their later years.
What are the challenges you have faced?
Writer’s block and I judge my own writing a lot. I am working on myself to overcome these two aspects. Other than these, I do not like mentioning about challenges or negative experiences. Bad events, I believe, mould you as a person, making you appreciative and considerate. It also aids in keeping you grounded. I’d rather not dwell on the negative experiences, but rather learn from them and remember what I’ve learned. I’d talk about the positive experiences I’ve had, which are numerous since I believe it’s vital to focus on the positive rather than the negative. There are numerous positive aspects. Friends, family, coworkers, industry seniors, and the many producers I’ve worked with have all been really kind and helpful. Little things like checking on one’s well-being, dropping one home after a late night at work are some of the treasured memories I cherish. Mumbai as a city showed me a lot of love, warmth and kindness. I have felt safe and secure here. I’ve had a lot of help from this industry over the years, which has embraced me with open arms and nourished me. I owe a debt of gratitude to the industry. Each and every person has had a part in bringing out the best in me. It has reaffirmed the belief that the entertainment industry is one of the nicest and friendliest places where people try to raise you up.
What have you achieved till date?
I dislike speaking about my accomplishments since I believe my work and writing speak for themselves. I feel I still have a long way to go. I despise being in the spotlight. I prefer to work quietly and diligently. I believe that the greatest achievement I can have and make is if my writing resonates with people and makes a positive influence in their lives. Some of my writings, poetry and photography can be viewed at http://pallavilumba.co.in.
How did your profession influence your writing?
I am a professional writer! It’s my daily bread and butter! I think experiences in life and the various situations in the world have helped me to refine my skills. For instance –
The pandemic enabled me to break out of my comfort zone. In this period, like many others, I enrolled in many writing workshops. Advanced and Professional Screenwriting Workshop by Story Craft Education, A Webinar on the Pilot Script Breakdown of the Queen’s Gambit by Stage 32 and a Poetry Workshop by Ms Megha Rao are some of the workshops I attended virtually. These workshops helped me hone my skills in a better way.
Tell us something about the book you wrote?
I haven’t written any books as yet. I do plan to…soon! My father has written his own book, which I have mentioned about briefly earlier. He wrote it along with his co-author – Priyanka Arora. The book is available on amazon and I would recommend everyone to read it. It is called “An Old Bold Pilot”
What are your future plans?
Let me just keep my future plans to myself and let my work do the talking! you all will get to know about it, once I have achieved them. The mystery and the excitement will be lost if I share my plans.
Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
As a writer, I believe I have both a responsibility and a duty to my profession. The obligation to guarantee that one’s words do not degrade others, as well as the responsibility to write responsibly and compassionately. I want to be acknowledged as a humane storyteller who also makes a positive contribution to global film and literature through value-creating work. I strive to be truthful and honest in my work. In the future, I hope that my writings will help to uplift humanity, so that everyone can see a more resilient, positive, cheerful, hopeful, and peaceful world in which everyone can coexist.
Where can readers find your book?
I have written short stories in Anthologies. Some of the anthologies titled Sukoon, Hidden Scars of Men, Congeries, Dil Ke Rishta – Dosti are available on Amazon.
Please give some valuable advice to the budding writing and authors so that they can get inspired by you?
I cherish two pieces of advice that I hold close to my heart. “Always be true to yourself, and your profession, because that is where courage comes from,” my then-boss told me on the last day of my HR career. My late paternal uncle gave me the second piece of advice: “Always believe in yourself and trust your heart. Contacts can only help a person find a job, but it’s ultimately up to one’s talent and hard work to keep it and advance in life. So, throughout your life, work hard and diligently. It makes no difference if there are no contacts, messiah or a godfather/godmother. Your work will speak for itself”
“Be honest and true to oneself, trust their heart, believe in their light, faith in their capabilities, and keep writing,” I would advise aspiring writers, poets, and authors.
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