The romance of a writer

Ravinder Singh’s broken heart led to his debut novel that sold a million copies. Will he enjoy similar success with “Your Dreams are Mine Now”?

November 27, 2014 07:10 pm | Updated 07:10 pm IST

A love story juggernaut: Ravinder Singh with his milling fans. Photo: K. Ananthan

A love story juggernaut: Ravinder Singh with his milling fans. Photo: K. Ananthan

Ravinder Singh’s life sounds filmy! He found success after crushing rejection, and found love because of a love lost. And today, he is India’s top-billed romance writer, his books having sold two million copies.

The seeds of his success story were sown on a Delhi roadside, on a rainy day, as the crushing words of a publisher rang in his ears. She told him the story he had written as a tribute to his dead girlfriend and submitted for publication, was probably lying in some Delhi dumpyard, rejected. “I was weeping and could not speak, but it killed me that the story I wrote to keep Khushi alive was treated thus,” recalls Ravinder, who was at Odyssey in Coimbatore to promote his book Your Dreams Are Mine Now .

His first novel I Too Had A Love Story (2008), a tear-jerker about Ravin and Khushi and her death in an accident, enjoyed dizzying success. The book is still flying off bookshelves. Ravinder actually found his wife Khushboo thanks to the book. Khushboo had read his book and prayed he find love again, and he did, in her!

How did he and Khushboo deal with the memory of Khushi? After all, she brought them together. “My past is very sacred to me. That’s why I wrote the book. I wanted Khushi to be immortal. And she is. Even now, fans wish Ravin, Khusbhoo and Khushi on social media. They keep her alive. As for Khushboo, I insisted she see Khushi’s photos, know who she was. Even now, when memories of Khushi come up, I talk about them with Khushboo. The past must never be denied,” he says.

For someone who writes romance and has a legion of female fans, Ravinder is practical and seeks logic in everything. He is the son of a priest, but is an atheist. These seeming contradictions endear him to his fans; they see themselves in him. At the Coimbatore launch, about 200 readers queued up inside the book store, jostling for space. They asked him all kinds of questions related to love. “People tend to think I am a love guru. They tell me things they have not told anyone else. My heart is full of their stories. I’m happy they feel free enough to confide their darkest secrets and fears to me,” he says. “And their faith means more than the royalties I get.”

Ravinder was also one of the earliest authors to tap the power of social media. Once he learnt his first publisher would not promote his book, he banked on Orkut to do the talking for him. Feedback poured into his book’s gmail account. Now, his Facebook and twitter handles, which he operates himself, help him stay connected. Ravinder also wanted to do something to make the lives of aspiring writers easier. He started Black Ink, a publishing company, and ran a contest to choose three new authors. The guidelines on the webpage don’t sound officious and guarantee a reply to queries. “I know how rejection feels. And, how it feels when you have to keep calling and when the person at the other end refuses to take your calls,” he says. The first three books under his label will release in the beginning of 2015. “I’ve spent about 10 months mentoring and working with the authors; two of the books are edited and ready.”

This need to connect intimately with his readers is what drives Ravinder to embark on multi-leg book tours. “For my second book, I did 11 cities, for the third 16. This time, I’m visiting 21 cities, not necessarily the metros,” he says. Coimbatore was his fourth stop after Delhi, Jaipur and Kota. He says the experiences are varied. There are people who credit him with saving their relationships and those who find closure because of his books. “Their tears are the best compliment I will ever receive,” he smiles.

Ravinder flaunts his ordinariness. “I’ve never read a book or written anything till I Too … Even now, I don’t read much. I forced myself to read The Fault In Our Stars because people kept speaking to me about it. I loved it, and the movie,” he says.

His books, Ravinder says, are born out of emotions, especially his. But, Your Dreams Are Mine Now was a different ballgame. The trigger was the Delhi gang rape of December 2012 and the public protests that followed it. “For the first time, I was writing about others. And, I felt I had to write it. If Khushi is alive after all these years because of a book, I hope people’s anger will stay alive after this one,” he says. Set in a Delhi college, the story is about Rupali, the ‘shero’, who becomes a whistleblower, and the incidents that follow. The book is also a tragedy, but Ravinder hopes it will result in action for change. “Even now, nearly two years later, we still read about similar incidents; only the cities and levels of cruelty are different. It’s time to let the anger simmer.”

The book, published by Penguin under its Metro Reads imprint, is priced at Rs. 175.

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