Samir Soni’s latest book is based on the time in his life when he stopped socialising

Samir Soni recently marked his debut as an author with My Experiments With Silence: The Diary of an Introvert. The actor, who has been maintaining a personal diary for years now, decided to put together pages and turn it into a book. Talking about it, he says, “About 10 to 15 years back, there was a phase in my life when I decided to not socialise, talk or go out. Being an introvert, I wrote down whatever I felt. My thoughts were a part of my personal diary and not meant to be shared with anyone.”

So, what made him turn his journal into a book? “I was extremely apprehensive first. But I realised that it’s not just about me; it’s about a lot of people dealing with their own insecurities and fears. The book addresses a much larger issue of mental health. During the pandemic, you kept hearing about anxiety, depression and suicide all around you,” he says, adding that he too was faced with questions about his inner feelings.

With the positive feedback coming his way, Soni now wants to pen “an actual memoir”. He shares, “This book is more like a teaser to what’s going to come in the future. Writing is very therapeutic for me like it is for most people who are introverts. I would like to believe that I have a little flair for putting pen to paper. The next book will be about me looking back at life from the place I’m right now at.”

The Chehre actor reveals that his wife, actor Neelam Kothari, was fairly surprised after she read the book. “I was a little scared initially about how she would react. But when started reading, she was like, ‘Wow, this is rather deep stuff.’ I’ve no idea how the rest of my family will react to it because nobody knows about this part of me!” he ends.