Author Sonika Shandilya’s residence at Central Police Lines comes with a lush green cover — flowers of various hues, tea under the sun and timely breeze form just the right backdrop to discuss her romance novel Tinkling of the Bell , which she describes as an ode to nature. The novel certainly seems an extension of her personality; she labels herself as a person who sees romance in moon, flowers and trees. Her writing in this space is still crisp and sharp, she builds the atmosphere for a reader with transparent yet likeable detailing. “Writing in that genre came to me naturally. It has a feel-good factor, you enjoy writing about all things nice. I feel romance is always a part of nature,” she says. Sonika conjured up the novel premise as she witnessed a long queue for a mall in the city, the date was 11/11/11 and she read about it being a ‘lucky day’.
The title Tinkling of the Bell is open to many interpretations and the bell forms a crucial link to her story. Sonika finds the tinkle is akin to the many small moments in life that provide great happiness. The novel even had her penning a Hindi song and the story is replete references to music and dance. At the risk of sounding flowery, she mentions, “When rain romances the earth, the thunder beats the drums, the wind plays the flute, the sky is the stage, this is the kind of romance I brought alive through Jai and Sakshi. I never thought I would pen a song in the novel, it was just a moment where prose alone couldn’t contain the romance, the intention wasn’t to be filmi.” Yet the two characters, of a fashion designer and an aspirant police officer, don’t merely advocate romance, they are two contrasting reflections of society, she says. Her fashion and interior designing stints in the past helped her flesh out the characters with enough authenticity.
Romance is a genre that comes with tropes that no author can escape, she accepts; stories can’t be more than boy meeting girl. “But I promised myself to stay away from clichés, the moments here are original. The thrill of creating something gives you satisfaction as an author too.” She didn’t borrow much out of her personal life; she mentions writing would’ve boring then. “It’s not interesting to experience the same thing and rewrite it here.”Hyderabadis would warm up to the fact that it forms a backdrop for her novel. From the old city and areas like KBR Park, Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills the backdrop forms an additional layer to the story. With not many popular romance novel writers emerging from the city, she finds herself in an exclusive space. “I’ve been staying in the city for long now, so the references were quite natural. The city has beautiful topography and heritage, the rocky terrain, the lakes and historic structures. It was a deliberate decision to have the couple’s first date at Chowmahalla Palace, that brought the necessary aristocratic, old-world charm into the book.”
Old monuments, she finds, say something to you that’s more than what you see. The people who lived back then have contributed to the atmosphere of the novel. “Youngsters today have a distorted idea of romance. I wanted to portray an ideal romance.” She rues the culmination of Jai and Sakshi’s journey with the book. “Their journey continues with the readers, the book keeps changing hands,” she says adding “My next novel is also a romance.”
