Grishma Shah Hosts On-Campus Launch Event For New Book, Anagram Destiny – The Quadrangle

Grishma Shah, Ph.D., before Thursday’s panel.
GRACE CARDINAL / THE QUADRANGLE

By Grace Cardinal & Kayla Werth, Editor-in-Chief & Contributor

Grishma Shah, Ph.D., held an on-campus launch event for her brand-new book, “Anagram Destiny”, on Sept. 26.

Shah’s book was officially released Sept. 3, but the event marked the launch to the campus community. According to the official book synopsis, “Anagram Destiny” is, “A soul-warming love story, nestled in an inspiring tale of the American Dream and an Indian Dream shattered by the evils of globalization—that pays homage to a generation of immigrants who held their heads low so one day, their children lift could theirs high.”

Shah had many key themes she wanted to include in the book, but most importantly she wanted to recognize the struggles of her parents’ generation of immigrants. 

“If you go through thematically, there’s this big theme of community inside, particularly the Indian American community in the United States, and how we lift each other up in many ways,” Shah said in the panel. “A lot of that has embedded itself into the book, because I do say it’s an homage to my parents’ generation who went through all this, and I wanted to write about it in a very positive way, in a community building sense of way.” 

Shah immigrated to the U.S. from India at the age of seven. Her experiences as an immigrant child living in a motel played heavily into her inspiration behind writing the book. Shah spoke to the panel about the privilege she feels being able to write the stories of her parents and those who came before her.

“There’s a generation of immigrants who is always on survival,” Shah said. “They survive, and then the next generation gets the privilege of writing their stories. This is usually how it works. And so I consider myself really privileged to be able to write a story like this. And I think that’s what I mean by the American dream. I think this idea that if you work hard enough, if you follow a certain path, if you do whatever is necessary…they’ll [future generations] have a choice.” 

Shah began her writing journey back in 2018, and shared the ups and downs of the writing process. As for the biggest challenge she faced, Shah had just one word.

“Motivation,” Shah said in the panel. “I think anyone who is a published author, or anyone who writes pretty regularly will tell you, don’t wait for the motivation. It’s about consistency. The idea is to just sit and do it for half an hour, an hour, two hours, whatever it is, every single day… I used to wait for motivation… And nothing was getting done. It was six months later, there were like, 5000 words. So then I got really driven and just sat every day and dedicated two to three hours, no matter what happens, I had to sit and write.”

Sebastian Patchouli, a senior accounting and global studies double major, has a special connection with Shah after studying abroad with her in Singapore and Japan over the winter intersession. He found the event to be a beneficial opportunity for students to hear the behind-the-scenes of what went into Shah’s writing. 

“It was really cool to be able to sit down and hear more about what drove her to write the book,” Patchouli said. “That was really cool and it was nice to just hear her inspiration and how her family played into it, and the different people that inspire her.”

Shah encouraged students and young writers to always carve out the time for their passions.

“Especially most of you being in college, you’re probably constantly at homework and other demands, and so it’s really easy to forget to do something that you care about creatively and just have to be writing,” Shah said. “I think there’s so many demands pulling at us that we forget to do the one thing that brings us a lot of joy sometimes, and so I would say, find consistent time for it.”

Another student, Ysabella Rincon, a senior management and global business double major, has Shah as her advisor. She enjoyed the opportunity to see Shah be vulnerable about her story and dive into her thought process while writing. 

“My favorite part was probably the Q & A, because she got to express so much about her interests, what got her into writing the book, how she merged her culture and the experience that she had, but also, she mentioned some stereotypes come from truth,” Rincon said. “It’s the fact that so many people can most likely relate to the story, even if they’re not from that same exact background. I’m an immigrant myself, so I can see my story and I know a lot of people are gonna be able to relate to this book. I felt like it was such a privilege.”

Despite the book officially releasing one month ago, the MU event held a special place in Shah’s heart. 

“I’ve been here for 16 years,” Shah said after the panel in an interview with The Quadrangle. “This is my second home. It was so heartwarming to have students come to me and say they want to do this event, and then actually have so many people turn out for the event… I really love this community, and I particularly find that MU students are very empathetic and kind, and so they’ll resonate with a novel like this, because it’s all about building compassion.”

As for why students should pick up a copy? 

“If you enjoy globalization and culture and global business or international relations, it sort of takes all the themes and elements and puts it in a really digestible love story,” Shah said. “And who doesn’t like a good love story?”

Those interested can purchase Shah’s book, “Anagram Destiny” on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Simon & Schuster and other online retailers. 

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