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On his new book 'The Edge of Desire'
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- What inspired you to write a book like "The Edge of Desire" Asked by: monica
- The Edge of Desire delves into two serious issues which sadden me immensely. The first is the unabated rise in gender crimes, making India one of the most unsafe places for women. The other is the death of political leadership in our country. The challenge for me was to weave these two issues within the format of a commercial fiction novel. I was inspired to an extent by the basic idea of Mahabharata: Can a woman’s humiliation impact the destiny of the nation? Interestingly the bond between my protagonists, Shruti Ranjan and Sharad Malviya, is in many ways similar to the bond between Draupadi and Krishna.
- Were you apprehensive about the reactions to the political references? Because some of them are very very obvious! Asked by: Priyanka
- Well yes and no..When you write fiction which is inspired from reality, you can't afford to play too safe..Even my previous book Of Love And Politics had some political references which were obvious..The Captain (formerly 22 Yards) had references of some cricketers..
- Do you see this book being made into a movie? Considering it has all the elements of a blockbuster! Asked by: Priyanka
- I would love to see the book being made into a movie..It has a huge canvas and some very interesting grey characters..Shruti Ranjan and Sharad Malviya have very well layered characters which ppl would love to see on screen..In fact, many readers have already written to me suggesting Vidya Balan would suit Shruti's role the best..
- Have you had to deal with a situation when someone overreacted to a reference made to him/her? Asked by: Priyanka
- Ironically that happened with my first book, That Thing Called Love, which had no political references at all :) But I guess to write stories which are real and relatable who got to be a good observer of people's traits.. Knowingly or unknowingly, most of the fiction is inspired from real people, real issues and real incidents..
- To what extent has your political disposition in real life been expressed in the book? Asked by: Aditya Savnal
- Well I do have a strong political disposition which is apparent in my blog on ibnlive called "Unapologetically Right"..But then the challenge for me as a writer, esp of fiction novels, is not to get swayed by that..I'm glad readers have acknowledged my objectivity both in "Of love and Politics" and "the Edge of Desire".. Let me just put it this way- through my writings I try to delve into certain issues which concern the nation's interests. I don't care, if by doing that, I am seen to be following a certain political party's agenda.
- the book has a bold issue to cater ,aren't these things more prevalent in the remote and backward areas of India ? Asked by: bhatia
- Well that's a myth.. Rape is as much an urban menace as it is in rural areas...Its sad that any and every Indian woman is vulnerable to this menace..
- What is the new book about? Asked by: Praneeth
- Its a fiction novel which deals with certain important issues likes the ever increasing gender crimes in our country and the bankruptcy in our counry's political leadership.. If I have to summarize the story in one sentence, it would be- "Can a woman's humiliation impact the destiny of a nation? It did in the Mahabharata and it does once again in the lawless Bihar of the 1990s where the story begins.."
- Were you nervous about the book launch, what has the response been so far? Asked by: Himanshu Parik
- Not really..This my my fourth book..And Hachette has published a record 25k copies in the first print run..They won't be doing that if they weren't confident about the product..I have been monitoring the reviews on the internet and most of them are extremely positive..People have loved the character of Shruti Ranjan and Sharad Malviya.
- Is the character of Shruti Ranjan based on a real person? Asked by: Yash
- No..Sadly Indian politics doesn't get to see too many real women like Shruti Ranjan:) Having said that I would like to see more Shruti Ranjans in Indian politics.. Sadly the Women's Reservation Bill, even if it were to be passed and made into a law, will produce more Rabri Devis and not Shruti Ranjans.
- The Book The Edge of Desire is on ? Asked by: bhatia
- Hello Mr. bhatia, Have answered a very similar question..
- What inspires you to write? How do you cope with writer's block? Asked by: srishti
- Hi srishti, Sttory-telling is an ability which not many have..I feel lucky to have the ability..At this stage, my biggest inspiration is to live up to the expectations which I have created with each of my previous books..that's what spurs me on to continuously come up with something fresh and exciting.. As far as writer's block is concerned, luckily I haven't confronted one..that's probably because I never repeat myself as a writer.
