Can you imagine having maximum attendance of many thousands at a virtual book launch? That seems like a nearly impossible task, doesn’t it? Well, the renowned author Megha Bajaj has this and more to her credit in her glorious list of achievements.
Megha Bajaj is a National bestselling author, a passionate Edupreneur, an author mentor creating more bestsellers, and above all, an ardent seeker. She is the Founder of Wonders of Words (WoW) a company based in South Mumbai, which works on beautiful aspects of people – from students, to CEOs, from homemakers to visionaries – every person desiring to become their best version. Or as we call it, their WoW Version.Her latest bestseller, The Breakthrough, published by Rupa Publications, created history. It had close to half a million people who attended the biggest virtual book launch during covid and has sold 18,000 plus copies till date. he has been called India’s most loved author and was awarded as one among 50 Most Influential Authors of 2021 by Delhi Wire. She won the title of 25 Most Inspiring Women in Mumbai by the World Women’s Leadership Congress two years in a row. She has published with The Hindu, Elle, Reader’s Digest, Indes, Discover India, and Business Economics.
Megha also runs her own online writing workshops which have inspired over 1000 people from across the globe to take up writing and even become bestsellers. WoWers have published their own books and won appreciation in their endeavours, after being mentored and guided by Megha.As an edupreneur, her WoW workbooks for Class LKG – 12th (now extended to college students as well) on the 3 L’s Language + Life + Leadership skills have been inspiring over 1,00,000 students in India over the last decade alone!
We got into an interesting tete-e-tete with her and here is the interview for our readers to take inspiration and enrichment from.
BTB: Your latest bestseller, “The Breakthrough,” witnessed an extraordinary virtual book launch during the pandemic, attracting half a million attendees. Tell us more about this experience and how did this impact your connection positively with readers?
Megha: We had the world’s biggest virtual launch for my last book – The Breakthrough (Rupa) during COVID. We had close to half a million people attend and this was only possible because of technology – social media marketing and execution. It was truly a breakthrough moment, and it helped me connect with a global audience. The launch was a personal, professional and spiritual breakthrough in every way. Here’s the back story. The book was at its final stage and ready to launch around May 2020 but that is when Covid struck, halting the physical launch as we had planned. But we knew that the book was so needed at a time like that so we thought of a virtual launch on 15th August, 2020. As the world really looked forward to a breakthrough at that time, we decided to make it as the biggest book launch ever, but we didn’t know how. We got to know that someone had done a virtual launch with 1 lakh attendees, and we wanted ours to be bigger than that. We worked towards getting 111,111. When you really want something as big as this to happen with all your heart, and for all the right reasons, the whole world conspires to bring it to you. We did everything possible to the extent of partnering with one of the biggest platforms, BookMyShow. It was their first time doing a virtual book launch as they have been mostly involved in movies, music events, etc. Nevertheless, we got around 23,000 registrations till the night of 14th August which was phenomenal but still far from what we had envisioned. I remember writing to my spiritual mentor, Mahatria saying, ‘I have done my best, now you do the rest’- it was such a moment that I agreed to have done my best yet the ‘comma’ signified a surrender that now you need to take over. The book launch happened as planned on 15th August evening and soon after we got to know that 3,87,500 people had logged in which not only met our target but tripled it. It simply validated to me that when you do your best, God does the rest. It was so incredible that it marks one of the best moments of my life and a book launch that I will never forget.
BTB: Being recognized as one of the “50 Most Influential Authors of 2021” by Delhi Wire is a remarkable achievement. Do you think acknowledgements like these matter in keeping oneself motivated?
Megha: I firmly believe ‘work hard & party harder’ is very old age. For me I live by this motto – work as if it is a party. I enjoy my work so much that it never feels like work. Every morning there is a spring to my step. Thank God it’s Friday is as relevant for me as Thank God it’s Monday. I believe when you love what you do – it rubs onto your team, customers and creates a brand.
I follow the adage, “Do unto others as you would do unto yourself… and don’t do unto others what you would not have them do unto you.” I believe this makes me very humane in my approach to my team and creates an understanding in me as to what they may be feeling or going through. If something motivates me, I bring it to them – so it can motivate them too. If something disheartens me, I ensure I do not do it to them. Empathy is a winning formula for a happy team.
When you give your team the feeling that you understand them, and appreciate them – when you do need to give them feedback or get them to work harder, they do so happily. Our team operates with love and happiness and that brings us results.
I also ensure that both my team and I enjoy a good work-life balance by pressing the Stop button every week at a stipulated time. This is something I have been following for years. Just because I work from home, I don’t allow work to spill onto my family time or ME time. I also ensure my team abides by it as I respect their family time as much as I do mine. Even if they wish to send messages on our work WhatsApp group post our work hours, I discourage it so everyone values their personal space and time.
BTB: Your workbooks focusing on language, life, and leadership skills for students have impacted over 1,00,000 students. What inspired you to create these resources, and how do you envision them shaping the educational landscape?
Megha: The incident that fueled the entrepreneurial spirit in me was when one of the Principals – Gayathri Ram, doing WoW online writing and healing workshop with me asked me – if I am benefitting so much, can you not create a program for the four thousand plus students in my school? That’s when WoW 3 L’s (Language, Life and Leadership skills program) was born. It gave an avenue to the educator in me who wanted to reach out to students across all ages, and cities to have one period a week which focused on growing in love with themselves, expressions and life itself. Word of mouth took over and today we have some of the most premium and student centric educationists working with us.
