Rachna Singh is not your typical female novelist. For starters, she is an HR professional – by her own admission, the people whom others like to hate. And, is a woman who enjoys writing humour.
In fact, her four novels: Dating, Diapers and Denial , Nuptial Knots , That Autumn in Awadh and the more recent Digs, Dogs and Drama , have been written with the intent to give the reader a good laugh.
“Regaling others with jokes has long been the traditional domain of men. It has an evolutionary base to it – humour enhanced a man’s sexual armoury, a weapon that helped the not-so-good-looking men along the way.
“Male bonding too is largely constructed around banter and it is often easier for men to have a joke with their friends than it is to reveal their true selves. I have often heard people tell me, one does not meet a funny woman quite so often!’
So, maybe I am operating in a space that is unusual for women. Particularly Indian women who, over the years have been conditioned to be unobtrusive and demure, not irreverent and eccentric,” says Rachna, who concedes that barring a few, Indian women writing in English are more comfortable with fiction, poetry and prose.
“My personal life often is inspiration for the narratives in my books. I write, mainly, in the area of anecdotal humour. All my inspiration comes from my life –a neighbourhood spat over our dogs, or a stay in a Japanese hotel, or a chat with fisherman in Sri Lanka, or a hilarious ultrasound experience at a local hospital – these are the chief sources for my writing.”
Her latest book, Digs, Dogs and Drama is a thematic sequel to her first book, Dating, Diapers and Denial and has been written in the same anecdotal style that is intrinsic to Rachna.
“I believe that readers will increasingly favour the short-form content – something they can read ‘on the go’. This format helps me since I aim to serve a potpourri of humour – different themes that different people can identify with. In fact, comic essay often benefits from an unconventional form. It need not necessarily be straightforward prose. I have used open letters, lists, diaries and other different formats in Digs, Dogs and Drama ,” she says.
The first section of the book sees Rachna take the liberty to make digs at people. In the section ‘Dogs’, she shares funny anecdotes related to dogs and in the final section, titled ‘Drama’, she indulges in some self-deprecating humour and calls herself a “true blue drama queen”.
But Rachna isn’t just about the laughs, but reveals a serious, sensitive side as well. “My advice to people is – slowdown your life, read a new book every month. Reading makes you richer, it calms you. Temple Run only spikes up your adrenalin and stresses the heart out. Choose your literature wisely. Like all information available in today’s world, junk writing is also doubling every two years,” she says.
And with that intention to expose the reader to better, richer literature, Rachna is already writing her next book. “I am working on a comic, psychological thriller based on Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs – it should be out by March 2015. It’s a story about a young girl, Ketaki Raj who struggles through life, and is helped along by seven different people,” she shares.
