PVPF 2024

Interview with Nidhi Raichand, author of "Moms in the Wild"

It literally came up as I was writing the scene between Sneha and Jaya and both of them discussing studying moms as if they were animals in the wild.
on Apr 06, 2023

Nidhi Raichand often suspects that her life is secretly a sitcom. Set in Bangalore, the main cast includes Nidhi as the cool-headed, witty, and lovable mom-of-two, working a corporate job while also trying to pursue her literary dreams. Her husband is played by Vishay who is also very cool (not as cool as her of course) and is often the cause of many of the show’s hijinks. Two beautiful and spirited children round out the cast and ensure there’s never a dull moment. Recurring characters include lots of friends and family, office colleagues, and an ever-rotating cast of cooks. All this in the backdrop of beautiful skies and not-so-beautiful roads of the city.
When not dealing with the crisis-of-the-day, Nidhi enjoys reading, watching 90s shows and movies, travelling, and long walks while listening to podcasts. Her catchphrase is “Oh fish!” (This is a family-friendly sitcom, after all.)

Frontlist: What inspired you to write a book about the world of mom influencers and the competitive world of social media?

Nidhi: The one piece of advice every aspiring author has heard is “write what you know”. As a working mother, neck deep in parenting and healthy food and nighttime rituals and schools and extracurricular activities, the one subject I knew was “motherhood”. I may not have been acing it but I knew the course content, I knew the guide books and I’d also befriended some of the nerdy moms I knew I could cheat from.

So basically, the book started as a fun little comedic piece on present day moms and all the insane things we sometimes find ourselves doing. But since it’s the 2020s, how can we do anything without social media? As I fleshed out the story of Natasha and her friends, I found myself intrigued by the thought of what would happen if we added the mom influencer angle to it?
As I researched this angle further, I found out just how competitive this world is and just how hard these influencers work. If coming up ideas and content CONSTANTLY is not hard enough, the ever-changing algorithms and regulations make it even harder. Like my book blurb says, “it’s a jungle out there” and I have nothing but respect for all its inhabitants.

Frontlist: How did your background in advertising and journalism influence your writing style and how you approached this book?

Nidhi: This is a great question and while I didn’t think about it while writing the book, I now realise just how much I was influenced by my experience in these fields.

Advertising is all about writing the perfect headline – one sentence that attracts the reader, tells them about the product or service, and packs a witty or emotional punch while it does that.

Journalism, of course, focuses on ensuring all the relevant facts and information are covered in your report so readers can make their own inferences.

Looking back, I realise how much both have helped me to hone my writing skills. I suppose my little throwaway jokes and sardonic observations are my inner advertising copywriter speaking. Giving you all the facts and not always editorializing and letting the reader figure things out is my inner journalistic.

Also, writing about Sneha’s workplace – the website Cactus—was the easiest part for me. I knew exactly what goes on in this office, the typical characters one comes across, and how, after all is said and done, today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chip newspaper. (Well, I guess the internet has changed that to some extent, but you know what I mean.)

Frontlist: The book deals with motherhood, journalism, social media, and relationships. How did you go about weaving these themes together?

Nidhi: I tried to keep each thread separate and then have them intersect as naturally as possible. I kept notes on all my characters as well as a basic timeline on how the story progresses and then in some extremely unscientific manner, I tried to make sure the main characters got the footage they deserved.

Also, since Sneha is the protagonist, seeing everything through her eyes helped me structure it better.

Frontlist: The book has a very catchy title, "Moms in the Wild." Can you tell us more about how you came up with this title and what it signifies in the context of the story?

Nidhi: It literally came up as I was writing the scene between Sneha and Jaya and both of them discussing studying moms as if they were animals in the wild. And as I wrote it, I thought, goddammit this is a fantastic title for the book! (Hahahahha! As you can see, I’m not shy about giving myself compliments on my writing.)

Can I tell you a secret? My working title for the book was “Mother of the Year”. Puke! I know.

Frontlist: Sneha Talwar, the protagonist of the book, is a young reporter. How much of your own experience as a journalist did you draw upon while writing her character?

Nidhi: Not much as a reporter, but a lot as a young working person. First I was very worried if young people even behaved like this anymore. I generally find young people today way smarter and more sorted than what I was…um… let’s just say, many years ago.

Then I remembered the immortal lyrics of the song “As time goes by”

You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss
A sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by

The fundamental things don’t change! Friendships, jealousies, competitiveness, the boss you looked up to completely letting you down, an aversion to cooking, and the joy a crisp dosa brings—these things do not change. I decided to draw on some of my own experiences and plenty of things I’d noticed in young people in the present day.

(By the way, this story about the song is completely made up but I thought this would sound better coming from the great Louis Armstrong, rather than just me.)

Frontlist: Your book features a range of complex and memorable characters. Can you discuss your process for crafting and developing these characters?

Nidhi: Thank you so much for calling them complex and memorable! I really was going for complexity because as we all know nobody is entirely good or bad and we all survive and thrive in that great zone somewhere in between. (Well, I suppose some people can be quite bad but that’s a different topic for a different conversation.)

I’m a great one for noting down anything I find funny or peculiar or just noteworthy! I write down specific dialogues or quirks or pretentious or sometimes just silly stuff I notice. And then there is just stuff that irks me in general—like I honestly can’t abide with people who can’t be on time. I know it’s this Indian stretchable time nonsense but as a busy person myself who has a lot to do (I still haven’t watched GoT!!) and has lost half her hair thanks to Bangalore traffic, I don’t get why people can’t plan or be on time for things they’ve agreed to in the first place!

Oh god, I’m ranting here.

Sorry, the short answer is, note down and copy everything you see and then regurgitate it as fiction and pretend you’re this super creative writer type.