Nidra Naik, also known as #ThinkingNidra, is a novelist, poet, and a cultural enthusiast with a strong connection to her Odia roots. Her background in Odia film artistry runs through her writing, infusing her words with drama, emotion, and vivid imagery. She has previously authored The Bhubaneswar Times, A Lot Like Love & Other Short Stories, and Sonnets to Paradise. Her love for nature and animals, alongside her artistic talents in singing, sketching, and cooking, makes her a multifaceted personality whose work reflects a harmonious blend of creativity and empathy.
Currently based in Hyderabad, Naik’s work speaks to her experiences across different cities and cultural landscapes, allowing her to share a wide range of human emotions and insights. Her ability to observe and translate these observations into poetry is what makes her work resonate with a diverse readership.
Interview with Nidra Naik
The Literature Times: Unfathomed beautifully explores a range of emotions. Can you share what inspired this collection and how you selected the themes?
Nidra Naik: First of all thank you for those kind words in your review, I was flabbergasted while going through it.
I’ll be absolutely honest in citing the inspiration behind these poems. It was some of my situations, incidents, people who enacted in a way, my own expectations that were few of the pushing factors in writing poems; which is why I consider that readers are connecting and resonating with it.
The Literature Times: You use the pseudonym #ThinkingNidra. What does this name mean to you, and how does it influence your creative process?
Nidra Naik: That’s a thoughtful question! I just used my hashtag that I often use while uploading quotes, short write-ups on my social and I wanted my readers to find me immediately via this hashtag. So, it was an act of social and nothing deep in putting that up.
The Literature Times: Your Odia heritage and film artist lineage seem to have influenced your work. How do these cultural roots shape your writing?
Nidra Naik: Yeah I am very proud of where I belong to and may I state that I am the least talented person in comparison to my folks! So, the least my ‘diluted talent’ could accomplish is to produce a book and have my credit imprinted in my mother tongue, Odia. Otherwise, I think that I still have a long way to go as a writer, there’s always a scope, an internal critic in me that questions and challenges my work.
The Literature Times: Each poem in Unfathomed feels like a standalone story. Do you have a particular narrative or image in mind as you begin a new piece?
Nidra Naik: Hmmm… I am very imaginative as a person as I am an overthinker. Hence, imageries, situations and words flow spontaneously to me and thankfully, a certain writing gene helps me weave it in a readable format. Thus, yes, it feels as if I have lived each of those poems.
The Literature Times: With works ranging from poetry to short stories, how do you decide on the form that best suits each of your ideas?
Nidra Naik: As a writer, I want to challenge myself and the Arian in me also tries to push me out of my boundaries- I believe this is the primary cause of me trying different genres because there can only be learning from it, nothing else. The scope is huge. As I write this, I am thinking on what could be my next!
The Literature Times: You’ve explored complex relationships in several of your poems, like “The Infamous Us” and “To Love is Divine.” How do you approach writing about love and human connections?
Nidra Naik: That’s an intriguing one! J Well like all other ordinary human beings, I too have experienced the extra-ordinary connection of love and also have felt it ripping apart, so I guess those innate, unexpressed feelings flew through while writing these poems.
The Literature Times: As an avid animal lover, does nature or your pets ever play a role in your creative inspiration?
Nidra Naik: I am glad you’ve acknowledged me as an avid animal/nature lover. I think I have turned into a natural empath and all thanks to my pets and the strays around me. They have added a sense of responsibility in me, a structure in my mundane life that I have started enjoying thoroughly. I would also thank a wing of my organization where I was deeply involved in CSR activities which made me aware of a lot of environmental issues and workarounds.
The Literature Times: Your collection covers personal and universal themes. Are there any life experiences or observations that particularly influenced these poems?
Nidra Naik: The universal theme is also a peripheral theme of my personal life which is ‘expectations’ and how it breaks our heart but what I want the readers to connect with is ‘acceptance’ and letting oneself be.
The Literature Times: As someone who enjoys both creating art and observing others, how does travel and meeting new people contribute to your writing?
Nidra Naik: Well when I said travelling, I didn’t mean travel blogger’s exotic places, I meant the nook and corner of all dweller’s places and its’ people that I have observed.
The Literature Times: Lastly, if you could leave readers with one thought or feeling after reading Unfathomed, what would it be?
Nidra Naik: ‘Let yourself Be’ and ‘Never turn bitter from any experience that doesn’t go in your favour’. Additionally, please remember that the best answer to disrespect is silence and distance. J
