Padmini Dutta Sharma is a prolific writer and a distinguished poet. Her distinctive style and taste is what sets her apart from the rest of her contemporaries. She has the courage of conviction to speak her mind clearly and boldly; often contrary to the accepted norms.
Padmini Dutta Sharma hails from a family of bureaucrats. Since early childhood she wanted to use fiction to express her innermost thoughts with like minded readers. She had to undergo severe restrictions as an adolescent in every new endeavor she wanted to partake in. Discussing her sexuality was a taboo. She was not allowed to open up and discuss about her girly desires and inner most needs with anyone. She was compelled to share her anguish and frustrations with her menials and house keeps. She ultimately broke free and married against the wishes of her family on the rebound.
She started off as a journalist and subsequently changed over to Corporate Communications. She however continued to write for various newspapers, magazines and e portals. She headed the department of Public Relations, Advertising & Corporate Communications for various organizations.
After venturing in the United States she was back full time to journalism and social counseling. She is a popular face on television; her videos on YouTube are hugely viewed. Her earlier releases namely ‘Spice up your Marriage’ and ‘Uncensored Revelations’ have established her as a writer and poet of distinction.
Padmini began her career as a journalist and gradually shifted to corporate communication along side her writing. Her blogs, poems, articles and write-ups have been published in various portals, journals, newspapers and magazines. She has recited her poems in various star studded poetical gatherings where she has earned rare reviews. Her writings are widely acclaimed and her fans range from India to the United States. She is common face on the televisiondiscussing on various social issues.
A natural philanthropist who works for the cause of the down trodden and disabled.
Happily married to her childhood heartthrob, she dotes on her only son. According to her, “whatever I am today, I would give the full credit to my son. He has been my pillar of strength and my only source of inspiration.”
Many consider her debut book Spice up your marriage a marriage dictionary. The book reflects on various aspects of sustaining and enjoying a variegated married life. This book has changed lives and shown directions to many readers. Available at various online stores, this book is a regular sell worldwide.
Her stay in the United Kingdom and the United States has broadened her horizon and her experience with them has empowered her to think in a wider perspective. Her illustrations are drawn largely from her close interaction with them over the years. It’s a human bondage she feels.
Uncensored Revelations happens to be her best mate – her conscience keeper. Here she has narrated distinctive stories of love & hate, disillusionment & agony, euphoria & distress, passion and indifference. Her poems revolve round reality and fantasy – parents desolated by their children, old people with Alzheimer, immoral teachers, pretentious lovers, incestuous relationships, beguiled and bemused philosophers, unrecognized martyrs, flesh traders, frenzied youngsters and so on.
Padmini talks about women’s desires, sanctities, values, pleasures, debauchery, pains and compulsions effortlessly and with ease; she narrates a lover’s woe that is misread and misjudged, his agonies, his guilt, his trials, his misfortune, his old age.
Having done her Master’s in English Literature she had a close shave with the all time greats through their masterpieces; though some of them influenced her to a great extent, portrayal of her own characters are absolutely indigenous. Her writings have a beautiful atypical flavor. She believes a man woman relationship cannot thrive merely on a mental plane without adequate physical intimacy. Adults need to communicate greatly through their touch and feel and not just by pep talk. A couple must appeal to each other sexually before they can move on to a higher plane.
Master’s in English literature, her writings have been deeply impacted by Keats, Coleridge Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Jane Austen, George Eliot and their likes. She draws her thoughts from various cross cultures and diverse interactions apart from her own memories and observations.
She is not hesitant to talk of that unforgivable pain that her father inflicted by refusing to see her at the hospital during her birth because she was born dark skinned; her trauma when her friend succumbed to the pressure of aborting her first child because the ultra sound machine reported a female fetus;the sad memory of her friend’s death who was shot at the age of sixteen for having loved an underdog; her inability to open up on discomforting situations when she first experienced puberty and hormonal change; her shock and despair when a family friend tried to molest her; her moments of deep agony on witnessing long time friends and lovers dissipate over apparently petty reasons, factually caused by emotional incompatibility.
