Neha Agarwal liked writing poems and wrote them, from when she was only nine years old. After starting a career in the IT industry, she returned to writing during a sabbatical (to prepare for her civil service exams!) and decided to pen a novel based on her poems and “Cherries Aren't Red Elements” came into being. The book was launched at Reliance Timeout recently.
Neha says, “This is my first novel. It took me seven months to complete it. I had planned to write a set of short stories initially, but felt that a novel would help more in weaving the poems into the storyline and in sending across a message.”
She adds, “It is a romantic story of two individuals. It talks about how relationships must never be taken for granted.
“People often think that most relationships are a bed of roses. This book will say that with all the joys that it brings, any relationship will have a set of problems that must be rectified soon.”
She says that a novel is simpler than a short story.
“A novel provides more scope for a writer to mould the characters and take the story forward without having to constantly think about a quick ending.”
Neha used writing as a tool to escape the drudgery while preparing for the civil services exams. “It gave me some time to reflect and get out of the stress of studying for long hours. Writing a book and preparing for the exams was not very easy, but I managed to keep to the schedule.”
She plans to pen another novel soon, in the same series. However, she contends, “It is not going to be a sequel to this novel. The characters and the story will be very different.”
Neha says that Indian writing in English has added a new dimension to the language and has been received well across the world. “Indian authors like Amitav Ghosh and Kiran Desai are known across the world.”
“Cherries Aren't Red Elements” is priced at Rs. 150 and is available at bookstores.