A lot of directors and producers have started connecting and asking me if my articles, stories or books can be converted into something for the silver screen. My mind is now running in that direction and a lot of conversations are going on. We will see what comes forth but it’s exciting because I think in images and I think doing movies and web series is definitely the next stepping stone for me.
I wish to create content which is E-Cube. Entertaining, engaging and enlightening. I believe the world needs more of this to bring paradigm shifts in mindset. Several books, programs and movies have transformed my life forever and I believe if I bring more E-Cube content to the world, I would be able to create insights, moments of inspiration and shifts for people.
BTB: Your online writing workshops have inspired over 1000 participants globally. How do you tailor your approach to accommodate diverse cultural and writing backgrounds, fostering a creative community?
Megha: Since we work closely with people and human psychology – trying to make every individual and child into their best version, one of the greatest tools we have found for ourselves is meditation. May sound strange, but it is going within – as individuals and as a team that has helped us come up with ideas and solutions born out of intuition and understanding of fellow humans. By staying deeply rooted in spirituality, we have been able to find answers and solutions to the world that no AI or technology can provide.
Also, we believe in personalizing and customizing our products and services in a significant way. We believe that there is no one shoe that fits them all, so we constantly try to understand what the world needs in terms of mental and emotional health and well-being and find solutions.
BTB: Can you share a standout success story from someone who participated in your workshops and went on to publish their own book, embodying the essence of becoming their “WoW Version”?
Megha: Every WoWer is a success story for me. However, if I have to pick one which has really left a mark on my mind, that would be of a 63-year-old lady named Bina Pillai who came to me.
Apparently, she had heart trouble and was advised complete bed rest by the doctors. She informed me of her situation, but she is still keen to write a book. That started her WoW journey, and within a year we could identify her flair for writing and realized that she had a way with words for poetry. We started working on her book and she published her beautiful work soon. It was launched at Title Waves, a bookshop in Mumbai. Then, she went on to win so many awards for the book which was a huge breakthrough. Someone who was told to restrict herself due to a medical condition has the courage and determination to create something so beautiful and live her dream. That was truly a big moment for all of us at WoW!
BTB: As an ardent seeker, how does your quest for wisdom and personal growth influence your writing, mentorship, and the overall ethos of Wonders of Words (WoW)?
Megha: From a very young age, I have believed that all the answers to the world outside can be found within. This led me to seek spirituality from my teens themselves. From books, to masters, I sought it all – until I reached my beloved Guru, Mahatria and the path He divined called infinitheism. His ways are contemporary and practical, and His wisdom deeply rooted in rationality and Science. His teachings appealed to both the left and right brain and applying the formulae He gave for life I started seeing an integration of body-mind and soul leading to both peace, and success.
I used to believe, like many in the world, that materialism and spirituality cannot go hand in hand but through Mahatria I realized that This and That is not only possible, but also desirable.
Everything we do in WoW is deeply rooted in spirituality and many of us in the team are regular meditators and believe in getting ourselves right to get the world right. It’s very fulfilling to be living life in such a manner and I firmly believe that everything I am, and will be, I owe to my Guru. This helps me stay aspirational and yet humble.
BTB: Balancing roles as a bestselling author, mentor, and edupreneur requires finesse. How do you manage these diverse responsibilities, and what advice would you give to aspiring individuals looking to navigate a multifaceted career?
Megha: I ensure this by pressing the Stop button every week at a stipulated time is something I have been following for years. Just because I work from home, I don’t allow work to spill onto my family time or ME time. I usually begin my day by 9 am and end it by 6 pm and I stick to this discipline. I also ensure my team abides by it as I respect their family time as much as I do mine. I love traveling – within and without. So, both meditation and my backpack are integral parts of me.
One advice that I would like to give aspiring authors is that write from your heart and use your words as catharsis, your emotions to relate to your audience so that reading it the world would also feel the catharsis. Feel one with your writing whenever you decide to start.
BTB: With your extensive and impactful journey, what future endeavors do you envision for yourself, Wonders of Words, and the community you’ve cultivated through your various ventures?
Megha: A lot of my life has been a series of coincidences and miracles. It wasn’t like I chose things, rather life paved the way for things to happen. Like people asking me to teach them writing led to WoW Online Writing and Healing Workshop to be born and similarly WoW 3L’s was born under a huge tree in Chennai when Gayathri asked me to bring something to her school – I think the next seed has come from the world too. A lot of directors and producers have started connecting and asking me if my articles, stories or books can be converted into something for the silver screen.
My mind is now running in that direction and a lot of conversations are going on. We will see what comes forth but it’s exciting because I think in images and I think doing movies and web series is definitely the next stepping stone for me.
BTB: BTB is a community of enthusiastic writers who are always willing to learn, grow and try out challenges. As a prolific writer, what tips or tricks would you share with them from your experience that could help them in their writing journeys?
Megha: Over time, I have realized that there are two types of writing- whenever you write just for the heck of it and the one where your actually pour all your emotions and write because you have a compelling story to tell.
There are pieces that I have written where I had to become one with my writing – I cried, I laughed… because I wanted the readers to connect and feel the same emotions. I often get emails and messages saying how it made them cry or smile…and that is one of the biggest achievements as an author. Recently, one of my personal pieces received a phenomenal response. Would love everyone to read and share- https://www.meghabajajwow.com/a-chronicle-of-miracles/
So, write from your heart and you will see the world being moved by your words!
We wish Megha Bajaj’s remarkable achievements and inspiring vision continue to make a profound impact, leaving an indelible mark on the literary world and beyond.