Shehas narrated trailing sagas of her friendship with animals, and birds- those black cats who stood by her during her lonely moments (Black Beauties),the black crow that whispered words of wisdom (Black Joe) reveal that each word in each poem comes straight from the poet’s heart. The pretensions, the deceptions, the human vulnerability and follies are beautifully portrayed when she talks about a flesh trader as ‘an angelic hooker’ or about Sita the maid who lost the battle in a man’s world, or that little boy who avenges the powerful that raped his mother .
She has penned her dilemmas and concerns in multiple hues and shades, interpreted events and incidents from absolutely new angles. The poet has used simple words and phrases to reach out and connect to the masses. Her rhythms put people at a collective festival in touch with each other in a particular way – physiologically and emotionally.
Padmini’s ‘5 Hot Sizzlers’ is a fiercely addictive and hugely compelling read. Her message is loud and clear , she tells all women , ‘no more tears, rise & fight.’ All the 5 stories namely ‘Two is to zero’, ‘Nikhita’ diary’, ‘A true love story’, ‘With love, Ipsita’, ‘Last wish’ have woman protagonists voicing their thoughts and inner fights. Each protagonist is different from the other; they fight different battles in different ways and their interpretation of success is based on their own circumstances and upbringing.
This is exactly how Padmini’s characters in ‘5 Hot Sizzlers’ evolve with a signature entity of their own over the days, months and years. They mature with time and eventually emerge as stronger people. Mental agility remains the key to their survival.
Padmini has the ability to observe life keenly as a neutral onlooker. The dark sides of life have been beautifully portrayed without any masking. Each of her characters has a mind of their own and they speak distinctively through spontaneous reactions. Padmini has never been a moral preacher riding the epical horse and she never imposes her views on her readers, rather she allows them to love and hate in their own way. She is never judgmental when they commit mistakes or fail. She allows blood to ooze nonchalantly, naturally, without the sugar ice. Her characters don’t mouth coated words to please all and sundry; if they want sex they just say, ‘let’s do it!’
Padmini has never avoided the natural urges like sex for instance. Physicality is beautifully delivered wherever necessary without just touching at sequences in a vague manner.
Her characters have the courage of conviction to stand up and speak for themselves. They are not stuck by social prejudice. They move on in life and begin anew where their past has failed them. Sometimes they are brutal and medieval in their instincts. Her women don’t whine and cry rather they punish their offender gracefully. Indian values and ethos are strongly ingrained in each of Padmini’s stories along with a strong western flavor. Padmini has deliberately portrayed her protagonists in softer hues to catapult their basic inner strength that emerge from their self confidence and uprightness. She insists that though physical intimacy between couples play a crucial role, they drift apart not just because their libido has dwindled but also because they have gone afar mentally due to other reasons. Padmini has taken innumerable bold stances by describing how women have been subjugated to men’s sexual needs without caring about their feelings. Padmini has vivid descriptions and strong dialogues when she describes sex by compulsion.
Her protagonists are no super human characters; they display natural straits of goodness and evil. None of her characters are stereotyped or fake. The male characters play a very significant role in all the five stories; it is they who are responsible to a great extent for bringing about the twist in the tales. Her stories have been derived from her own experience and imagination.
She strongly believes in mortal relationships and draws inspiration from her own life and surroundings. Widely read and versatile, Padmini has never succumbed to poaching ideas or characters from other novelists or playwrights. She leaves her characters just as they are. Moral policing is not something she subscribes to. Her lead characters therefore do not falter while delivering tough dialogues. They don’t pay much cognizance to the hypocritical social norms. She has at times flouted the typical ‘have to’s’ & ‘must’nt’ theory. Each of her characters has a goal, a thinking pattern and a zeal for survival. Be it Nikhita, Ipsita, Simpi or anyone, they take bold stances that’s beyond a set symmetrical pattern. Padmini’s characters and situations are so strongly interwoven that her readers get involved impromptu. Her subtle innate sense of belonging is transplanted as an ongoing process effortlessly.Her inimitable style and penchant for suspense keeps her readers glued to her book till the end. The gripping story lines and her powerful characters emerge like real flesh and blood from the very onset.