Jyothy Sreedhar is a bilingual poet, prose writer, and Assistant Professor of English at Sree Vidyadhiraja NSS College, Vazhoor, Kerala. A part-time research scholar at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, she has authored four books: Thank DoG (2025), Yes! You Are Audible (2021), Ichirikkadhakal (2021), and Kili Maram Pacha (2020). Her writing often explores the human condition, love, social critique, and self-reflection.

She began sharing her work on Facebook in 2010, gaining popularity that led to features in prominent online media like Manoramaonline and Madhyamam. Her strong online presence (with over 2.15 lakh Facebook followers) eventually inspired her to self-publish her first book in 2020. She credits the COVID-19 lockdown for giving her time to pursue writing seriously.

A turning point in her life occurred on 22nd October 2024, when a road accident involving a dog led to serious injuries. Her recovery journey, shared on Facebook and later picked up by Manoramaonline, became the foundation of her memoir Thank DoG. Co-authored with her surgeon Dr. Mathew K. M. Puthiyidom, the book made history as the world’s first joint medical memoir by a patient and doctor. It has received wide acclaim from readers and critics alike, with a Malayalam version set to release in July 2025.

Beyond creative writing, Jyothy has published scholarly articles and recently edited the academic volume Ink and Insights: Interdisciplinary Discourses in Health Humanities (2024). With prior experience as a TV anchor and RJ (AIR Kochi FM Rainbow), she is also a trained classical dancer and Carnatic singer.

Jyothy is originally from Aluva and currently lives in Changanassery with her husband, Kiran Sudhakar (Head, Zee5), and their son, Karthik Joe Kiran.

Titles of your previously published books, along with any associated awards.

Jyothy Sreedhar has authored four books so far, and she also has an edited academic book to her credit.

1. Kili Maram Pacha – a book of love poetry in Malayalam
   1. Ichirikkadhakal – a memoir in Malayalam
   1. Yes! You are Audible – a book of poetry in English
2. Certificate of excellence in the best English poetry book category by the Asian Literary Society
3. Poet of the Year by the Ukiyoto Publishing House
   1. Thank DoG – An auto/pathographic memoir in English
4. The London Book of Records
5. The International Book of Records
6. The Influencer Book of World Records
7. Best Book in the Medical Memoir category by The Book Channel
8. Nomination for Sahitya Sparsh Awards 2025

Edited work- Ink and Insights: Interdisciplinary Discourses in Health Humanities (2024)

TLT: Your latest release, “Thank DoG” is quite a unique collaboration between a patient and a doctor. How did the idea of co-authoring this narrative with your surgeon come about?

Jyothy Sreedhar: All I did was ask my doctor to write an afterword for the book I wanted to write. I was hoping for just three or four pages. However, two days later, I started receiving his manuscripts, chapter after chapter, which surprised me. To be fair, his sixteen chapters became the second part of the book. Thus, he became my co-author as well. Neither he nor I made that decision; everything was predestined.

TLT: Your book explores disability not as a trauma but as a creative turning point. How did this personal challenge reshape your relationship with writing and creativity?

Jyothy Sreedhar: The negative terms like ‘accident’, or ‘disability’ gifted me with life’s most precious thing- time. When I got time to sit with myself, and to listen to my own thoughts, and even to write it taking time, my creativity bloomed as though to a fresh rain. How it had been suffocated inside me for long! I have always approached every hurdle in my life with a curiosity. Each one of it has contributed well to my life making me jump like as to a ladder in a game. And this accident has been the best ever! Hence, it was not a conscious or strenuous balancing; it was all organic.

TLT: As a bilingual poet and professor, how did your academic and literary background influence the narrative tone and structure of Thank DoG?

Jyothy Sreedhar: It’s spot on. My part-time research on illness narratives had me reading several of such works from various points of view. When I became a patient and had already been a researcher in that field, I seized the opportunity. The book’s narrative structure was something I played about with. Thanks to my research background, the book is divided into sections based on viewpoints about the same events. I was able to achieve a language and vocabulary that was appropriate for a narrative about illness, and I included interludes, illustrations, photographs, and raw WhatsApp chats as other sections. That experiment was something I felt confident enough to do. As far as I can tell, it’s novel and unlike anything else. If I hadn’t been to research in that field, this work would have been quite ordinary.

TLT: Was it emotionally difficult to revisit and write about your injury and recovery process? How did you balance honesty with optimism in your storytelling? 

