Frequently Asked Questions List
1. What inspired you to write this book?
The book began as a simple travel diary during our visit to Texas, but soon it grew into something deeper — a journey through memory, migration, and belonging. I realised that every place we visited echoed stories from home — Kerala, Mumbai, and beyond. It became not just about travel, but about heritage carried across oceans
2. How much of the story is based on real experiences?
Almost everything in this book stems from lived experience. Each chapter captures a moment from our time in the United States — the laughter, the silence, the rediscovery of roots — but seen through the lens of reflection and imagination. A few conversations and characters have been gently reimagined to express emotions and insights that memory alone could not convey
3. Why a book in today’s fast-moving world?
Because a book still has the power to hold us — quietly, completely. Reading allows us to slow down, to listen to our own thoughts between the lines. It invites reflection, not reaction. A book stays with you long after you close it; its words return in unexpected moments — like memory, or fragrance. Sometimes, when you travel, your mind drifts back to that first journey that carried you beyond the known — perhaps from Ernakulam to Mumbai in 1979 — a moment when distance first revealed its wonder. As you reflect, your thoughts begin to trace the larger arc of humanity’s own crossings. You imagine those ancient travellers of Beringia, who, during the last Ice Age, walked across the tundra from Siberia to Alaska — never to return once the land bridge disappeared beneath the seas. And in that reflection, you realise something enduring: you are not travelling alone. Every journey — whether across continents or through pages — is part of the same timeless quest for survival, belonging, and meaning. Every journey — whether across continents or through pages — is part of the same timeless quest for survival, belonging, and meaning.” ⸻
4. What does the title Tales and Trails: Texas and Beyond mean to you?
For me, the title holds both memory and motion. Trails symbolise the invisible paths that connect people, cultures, and generations — the routes we take through time as much as geography. Tales reflects the stories that travel with us: memories of home, ancestral voices, and small moments that carry emotional truth. Together, Tales and Trails represents how life itself is a journey of remembrance and renewal
5. How would you describe your writing style?
I would describe my writing style as that of a Novelogue — a hybrid form that connects the depth of a novel, the movement of a travelogue, and the intimacy of a memoir. It blends narrative and reflection, intertwining the outer journey with the inner one. My tone is reflective and lyrical, guided by the quiet rhythms of everyday life. I try to bring together history, culture, and personal memory in a way that feels both intimate and universal.
6. What was the most challenging part of writing this book?
Balancing fact and feeling. I wanted each chapter to remain authentic to lived experience, yet also resonate as literature. Finding that rhythm — between travelogue and introspection — was the hardest and most rewarding part.
7. Which chapter or moment is closest to your heart?
“The Lady at the Old Pond.” It’s a tribute to my mother and grandmother, blending folklore with memory. It reminds me that our ancestors still speak through the stories we tell.
8. How did your family influence your writing?
My wife, Solly, and our children, Meera, Robin, and Karan, are at the heart of this story. Their presence gave warmth and purpose to every page.
9. What role does Kerala play in your writing, even when you’re abroad?
Kerala is my inner landscape. No matter where I go, its language, flavours, and stories travel with me. Even in distant places, I find echoes of home — in a sunrise, a festival, or the comfort of cooking together
10. What message do you hope readers take away?
That home is not always a physical place — it’s carried in the heart, in the traditions we keep alive, and in the love we share across distances. Whether in Texas, Mumbai, or Kerala, what endures are the bonds of family, culture, and kindness.
11. What are you working on next?
My next work continues this journey, exploring how life endures — through memory, culture, and the timeless will to survive.
12. How can readers connect with you?
Readers can reach me through the Contact section of this website, follow updates on upcoming works, or join my mailing list for reflections, travel notes, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of my writing process