Vanakkam Folks!! Kunal is a part of the new breed of writers, who dip in IT and dabble in prose. The young writer is not only talented but loves to help/mentor raw talent. Hats off to the big hearted gentleman!! Team OKIEDOKS wishes him all the very best!!

Kunal in a candid interview for OKIEDOKS, lets hear him out.

Could you introduce yourself? How did ‘Love was never Mine’ happen?

I belong from a small town Siwan in Bihar, currently working at a Managerial position within Genpact. I grew up reading the stories of Munshi Premchand and Sharat Chandra (mostly in Hindi). Somehow I felt they used to write in a simple yet meaningful language to be easily interpreted by the masses. Their stories always had that depth which let me sink in those characters and stories. Stories such as Baradidi and Charitraheen are a benchmark in sketching out the characters

Love was never Mine is partially inspired from these two great writers and partially by the movie “Mera Naam Joker”. I have seen this movie some 4-5 times, and always thought of relating the same story with a modern outlook. Few incidents from my own life, few from others; and Love was never Mine just happened. I have tried to maintain the writing style of the book as simple as possible so as the more and more people should be able to read it and decode the message behind it.

Your book - Love was never Mine, revolves around the same concept where the protagonist is humble (many believe simplicity is an aspect of the ignorant) and his/her struggles. Why are writers and film makers so smitten by the struggle of a common man/woman?

It’s actually not about being smitten by the struggle of common man/woman. You know any movie or book is incomplete until and unless we are not relating it with the masses. A person who is reading a book or watching a movie mostly wants to see himself/herself as the characters. There are just a handful of people who watch it from critics’ point of view. Else the whole purpose of a brilliant movie is to let the audience completely engrossed in it. So, what could be a better plot than showing the struggles and the rise/fall of the protagonist?

Further to add, the story always remains the same, just the presentation changes. To reveal truth through portrayal of characters and events, we could do it only when we have truly realized the problems of man and society and imbibed them in the stories. So no matter whether the protagonist is humble, the end message which we wish to convey to the readers is what matters the most.

Could you explain the process of publishing a book, from the start till the book hits the shelf?

Like any other new writer, I was not sure how my writing style will be taken by people. I mean we love to write and self praise it too. Our heart does not believe at all, that whatever we have written might seem great to us; but might not be to most of the people. So, taking the continuous feedbacks from your target audience was the major challenge. Of course, once you start writing; juggling with your work and writing is the next major challenge.

Another challenge was to overcome continuous refusals from the publishers who are wary to experiment with a new author. Here, I would say just to have faith in your writing and be unfazed by the refusals. It just make us more stronger to prove ourselves and bounce back with double intensity.

Unlike film makers, writers, unfortunately get a raw deal from destiny and the general public as well. Your comments?

Sadly, the current state of writing does not actually allow one to be a full time writer, until and unless you are a real phenomenon. I mean not everyone could be Chetan Bhagat or Ruskin Bond. Even then also, it requires a lot of PR machinery to make a book or a novel a phenomenon, coupled with a firm support from their publishers. And that’s the area, where most of the new promising authors lack who are getting published through new publishing houses. Somehow more than numbers or revenues from the book, just getting a book published and featured in media has become a point of satisfaction for most of the authors. And this state will not change until and unless we don't come out of that mindset

What is the difference between a writer interested in fame/money and a writer interested in only good writing?

Well, you know to answer this question I will categorize writers into three categories:

1.       One – The ‘me too’ writers, who write just because everyone else is writing too. They are smitten by the bug that even they have a similar story to say which everyone is reading and talking about. They write just to get fame, I beg your pardon not money. In fact writing and money are two sides of the same coin who every one perceives to be together, but which never happen to meet each other, unless you are in the Top 5 or Top 10 league of writers. Such books will always have the campus stories, or usual love stories where a boy meets a girl, they fall in love, have some differences and then the differences get resolved. May be such book will have an added flavor of friends and some spicy scenes attached with it. Almost 80% of writers in modern times fall under this category.

