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On her book 'Bombay Girl'
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- Hi, how are you? How is 'Bombay Girl' different from 'For Matrimonial Purposes'? Asked by: Nikita
- Very different. Firstly, in For Matrimonial Purposes, the main character has but one agenda - to find a husband. In 'Bombay Girl', she has to figure a few other things out, marriage not quite being among them, for now. Also, I wrote FMP for a very international market; Bombay Girl is my first book exclusively for India. Thank you!
- I'm a big fan of your previous books. I absolutely love your books. how is this one different? Asked by: neha
- That's very kind of you, thanks. This one is probably racier, more fast paced, much more varied in its content. There is a focus on the newly-monied of the new Bombay, its business aspirations, the drive that defines the people of modern day India. It's also my first book (and series of books) done specifically for the Indian market.
- Can you tell us a little bit about Sohana. Asked by: rajshree bose
- Sohana starts off somewhat emotionally dependent, kind of drifting through her monied, comfortable life. As the book progresses, and things start to shift dramatically within the family, she is forced to grow up, to reevaulate her choices, and come to a greater strength within herself. Throughout, though, she remains kind and decent and filled with goodwill.
- Has the fashion world influenced your writing? If yes, how? Asked by: Asmi Joshi
- It certainly has, at least in the past. In my first book, the main character becomes a fashion publicist. In the second, she is a celebrity reporter. In the third, a fashion model, and in the fourth, an intern at a celebrity magazine. I got away from that completely in my fifth, Lovetorn. Bombay Girl is my sixth, and while fashion sort of plays a part in things - she is, after all, a stylish and wealthy girl, it is by no means a defining part of the book.
- I have this is the first part of a trilogy. Is this true? Asked by: Namita Sahukar
- It is! The next one will be out next April/May. I felt there was enough there to sustain a three-book series. Let's hope I'm right:)
- What do you want to convey through your book? Asked by: Shyam Vadalker
- Not sure if I want to really convey anything, more than tell a fun and engaging story that appeals across genders and age gaps. It's a story about a family that is forced to make some difficult decisions, is faced with all sorts of scandal and strife, and all of this plays out against the backdrop of new, modern Bombay. So just a bit of entertainment, really!
- is this an autobiography? Asked by: Rupam
- I wish! Wouldn't that be cool? Alas, no. It is purely a work of fiction.
- hi Kavita A breif on your book Bombay Girl. Asked by: 121
- It is the first of a three-book series for Harper Collins India, about a girl from a wealthy and powerful family who starts off doing little and knowing less about the family business, and then has to step out into the light and figure things out. Lots of dramas and scandals and family dysfunction, a little racy in parts, but I'd like to think it's a fun and easy and light read.
- Has any particular news piece trigged off an inspiration for this book? Asked by: Shirley
- Not a particular piece of news, more than just the overall focus on what's going on in terms of business in the new Bombay. I myself have been fascinated by family-run business empires, what the dynamics are that might exist within them, and it seemed like a good way to go in terms of story exploration.
- What inspired you to become an author? Asked by: Sushma
- I have actually been a journalist for a long time - I began writing professionally at 17, and still work as a freelance journalist. I decided to write my first novel because my friends thought it would be a good idea...somehow they thought I had the makings of a book in me. I've now done six!
- have you ever thought of venturing into the non-fiction field? maybe do something on someone in the fashion world? Asked by: Andrea
- Not really, no. I think it would require such a vast attention to detail and fact-checking....I like the creative license that comes with fiction. That being said, I'm certainly not closed to the idea: one never knows what comes up. Years ago, I wrote a non-fiction book, a biography about a powerful business tycoon in my community. I had been commissioned to do it by his grandson. It was a really valuable learning tool, and I'm glad I did it.
