Leena is a happily married woman with two girl children. She is a Primary Teacher in a Government School of MCD in the urban slums of Jahangir Puri. It is a very challenging job. Before that, she was working as a Primary Teacher in one of the renowned school of North Delhi, The Srijan School, Model Town, Delhi.
She has done Masters in English from Kurukshetra University and Masters in Education from Delhi University. Right now, she is pursuing M. Phil. (Education) from Delhi University. Her interest lies in bringing educational opportunities to the marginalized sections of the society by empowering them through education.
Her hobbies include writing poems and short stories, reading books, talking to people and observing them. She also likes to listen to songs of Kishore Da and Lata ji. Biggest influence on her life has been of Kancha Ilaiah’s “Why I am not a Hindu” and the novel about rape victim “Mukhtar Mai”. Educational influences on her life have been Paulo Friere, John Dewey and Michael Apple.
She can be contacted at:
Email: leenaratti8@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leena.ratti
Here we get to know her more closely:
Nainika: Hi Leena, so if you are asked to define “Leena”, how would you do that?
Leena: Hello Nainika! If you ask me to define “Leena”, I will give you an answer that my mom ages ago. She told me that “leena” means, “The one who has been given to her by God.” This is a Hindi mythological word that frequently comes in “Hindi Chaupai”. The other way to define “Leena” is my own perception about myself. I think “Leena” is like a WOLF who is social yet aloof; is blessed with intelligence, is instinctive, can’t be domesticated easily and loves to socialize.
Nainika: Leena, being a school teacher, how do you think does your profession help you to chase your hobby of writing?
Leena: You see when you are working with kids, you don’t teach them; they teach you. They teach you about the unthinkable and unknown world of day-dreaming and fantasies. They teach you about innocence, curiosity, pranks, laughing without care, how to be non-judgmental and so many things that keep you alive as a thinking person. They make you believe in that Utopian World that, somehow, doesn’t exist in the real world. But, they teach you to believe and hope; like we believe in “Santa Clause”. All these thinks help me and keep me always in a thinking mode and I guess, that helps me to write or create when I feel the need to do.
Nainika: As you want to bring educational level in marginalized section of society, how do you feel can your writing skills help you for the cause?
Leena: Earlier, when I was not so acquainted with all the technology stuff such as writing blogs, posting or using the social media platforms; to me, doing my job with passion and dedication were my only tools to bring them certain benefits. But as we now know that writing on social media platforms can really bring changes, we, teachers have started to use these skills in raising our opinions and voices for the concern and issues that could help in providing better educational opportunities and life options to my/ our students who come from economically deprived sections.
Nainika: Life as an educator, or as an author? Which one is more enjoying?
Leena: This is similar to asking, “Whom do you love most out of your two daughters?”J. I have faced this question a lot of times recently, when my friends came to know about my debut as a story writer. I think I love both of them. You see, teaching in a government sector, especially in a urban slum such a s Jahangir Puri, can be quite challenging and daunting at the same time. It creates hope as well as despair so the aftereffect of a teaching day could be overwhelming some day or quite depressing at another. So writing keeps me in balance. I write when I am feeling overwhelmed, excited or depressed. I don’t know if I could do without any one of them. Both are important and give me enjoyment!
Nainika: According to you what role does a reviewer play in success of a book?
Leena: Well, I have read a few reviews written by eminent as well as not-so-common reviewers about academic books, journals, movies and novels. What I think that while reviewing a person’s own subjectivity should not come in the way while assessing a book or a movie or any academic piece. So the role of reviewer becomes quite important in the success of the piece of writing as people really take those reviews seriously and the assessment by him/her of the literary tools used by the author. It will also decide about the section of the society to which the book will cater depending on the review. Nobody wants to spend a single penny now a day on a book; at least, that has not got a good review!!
Nainika: Which genre do you enjoy most to write?
Leena: I have mostly written short “skits” and poetic plays for small children. This is actually my first attempt at writing a theme based fiction. The short plays that I have so far written generally have a social message for children so that they can become better human beings and good citizens. As teachers (and authors too!) we have a social responsibilities. However, I would definitely try to write fiction… romantic drama… something like that. I am romantic by heart.
Nainika: Please throw some light on your story “A Tryst with Naaz” in Crumpled Voices-2.
Leena: The idea or inspiration behind this story had come from the recent discussions about the laws related to child labor and someone in my class who had somewhat similar situation. Through this story, I have tried to portray the pathetic conditions of the marginalized sections in the society and the huge gap between the situation of equality, equity, liberty and fraternity on paper and in reality. How they struggle; what are their struggles and how can they win? The story has also raised a question about “what could be termed as child abuse?”
Nainika: Who all are the lead characters and which one your favorite?
Leena: There are two main characters around which the story revolves. One is the narrator herself and other is NAAZ, a girl of 10 years. Of course, the latter is my favorite one as she is hardworking, smart, courageous, and hopeful; and an utter optimist.
Nainika: Is your story inspired from real life, or is it a pure imagination?
Leena: One of the main characters that I talked about in previous question has some shades of a girl in my class. So, I have borrowed her name, “Naaz” and her spirit is there, but, the backdrop, locations and other aspects are fictional. The soul of the story obviously has its roots in me being an educationist.
Nainika: How is Crumpled Voices-2 different from other anthologies that are and are going to be in market?
Leena: You know, I have not come across, so far, any book or any anthology; that discusses about the fears, doubts, worries, anxieties, the mental agonies of children and adults and the affect of all these on their future as a person and on their social role. I think it will help all the people in every profession and as a parent, friend, and guardian and so on, in getting aware about the circumstances in which such mishaps could happen and they can always keep an eye for a symptom or two. They will develop an understanding; and what other way to create this through stories! One can easily relate to these stories. So Crumpled Voices 2 is definitely special and poles apart from other anthologies in market.
Nainika: How is experience with Gargi Publishers?
Leena: This is my first “tryst” with Gargi Publishers. I have been getting posts but never really thought that I can pen down my thoughts in form of a story. But this time, I tried and the response was really very encouraging. Pulkit is a great guy to work with and I hope that I will have more associations with Gargi Publisher in future. I made so many friends and I can learn so much from their writing skills.
Nainika: Would you like to give some message to our readers?
Leena: Yep!! Keep reading the very good work from Gargi Publishers because this one is the “Black Horse” in the field of publishing and offers some very talented pieces of work. Keep reading and keep enjoying and do share your opinion. Thank you!
(This interview was taken by Nainika Gautam under internship program by Gargi Publishers)
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