- Who is the character of Sharad Malviya based on Asked by: Siddharth
- Hi siddharth, Its probably a mix of Arun Jaitley and Manohar Parrikar :)
- Are bits of this inspired by real life? Asked by: Nirmal
- yes
- Which Indian author do you cconsider your contemporary? Asked by: Sharman
- I follow Ashwin Sanghi and Amish among a few others..Both are really impressive :)
- Why you have chosen the tittle "The Edge of Desire"? Asked by: veena
- Hi Veena, We were looking for an "edgy" title..Let me confess TEOD wasn't the first choice..At the time of writing, I had thought of naming it "the Autobiography"..Later my editor Nandita Aggarwal suggested "payback"..After a long series of deliberations, we arrived at "the edge of desire"..the entire team felt it was catchy, edgy and exciting
- It looks like you included the Mahabharata just to create controversy. The book did not really need it. What do you have to say? Asked by: Rajan
- That's not true..Besides if the mention of Mahabharata can reiterate the gravity of the problem--be it "crimes against women" or the "ineffective leadership" in the country, I see no harm in it..Weren't these the two issues that had resulted in the Mahabharata?
- What has been the current sales of your book? Asked by: Yasmin
- Well, some 25 K copies have been printed, out of which 22k are out in the market..We should have the first sales report by the end of this week..
- You talked of "objectivity" in writing.... how easy or difficult it is for a writer to not let his/her opinion on certain issues influence the course of the novel? Asked by: srishti
- Its tough and challenging but to be fair to the readers, one has to retain the objectivity :)
- What would be your response if I say Shruti Ranjan is weak because she allows herself to go with the flow and does nothing to change the circumstances that have been forced upon her? Asked by: Poornima
- Well if Shruti were weak, she would have got back to her husband after getting her rapist convicted..somewhere she realized there was a larger role that she was meant for..besides, as the story progresses, there is a fair amount of role reversal in her relationship with Sharad Malviya..There comes a time when she is the stronger of the two and pulls her mentor out of a particularly tough patch..
- from "THAT THING CALLED LOVE" to "The Edge of Desire" how was the journey? Asked by: Anuj Tiwari
- Extremely fulfilling..when I look back, I feel happy I never repeated myself..Post that thig called love, I had the easy option of writing a sequel..I'm glad the chose the tougher route..And I promise I will continue to explore new territory with each of my future books as well..
- Are you looking for this book to be made in a movie. If so would you like to play a role & which one would it be? Asked by: Ojaswa
- Yes.. I'm better off as writer :)
- what does it take to become an author of your repute ? Asked by: bhatia
- Lots and lots of patience and conviction :)
- What kind of research did you do before writing the book? Asked by: Anand
- Well I have followed Indian politics closely for more than 2 decades now..However before writing the book, I just brushed up my knowledge of the issues that are dealt with in the vook-the Naxal menace, The Kashmir problem, the problem of fundamentalism in Kerala etc.. Besides I did some research of why crimes against women continue to rise unabated in our country where we also worship thousands of goddesses everyday.
- How many days/ months do you usually take to write a story? Asked by: Sadeesh
- Really depends on the story and the kind of research required..Sometimes I write a book in phases balancing it with my other assignments.
- I read you book and its a lot about politics through which the woman has gained victory. Do you think entering politics is the only way to fight back? Asked by: Rajneesh Rajput
- No its definitely not the only way..
- I'm currently reading "of love and politics", I wondered, I bought it discounted. It was worth twice the MRP. What made you write that {the places, people, perspectives, et al)? Anyway, thanks. :) Asked by: Sharma
- Dear Mr. Sharma, Of Love And Politics was inspired by a simple thought- "Can you ideological conviction impact your personal relationships?" Thanks for the appreciation.
- What do you say about Indian writing industry? Asked by: Anuj Tiwari
- Hi Anuj, Its growing rapidly which is good but it needs to keep a tab on the quality that is being churned out..
- Hi Tuhin, I want to ask that what to you think about Indian writing Industry. I am also author when I open my laptop then everyday I find 2-3 messages and they all want to be an author and this is the reason Indian market is getting down day by day, what do you think about it? Asked by: Anuj Tiwari
- Hi Anuj, Answered your question
- Who do you think is the ideal candidate for being the Prime Minister of India? Asked by: Nishanth
- Well there are quite a few..but no point talking about it till the person occupying it, goes :)
- what is your education and how you started writing Asked by: ravi
- B.Com (h) from Hindu College, D.U. , followed by Mass comm
- who is ur inspiration ? Asked by: sandeep
- Nobody in particular..Honest, well-meaning, hard-working, well-intentioned ppl inspire me
- Which political party do you support? Do have any political agenda in publishing this book now? Asked by: Shash
- Will Shash.. will talk about this in another chat.. have no political agenda in publishing this book.
- The moment when you felt Indian publishing industry is very tough? Asked by: Prachi Gupta (Review Mam)
- Hi Prachi, that was in 2005-6 and before that..now the industry has really opened up..getting a break has become easier but leaving a mark tougher:)
- What ratio of time one should maintain between reading books and writing books to be a good author? Asked by: Atul Dixit
- Hi atul, It really depends from person to person..
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