- Do you only write Fiction? Asked by: Smita
- For now, yes. Although as I just responded to someone - I did, years ago, write a biography about a powerful business tycoon, long after his death, after I was hired by his grandson. It was kind of a tribute to him, a bit of vanity publishing I suppose, but I did enjoy it.
- Why haven't you taken out a sequel for 'for matrimonial purposes'? Maybe like a divorce thing? Asked by: Carol Demorias
- Oooh...what a great idea! Definitely one to be explored! I've never written about a divorced woman, so this might be a good time....
- What was your best moment when you were working on this book and what was the most difficult? Asked by: Anjali
- I got on a real roll towards the end - when everything sort of amps up and she has a major epiphany of sorts. I loved that bit...it felt vivid and real and relatable. I also love one of the characters, Matunga Dada, who has come to be a real favourite of mine. As for the most difficult - there was a slight scene of seduction that made me cringe, and it wasn't even X-rated (nothing like that Fifty Shades stuff!) I also had nto be really mindful of the dialogue, to learn how to "speak" in the vocabulary of a real Mumbai-ite.
- What's your best memory when working on the book? Asked by: Honey
- Finishing it! When I felt really inspired and knew exactly how to end up, the exact phrasing to use, the exact descriptions - I was so happy when that happened, because I felt it ended on just the right note.
- What made you think about this book? Asked by: RAJESH
- I wanted to do something set entirely in India - and Bombay is the city in India I am the most familiar with. I also wanted to focus on a very wealthy and powerful and sophisticated family, but really felt the need to layer the story with plenty of inter-personal dramas. And more than anything, I needed it to be a fun, light, easy and racy read.
- Has there been a particular inspiration for Sohana? Asked by: Esha Paul
- I think she has a life that is somewhat similar to the lives of some young, single, wealthy girls: she is not especially driven, enjoys just drifting through her days, not doing very much. She might, I have to say, be a slight exception to the rule these days: I do think more and more young women have more ambitions than that. But in the context of this particular story, I wanted to give her - early on, anyway - not a lot to anchor her life on. I wanted that to come later.
- Is it hard writing sequels? How do you know where to stop? Asked by: Carol
- Ask me when I've done the next one! This is the first of a three-part series, and I'm currently working on number two. Yes, I can already see that it's going to be somewhat challenging - just in keeping the momentum going, in knowing which strands of the storyline to pick up, which to let drop, what new characters and scenarios to introduce. It's going to be quite the task!
- I am an aspiring writer. Some one told me that to get your book published you either need to be established already as an author or you need some big name backing you. is this true? can you give me some advice on how to go about getting my book published? Asked by: Sneha Aiyar
- I think it's fantastic to want to write a book - I would never discourage anyone from doing so, despite the perceived "difficulties" of the publishing industry. I think you would only need to be "established" if you want to do a non-fiction book where you are putting yourself out as some sort of expert. Publishers like the idea of a personality having a "national platform." But publishers are also looking for the next great story-teller. So just write a great story - a lively and engaging and beautifully written one, and you will find an audience for it. There are the mechanics/logistics of it: best to try and find a literary agent, and I hear there are quite a few in India now, who can get your work into the hands of the right publisher. All you need, at the end of the day, is one person who loves your work, who will champion it, and get you a deal. Try it. You never know where it could lead.
- What advice do you have for someone who would like to become a published writer? Asked by: Naresh Vaswani
- To read as much as you can, because the more you read, the better a writer you will become. And then to just sit down and do it, learn to crank out the words and tell the story, and then be disciplined about trying to sell it. It's a bit of an effort, but if it works out, it's really rewarding.
- How long did it take for you to sit and write this entire book? Minus the editing, ofcourse. Asked by: Mahima
- Probably about eight months or so. Mind you, I was only writing about an hour or so a day (or a thousand words a day, whatever came first). I still work as a freelance journalist and have two kids that my husband and I homeschool, so I couldn't devote my entire day, all day, to writing.