Jyothy Sreedhar: It was more a crisis of memory than of emotion. There were situations when I tried to recollect the exact order of events and felt the strain of it. I even had to ask my husband or colleagues who were with me during those days. Apart from that, recollecting each event was soothing for me. Even the dog that caused the accident became the book’s title. A lot of surprises have happened ever since. I used to converse with that dog in my imagination, and I often asked myself, “Uff! Now what, next?!” The surprises continued, starting from the accident. Everything turned out to be positive for me, so I could honestly narrate what I went through. My optimism was never fictional.

TLT: The book also captures the emotional world of a surgeon. What surprised you the most about your doctor’s reflections and his side of the story?

Jyothy Sreedhar: His account of the accident, our meeting, the operation, his decision-making about the subsequent treatments, and so on were completely unknown to me. To imagine that a doctor could have a tale to talk about a patient is something we seldom consider. More than a doctor, what I saw in his manuscripts was a bare human who was an aspiring writer. His writing was enlightening, reflecting on the emotional makeup of his mind and rooting him in the true human being that he was. What moved me the most was how he described his real struggle in two circumstances that were pivotal for me. Emotion and surgeon- he becomes a mashup of those two contradictions.

TLT: The title, “Thank DoG” is truly intriguing! Can you tell us the story behind the name and its significance to the book’s theme?

Jyothy Sreedhar: After rejoining on duty, I took my favourite diary and pen at midday on December 3, 2024, intending to write something but unsure of what. After giving it some thought, I wrote “Thank DoG”. It took a few more glances at the title for me to grasp it could be a book title. At that point, I hadn’t even thought about the book. I couldn’t help but giggle at myself for unknowingly doing the capital G stunt, which was also completely spontaneous. Who else should I be grateful to? What more could I possibly write about? The dog took on a divine quality for me; it could read my mind, intuit my needs, and buy me precious moments to compose my thoughts and writings. I say how surprised I am by the unexpected turns of events throughout the book, and then all I could do is praise the divine DoG!

TLT: You began your writing journey on social media. How did that early feedback from readers help build the courage to eventually publish your first book?

Jyothy Sreedhar: Kili Maram Pacha, my first book published five years ago, was dedicated to my Facebook readers. As I started writing on social media, I used to get applause and constructive critique throughout. A lot of people read my short love poems in Malayalam that I wrote every day. A compilation of those love poems makes up my debut book. Seeing followers ask me about publishing a book, specially during the COVID lockdown, really pushed me to find a way out. Facebook has always had my eternal gratitude for fostering the writer in me and, when necessary, scolding me. The way people received my first book and provided positive feedback prompted me to consider future works. At first, even this Thank DoG was just a series of Facebook posts during my period of rest after the accident and surgeries.

TLT: How do you think your experience as a part-time research scholar and educator in English literature shapes your perspective on themes like pain, endurance, and healing?

Jyothy Sreedhar: Travelling takes you to the world, but reading takes you to many worlds. We learn about the people, their lives, the crucial problems they face, and the destinies/ ill fates that people experience. Thereafter, we have the opportunity to be more modest. At that point, any suffering feels just as a stepping stone. Why? Because we think the world beyond this one is stunning and worth all the hardship we’ll encounter. Most importantly, we get to own not just one perspective on everything, but multiple perspectives on each issue and its many facets. It helps you zoom in and out of any situation so you may proceed with assurance. And you learn to be more inclusive and accommodative too. If there is pain, the next step will undoubtedly involve healing. “If winter comes, can spring be far behind?”

TLT: You’ve authored memoirs and poetry in both English and Malayalam. What made “Thank DoG” stand out as a story that needed a collaborative, dual-voice format?

Jyothy Sreedhar: Thank DoG is something that only happens once in a lifetime. I really don’t think I’ll ever write another one like that. See how things changed on their own, without our deciding or planning it that way! The book itself desired a collaborative or dual-voice format, not me. It insisted on the title Thank DoG, so I wrote it and then wondered what I had written. I gave it the story it wanted to tell. It prompted me to ask my surgeon for the afterword, which was destined to unfold in this manner. Writing is not something I can just sit down and do. For me, everything feels natural and magical. I do not create the words. I’m picked up by the words, which decide to write themselves through me. Had it been exclusively mine, it would have ended up being just another illness memoir! But Thank DoG had to happen, and exactly in this way. And the universe conspired delightfully!

TLT: Now that “Thank DoG” is out, what’s next for you as an author? Can the readers expect more such incredible works in the future?

Jyothy Sreedhar: I’m now working on a collection of my English poetry. It is anticipated to be released by the end of the year. Thank DoG was, in reality, an unexpected work, a phoenix emerging from the ashes of my accident. Let these wonderful things happen (not accidents anyhow) so that my creativity can grow! As a tiny child with awe in her eyes, I exist to witness the cosmos work more magic in my life. I await more words, more poetry, and more books to pick me!