Vee Kumari is an Actor, Producer, Author of Dharma: A Rekha Rao Mystery and this week’s featured Woman of Wisdom interview

What/who inspires you?
I’m inspired by all the books I have read. By the writers who were my companions when growing up, and while pursuing science and academia.
Reading fiction was my “time out” from science. It was almost like having illicit liaisons with these authors while openly engaged in science.

What’s been the most surprising thing that has happened on your journey to Wisdom?
That it took me seven years to write my first book! I call it my “Seven-Year Itch”.

What’s your typical day like now? How is it different from your daily routines in the past?
Since retirement, I use my mornings to write. If it’s going well, I can go on for several hours. Then I do my chores, exercise, and have my dinner.

What do you enjoy most about what you do?
I love freewriting. Having come from years in science, I had to cultivate my right half of the brain, to learn to imagine wild.
Once I discovered rewriting, I would find plot twists, subplots, etc through that process! It’s like child play to me. Back in that sandbox!

What advice would you give a woman over 40?
To go for that dream that got left behind, and go for it one hundred percent!

What, if anything, would you have done differently in your life?
I wish I had started writing earlier in life.

What things are most important to you now? Why? How have your dreams and goals changed through your life?
I never thought about “A Second Act” in my life. But it so happens, I am in it right now. Writing and acting have become my passions.

Tell us about any community projects you are involved in and why you support them?
I am an ardent supporter of Sandy Hook Promise. It devastates me to hear of another school shooting.
Kids go to school to learn, not have to worry about shooters. Imagine the drills! None of us had to go through it. It changes the meaning of school, yet the drills are essential to try and avoid violence.

If you had the power to solve one and only one problem in the world, what would it be and why?
I’m sorry, but I have to come back to: Let’s find a way to prevent school shootings.

What advice would you give your younger self?
Actually, it has been the other way around. In 2012, when I considered extending my teaching contract at USC SOM for another five years, I heard my twelve-year-old self.

She reminded me of my love for words, love of reading, and my desire to become an English professor (I went to med school!). She coaxed me to give up what I have been doing for 35+ years and embark on a brand new adventure. I started writing my novel.

What do you do for fun/relaxation?
Watch some TV/movies. Go for a walk. Have my grandsons over. Go out to eat with my family, or invite them over for a home-cooked Indian meal.

What’s next for you (or what’s left on your “bucket list”)
Writing more fiction. I’m moving away from mystery to write about relationships
I’m also into creating, producing, and acting in short films. There isn’t enough material in Hollywood TV/Movies for older men and women.

What’s your ‘secret’ indulgence?
Lay’s potato chips. Once in a while, I have to indulge in a small package!

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
That’s a difficult question. But I’d suggest “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success” by  Deepak Chopra.
It’s short, succinct, light, and easy to understand. You can keep it by your bedside and randomly read a chapter at night.

Learn more about Vee here: https://www.veekumari.com/

Follow her on social media:

B: @vijayakumari

Twitter: @veekumari1

IG: @veewriteractorhuman


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