2.       Two – I believe every art form is though projected at masses, but the artist always has someone as inspiration in mind, for whom that art form is dedicated. If that particular person/group of people decode the message conveyed to them, that art form is complete. So there are a group of writers who write stories to convey some message to people whom they could not orally, and books are the best medium to express the same. Some 10% of today’s writers fall in this category.

3.       Three – These are the actual creative writers. The above two categories will be more or less based on true real life incidents of the writer. But this category is the one who can think, create plots, events and sketch different characters. Though sadly only 5% of people belong to this category.

4.       Four – The rest 5% fall under the overlap of categories 1 and 2

Which book you read has influenced your own book the most?

You will be surprised to know that I was hardly a veracious reader earlier. I was not even into blogging. Before Love was never Mine, I had hardly read some 10-20 books at all. And somehow, it did help me in having my own distinct writing style. But yes, somewhere, the impact of Prem Chand and Sharat Chandra is clearly visible in my writing

Which books do you suggest for amateur authors? Who is the most under-rated author?

Well, this question is as vague as asking to count the number of stars in the sky. A lot depends on what kind of writer you are, who are your target audience, what is the genre of your story etc. If I am writing a book for masses or casual readers, probably I will not do proper justice if I inherit the style from Nora Roberts or Dan Brown and vice versa. So, as per my opinion each book teaches you a lot, no matter whether it’s a good book or a pathetic book. For all young authors, my advice is to read related books. I mean if they are writing Indian Romance Fiction, they can read a lot of Indian Romance Fiction books and take their positives.

I won’t name any author as under rated. Rather I would say there are a lot of Indian authors, who do write exceptionally well, but don’t get the due respect because of the absence of a proper PR.

There are stories like Pulp Fiction, Nayagan, Shawshank Redemption, Hamlet etc. in the heads of people busy eating at McDonalds or sitting comfortably in front of a computer. Why do you think ideas don’t germinate into books, scripts and movies? Why is the young generation so obsessed with a secure life?

Well, it’s not just about secured life. In current context, the competition for survival has become so cut throat that people hardly get some time to think beyond their normal routine. Even if they do get, they wish to enjoy it as much as they can with their close ones. So, though all these people can talk a lot, but when it comes to execution, they fall short of that zeal to implement it into reality. I have seen at least 1,000 people who dreamt to do something, but never came out of their comfort zone to achieve it

Has life changed after getting your book published? Do people around you see you as a different person now? Any more books?

I don’t think that life has changed for me after getting my book published. Yes of course when you are not even known for blogging or even scribbling something, and one fine day you announce your book launch, people are amazed. But then I am still the same, as much grounded as possible. The moment you let your feet off the ground, that arrogance somehow translates into your writing as well as in your life. So, though I definitely feel good with my opinion now considered as valuable which was once negligible. But despite of all attention, I try to be as much approachable and grounded as possible. I never understood, why people have to behave differently when they are a celebrity. After all these people only give you or snatch away the tag of being a “celebrity”.

I am planning two books in due course of time. One is an office satire. Another one is a dark story based on the way we see politics and politicians, and how we miss out a lot of other aspects which are crucial for us to know. I hope after reading this novel, people will start looking at politics from a new angle, and will understand the pain of a politician as well.

Any advice which you would like to give amateur writers and poets? Or do you want to say something about the platform –Okiedoks.com?

I would just say that listen to your heart and just write. Many people will criticize you, and you will feel de-motivated. But, still try seeking inputs from both experts and readers. Try to assimilate whatever feedback they give in a constructive manner. Implement all such feedbacks in your work. But, never ever give up. "Passion" is the key to success and is the single ingredient which keeps us alive to achieve wonders despite each and every odd.

If you want to connect with Kunal Bhardwaj, please get in touch with us and we will pass on the information to him. Email us at d@okiedoks.com or cs@okiedoks.com, if required.