I have seen, got inspired by and followed many hardworking people and undoubtedly, Mano Bharathi is one of them. I started following him when he got his book ‘Ezhuththupizhai’ released. From then on, His works both with writing and God Particles are super inspiring.
For this ‘men’s day’, I got in touch with the man himself.
Take us through your journey with God Particles…
God Particles is a creative and branding agency which was incorporated in 2016 with a very minimal investment of a few thousand rupees. Initially, we thrived on freelance projects from friends and mutual contacts and established on-time delivery without any compromise on the desired quality. And till today, I would say, timely delivery, quality of work, flexible work timings are what keeps our clients coming back to us.
It would have been tough during the initial stages, right?
First 2 years was really tough and a roller coaster in terms of almost everything from cashflows to orders to setting up of an entity structure but nevertheless it is all worth it in the end. We have gained our recognition slowly and steadily. People appreciate our work, refer their friends and tag us for our quality in their social media posts and we are happy to be getting orders by word of mouth. Over a period of time, we have expanded in terms of resources as well and work in teams but there was a time when I used to be the only salesperson, the person handling followup on payments, attending meetings, the one who goes and buys tea for clients, and of course the CEO. Now that we have an office place to boast of with an uber-cool work atmosphere where we have brainstorming sessions, talks on politics, cinema, Nap corners, carrom boards and work.
Nap corners? Looks like it’s fun!
I believe “ If you take care of your employees, they will surely do their part in taking care of your business”. Personally, the struggle to establish something at this level has been huge. we are a 3.5 years establishment with an amazing journey to share with all smiles and a profit in terms of business. It feels surreal. Thanks to the universe.
Coming to your ‘Ezhuthupizhai’, ‘Vikadakavi’ and ‘Kannamma’…
Ezhuthupizhai – the title itself had an amazing reach. Ezhuthupizhai is a team of a writer (me), layout designers, title designers, wrapper designers, techies, proofreader, photographer and especially friends who believed that we were not fake passion folks. Ezhuthupizhai was my very first book which consists of poems and short stories with all life experiences explained narratively. Later we named the team, social media pages and Instagram handles as Ezhuthupizhai.
My second book was ‘Vikatakavi’, which is a palindrome in itself. It’s a storybook which consists of tales from various gender perspectives. There is so much of Magic in the book. It talks about friendship, love, marriage, pregnancy, dwarfs, dad-daughter relationship, transgenders and so on. My third book is ‘Kannamma’. It was the most received of all and successful among the other Ezhuthupizhai series. 1000 books were sold in 7 months, which is a mix of shock and surprise for me.
Kannamma speaks about crush, love, infatuation, wife – their intimacy, romance, cuddles, hugs etc. Juggling between God Particles and writing I consider both as creative fields and as different forms of art. They have got me engaged all the time and make my life so beautiful.
So, When can we expect the next book?
Next year, hopefully.
What will be the tips you’d give for the young upcoming writers.
Advice panna Neraya per irukanga. Nan avlo Periya aal lam illinga.
Ah, Humble. Who is your inspiration in life?
It’s my mother BHARATHA and my grandmother MARAGATHAM. My mom is a hard worker and because of all the lessons I learnt from her, GOD PARTICLES is a successful startup company now. My grandmother has an excellent memory and is a wonderful narrator of stories, I believe that’s the reason how I became a narrator(author).
Nowadays people who write are rare, especially, Tamil writers. How do you feel about it?
I see a lot of people have started writing these days especially in Tamil, they share their opinions about music, cinema, politics, Self publish their books. There are amazing writers in Tamil. They are yet to come to the limelight. I hope they will get all the lights on them soon.
Mano Bharathi signs off.
