Writing a book had always been on my mind, but it took me until I turned 39 to actually do it.

It was October 2014, shortly before the Diwali festivities would begin. We had gone to Goa on a short family vacation. That was when this long-suppressed desire spilled out of me.

I had been teaching at my coaching institute for eighteen years then. I love to teach, but it was also a lot of work. My passion for teaching had sustained me for all those years. But a feeling of dissatisfaction had begun to creep in. I am a creative person, always was, and as it happens to all creative people, being stuck in a routine began to get stifling.

On the second night of the vacation, after the children had gone to bed, my wife and I sat on the balcony of Calangute Beach Residency, overlooking the beach. Drinks in hand, the mood quickly got pensive. Anita asked me...