Ravinder Singh, by his admission, is disposed towards writing on heartbreaks. “By the end of the book, I usually have my readers in tears,” he says. The success of his first novel, I Too Had A Love Story , substantiates this statement. In the semi-autobiographical work, the girl the protagonist loves dies in a road accident. The book, hence, ends on a tragic note. Eleven years later, in his ninth novel, The Belated Bachelor Party , which is about a reunion of four friends, Ravinder deviates from the usual route of pathos. This, he claims, is his most light-hearted book. “Through this book,” he says, “I am telling my readers, ‘For all the times I made you cry, now, let me make you laugh.’”
After the book’s launch in Bengaluru, he spoke, among other things, on his fascination with relationships.
Excerpts:
The Belated Bachelor Party is the ninth book in your 12-year writing career. What makes you a prolific writer?
That’s for my readers to answer. You have to ask them why they read my books. And because they do, I choose to write more for them.
What in your stories resonate the most with readers?
They happen to see themselves in my characters. In particular, the emotions. The hesitation of first love, the heartbreaking moments, the tears, the pain. It’s not the language. I keep it simple. The day I write literary fiction, I will disconnect with them.
Almost all of your novels are about relationship. What fascinates you about it?
I look at people with emotion. I see how they are connected to each other or to me. For example, I saw four beggars at four traffic signals today. I was thinking how miserable their lives might be and at the same time, thought what they might be thinking about me, who’s sitting in an AC car. I am not even talking about the economic divide. I am just talking about the interaction of two different individuals. That’s why I write on relationships.
You write about romantic relationships in particular…
In The Belated Bachelor Party , I write about friendship. There is no girl in this. So, I am writing about a different relationship. I wrote about my childhood in Like It Happened Yesterday .
Relationships are constantly evolving. How do you keep track of the changes?
Seven or eight years after I wrote I Too Had A Love Story , which was about eternal love, I wrote This Love That Feels Right in which the primary plot involves extra-marital affairs. It’s an explosive subject to talk about. And, I showcased my characters in a positive light in the book. With changing times, I have to talk about how relationships have changed.
Do you plan to move away and write, say, a mystery or horror?
I would. But I need to believe in what I am writing. I should feel it will work. And, my readers should accept it, too. The day I feel that, I might bring out a mystery novel. And, even if I don’t, there are enough who are doing it.
I Too Had A Love Story got published in other languages. When you translate, how do you ensure the essence of the novel is retained, especially when you don’t know the language?
I leave it to the publishers completely. I can focus my energy only in writing in one language. Once I am done, it goes to the publishers. And they have a free hand in translation.
Would you like one of your books turn into a movie or a web series?
Yes but I keep rejecting the offers that come my way.
Why?
Because the ones who come to me don’t sound convincing. They don’t even know what I have written. They just know I have sold a million copies and want to capitalise on that. As an author, I get to see my name on the cover of the book. I have an identity. That identity goes for a toss in movies. I may write screenplay only when we aren’t able to sell books.
With more and more digital content coming in, has it become difficult to be a writer?
It’s not difficult to write. It’s become difficult to sell books. End of the day, what you write gets treated as content. So, if the content is not selling in one form, you can look to sell it in other forms. You can make a YouTube channel and start telling your stories through that. If the content is great, you will get followers. And if you have enough followers, there might be a publishing house waiting for you. Internet has changed things, you have to leverage the power of Internet.
Can books survive the onslaught of online platforms?
If books go down, something else will come up. And that will have to accommodate these content creators. That’s the way it will go. Then, the market price for a writer writing a web series will go up.