- What do you think of rural romances in contrast with fast paced urban ones? Asked by: Aritra
- I think they both have their place in the literary landscape. It all depends on what you're in the mood to read: a story that unfolds gradually that is a gorgeously literary tale, or one that is a bit snappier and you can read in one sitting. I like them both.
- Can you please share one major impact of this book? Asked by: Ajay Tyagi
- I don't know if there is one major impact: I think it's more a series of little awakenings that the reader might have, alongside the main character: that as she discovers things, the reader might too. I just want people to have a good time as they read it!
- Did you come to Mumbai to investigate for your story? Asked by: Shweta
- I did! I hadn't returned to Bombay in over a decade, and felt it important to go back and reacquaint myself with the city. So I spent a few days there two years ago, just wanting to get a "hit" of it - to meet some of the people from whom I could draw my characters, to get a sense of how people talk/dress/where they socialize, what they do business-wise. It was a crucially important visit.
- Thanks For the wonderful advice! Hopefully I will become a famous author like you one day! All the best for this trilogy! Asked by: Sneha Aiyar
- Thank you - and I wish you all the luck too. Feel free to email me via my website if you want to chat some more. I always like to help and encourage aspiring authors. I figure someone did it for me, all those years ago, so I'd like to do it for others.
- How do you choose the names for your characters? Asked by: Moksh
- Honestly - they come in little flashes of sorts. I have a niece named Sohana - she is also the only girl in a family of boys. So that part was easy. And when I narrowed the choices down to names that only ended in 'n' it was pretty easy going at that point.
- From Fashion Editor to Author? Why leave the glitz and glamour for a word stuck in words? Asked by: Dhruv Sharma
- I really did have the best life as fashion editor _- I covered the international colletions in Milan, Paris, London, New york, several times a year, men's, women's, couture. Dinners with major fashion designers, the CEOS of the biggest brands on my speed dial. It was brilliant. But then I got married, and I realized I couldn't keep up that pace, not without seriously jeopardizing my relationship with my husband. So I gave up that aspect of it - quite willingly, as it turns out. I was 36 at the time, and i'd done the glam thing for a while. But I still have a hand in it - I don't travel as much, especially after my kids were born, but I still do some fashion interviews, some beauty stories, interview Hollywood celebrities. Then I do the writing of the novels on the side. It works for me.
- To what extent personal experiences mold the protagonist's experiences in fictional writing? Asked by: Surya Prakash
- I think every other is different - but in my case, quite a lot. My first book, For Matrimonial Purposes, was largely autobiographical, in terms of the experiences I had while trying to be "fixed up." In all my subsequent books, there's always a little something - a little memory of anecdote that I dredge up from my past that makes it in there.
- Why Bombay girl? Why not something more interesting? because when i read the title i think its about this small town girl who comes to bombay and makes it her home. Asked by: anita
- It was purely an editorial decision. We went through a number of titles, and felt Bombay Girl to be catchy and, most importantly, really quite representative of who she is: a real Bombay Girl, someone born and bred there, who most closely identifies herself with the city of her birth.
- Hello!Does your book 'Bombay girl' explore the tradition/modernity conflict or you have plunged into showcasing the metropolitan living experience only from the perspective of a girl? Asked by: Sunil Kumar
- Well, I think she struggles with her family's expectations of her (not to concern herself with the machinations of the family business, simply to enjoy herself as a member of one of the country's most prominent and wealthiest families) and what she eventually realizes she truly wants for herself: to assert her rightful place in the family, to be taken seriously, to not be seen as a bubble-head. So therein, for her, lies the conflict.
- Being an Indian, do you think India based authors are too afraid to take a risk like their global counterparts? for eg, we don't have hat many eroticas. Asked by: carol
- I don't think it's a matter of them being afraid: I think many Indian writers are fearless and brilliant. Perhaps it's just a matter of market dictates? Or what they feel might sell? It's a hard question for me to answer, because I'm not based here.
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