To make his second novel titled, “Tamanna: A true story of forbidden love”, sound authentic, Tejeshwar Singh, a Delhi-based proprietor of a software consultancy firm, took the bold decision of making an honest confession — that he had been in love with a married woman.
Disclosing this bitter truth could have easily destroyed Tejeshwar’s marriage. Luckily nothing of that sort happened. In fact, the book could not have seen the light of day without the consent of his wife, who managed to reconcile with his revelation.
The semi-autobiographical book — described by the author as a “journey through a man’s life” — was released by Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication visiting faculty member Prabhat Shunglu, a long-time journalist, and veteran media personality Tehseen Munnavar at New Delhi’s Oxford Bookstore the other day.
The discussion about love, possessiveness and relationships saw the participation of about 50 bibliophiles from different professional backgrounds. Terming the book a fast read, Prabhat said as a journalist he had spent most of the time in the newsroom which is an “unromantic place”.
“We’re living in times where we are experimenting. We’re picking up stories, themes. Extramarital is not a new theme to experiment. I found the book too real,” he said.
Reciting Urdu couplets while commenting on the book, Tehseen said, “This book portrays another side of love. A married man in love. Tamanna is our feelings, desires. Recently I watched ‘Haidar” which portrayed what a woman goes through. Since ‘Tamanna’ has all the right angles I think a film can be made on the subject. But Tamanna had to leave as they say, ‘ Jis mohabbat ka koi wajood nahi ho use khoobsurat mor par khatam kar dena chahiya ’.”
Describing this book as a life history, Tejeshwar said, “This book would not have materialised if my wife on reading the manuscript had not decided not to tear the pages but to take the hard decision of reconciling with this bitter truth. The events in this story took place in my life between 2007 and 2009. The story is about a married man in love with his wife and also someone else’s wife. Accidentally, the protagonist gets attracted to this woman. However, he doesn’t express his feelings.”
The book speaks from a man’s perspective. “I have had a happily married life but one must realise that love can continue even when attraction is no longer there. I lost myself and my thoughts were completely drowned while writing this book, because when I started writing it was just a piece of fiction but today it has come out as my real life story.”
He said though the characters, Arjun, Sangini and Tamanna, are based on real people, the book is “not hundred per cent true,” since he had to add some fiction in creating the story.
