Have You Met The Witty Vimoh? His Puns Are The Funniest Thing on YourQuote!
Deepak caught up with Vijayendra Mohanty, a.k.a. Vimoh, in this funny & super interesting conversation with one of the most prolific wit-makers on YourQuote. Read more about this lover of sci-fi, a writer who “cannot not write” and dig deeper into where he gets his whacky ideas from.
Hey Vimoh, why don’t you introduce yourself to us in the YourQuote style?
I am a teller of stories and communicator of ideas. These two functions often merge into each other. I have been a copywriter, a journalist, a comic book author, and a fantasy writer.
My work has caused me to stay in Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai for periods of time. My childhood was spent in my home state Odisha as well as Assam.
My life’s work so far can be summed up as three projects. The first of these is Ravanayan, a comic book series based on Ramayana’s villain Ravana. The second is Epified, a YouTube channel about history, mythology, and culture. The third is Odd Gods — a serialised fantasy web-novel that I am publishing on WattPad.
I am a science fiction buff and swear by Star Trek.
How and when did you get started as a writer?
I have been writing since I was in school. And I was making up stories in my head long before that. So basically, just like every other child.
Have your travels shaped you as a writer?
I am actually not much of a traveller. All my wanderings have been due to necessity. Having said that, travel does wind up the creative machinery. It opens up creative pathways that have been closed. My writing is almost never personal in nature. So what travel has done to me it’s that or has provided my brain with oxygen. I write abstract matter and I tend to dwell other worlds more than I do about this one.
Which writers inspire you?
Neil Gaiman. Isaac Asimov. RK Narayan. Cory Doctorow.
What genre of books are you interested in and what draws you to this particular genre?
Science fiction and fantasy move me like nothing else. Mostly because they are about possibilities and the big picture.
Why do you write?
I write because I can’t not write. I believe words are tools that shape civilisation. They create culture. They live beyond the years that any one woman or man has. I like that. And writing is the one thing I have ever been good at. So I write. I think up things, and I make note of them with words.
How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?
I am still to young as a writer to start talking about evolving as a writer. That takes longer. All I can say is — I think I have gotten better over the years and I have a little more discipline. I hope that it stays and one day I can look back and answer this question about my evolution as a writer.
Tell us more about your comic book series ‘Ravanayan’, and how did you think about it?
I get asked about Ravanayan so often that I have created an FAQ page. If you don’t mind, please find it here:
What’s your favorite book and why?
My favourite book is Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. It is about war and survival and understanding. Its hero Andrew Wiggins is someone I relate with the most in all of literature.
What do you want the readers to know about your work?
It’s nice. Read it.
How do you see YourQuote different from Twitter?
Yourquote makes my text beautiful. I can hand-tweak its alignment, colour it, juxtapose it with images. It’s like designing a page. Twitter is more about putting thoughts out. Yourquote is about putting out things of value that need to be shared.
Read some of Vimoh’s quotes. Follow him on YourQuote:
Follow more writings by Vimoh here: http://yourquote.in/vijayendra-mohanty-cvi/quotes/
Want to be interviewed by us? Join YourQuote and post at least 20 quality write-ups. We are keeping a watch! Will soon feature if you’re the one!
