Engineering a Novel

He would spend his free time loitering around the AC Joshi Library and entertaining his friends with snappy,five-minute stories that he would make up on the spot.

And then,the writer in him took over. He turned a blogger,joined the university’s literary committee and started writing scripts for the dramatics club.

“But I had more to share. I had stories to tell,messages to put across and issues to address. And I wanted to do it in a way so as to interest the young audience,” says the 20-year-old on the release event of his debut novel Love in the Reality…is not always that easy (Mahaveer Publishers,Rs 125).

It’s a story of a final-year engineering student Aditya and his life,love and his relationships with friends. The story moves back and forth in time and weaves in the life of Drishya Roy,who has been sexually abused when he was a child.

“Roy,who now turns into a Casanova,finds out that he is unable to build a lasting relationship because of his past. There are unfulfilled dreams and an unsaid fear. The events in Roy’s life make you think if one can forget the past and move on,” says Dhamija,pressing on the ‘cause’ that he stands for — child sex abuse. He feels that the issue,even though it’s rampant,is often not talked about openly in society. The novel has moments of seriousness as well as fun.

There’s also a take on live-in relationships.

“Written over a span of six months,the book has instances from my real life and is a tribute to Panjab University,” says Dhamija,recalling the endless hours he has spent in the library in the course of writing the book.

“I have tried to retain the innocence of a teenager in the novel,while capture the naughty phases in their lives.

“Their restlessness,excitement and love — all find place in my 189-page novel,” he adds. And future plans? Dhamija says his next novel will be about three friends who travel back in time to kill Aryabhatta and formulate a whole new education system!

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