Pavithra K. Mehta’s much-appreciated documentary film, Infinite Vision, has been turned into a best-selling book after nearly seven years of hard work.
Author and film-maker Pavithra and Suchitra Shenoy, advisory board member of the Youth for Jobs foundation, were invited to the city by Oxford Bookstore. They shared with us details about the book and much more.
The book, titled Infinite Vision: How Aravind Became the World’s Greatest Business Case for Compassion is already making news in various countries. It was released in the US in November 2011, and has been ranked in Amazon’s Top 40 list in the business category. The book was also reviewed by the New York Times.
Speaking about the book, which will be released in India this month, Pavithra said, “When the documentary was done, I wanted to focus more on Aravind Eye Clinic and the work that Dr. Venkataswamy had done. From the family of the 21 eye surgeons that were involved, I wanted to do something different to help and came up with the idea of the book.”
She added, “When I was with Aravind in 2005, I met Suchitra’s mother who had spoken to me about her. When Suchitra came back from America, we met for the first time and discussed the idea. The book took around six or seven years to finish. Two years ago, we even quit our jobs to concentrate on this project.”
Suchitra continued, “In 2009, we realised that we were getting busy with other work and decided to quit our jobs and concentrate on this.” About the differences they faced while working together, Suchitra said, “There will surely be differences when two writers come together, but we had one goal and passion and we were able to complete the project.”
Both writers say that their main aim in writing the book was to tell the story of Dr. Venkataswamy and the world’s largest eye clinic, Aarvind Eye Clinic.
Speaking about their connection to the city, Suchitra said, “I live in Hyderabad. I went to college in America, and my parents still live in Hyderabad.” Pavithra’s family is originally from AP, but lives in Tamil Nadu now. On future plans, Pavithra said, “I will now take a break and write some stories, poems and essays for children.” Suchitra added, “Hopefully, we will work on another book together.”
