Armed to Write

“I am not much of a reader so becoming a writer for me was not something that was inborn,” says Bohra cheekily as he admits his non-reading roots. The debutant novelist who is in town to launch his book today believes that the fact that he wasn’t an avid fiction story lover helped him write with a clean unassuming and unimpressionable mind. “I was more comfortable not reading other authors,Indian or foreign writers,because I wanted to avoid getting into the rut of writing in a style that I was impressed about,” he says clarifying the thought further.

Bohra’s novel deals with the tale of six twenty something youngsters whose lives cross when they meet at the All-India Debating Talent Hunt. Speaking more about it he says,“While beginning work on the book,I was sure that I didn’t want to write about life while growing up in an institution,but I wanted to ensure that I could write about people from different walks of life coming forth to interact with one another. So there are three girls of which one is a journalist,a call-centre executive,and pursuing an MBA,while amongst the three guys one is an lieutenant in the army,a hotel management graduate,and an engineer from IIT who meet during the competition.”

Set over a period of 72 hours initially,the book according to Bohra is 80 per cent,plain fun while the remaining 20 per cent contribute to the final build up and the climax of the story. About his own personal experiences he says,“Of course the character of Aryan Vyas,who is from the armed forces,is partly based on my own personal life,but not wholly. In fact all the characters in the novel are a heady mix of traits of not just me and my friends,but interesting people that I have met till now.”

“And just for the record it is not an autobiography of sorts,” he adds after considerable afterthought.

Giving a touch of the armed forces,the book moves from Delhi to Nainital and from there to  the Siachen glacier,before finally ending in Nainital. Bohra says that this is done to pay tribute to the lives of the soldiers who are actually stationed at places like Siachen. “Plus it would be unfair to my Army roots,if I didn’t add that in,” he says with a laugh.

And how easy or difficult was it for him to actually write the book,having had no formal experience in doing the same? He says,“Very. In fact the first chapter took me almost a month to finish. But then I figured even with a hectic schedule,and with no high end writing resumes the sheer grit and determination to tell a story that would make people laugh,and leave behind a sliver of a message to decipher,kept me going.”

As far as future plans go Bohra,has already begun work on his second book,whose plot he says would be wise to keep under wraps till he sorts the storyline out. But he does mention that the book will be more intense and will delve deeper into the psyche of modern day relationships and lifestyles. “Right now its all about Crazy Bloody Thing LOV. The rest of it can come later,” he adds,with an impish smile.

(The book will be launched today at Crossword,ICC Towers,at 6 pm)