Judy Balan's book, Two Fates , happened quite by accident. Though she has been writing from childhood, a novel did not feature in her plans because, according to her, it wasn't something ordinary mortals like her could ever attempt. Instead she wrote songs, occasional articles for newspapers and magazines and updated her blog, Woman and a Quarter. When she jokingly blogged about an idea to write a parody on Chetan Bhagat's Two States , her friends and blog followers received it with much enthusiasm. That's how she sat down to write Two Fates , which went in for a reprint within a month of release. Excerpts from an interview:
Tell us about the inspiration behind the book.
I spotted the parody of Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love in a bookshop one day. Since I was a big fan, I picked it up. Then I learnt that the author of the parody had already sold movie rights to the book and I thought ‘Wow, this guy rips off someone's internationally best-selling plot, writes the inverse of it and ends up selling movie rights!'
It just so happened that I was then reading Chetan Bhagat's Two States and I happened to be divorced. So I wrote a blog post saying how cool it would be if I wrote the parody of Two States . I got a lot of response suggesting I give it a shot. So I did. And here we are.
Would you recommend reading Two States before reading your book?
Well, yes, because it is a parody. That said, it is a parody only in the broadest sense. Two Fates has its own characters and plot line and is certainly not the inverse of Two States . You don't have to read Two States to enjoy the book but if you have, you'd get all my jokes. The book is more about India and Indianisms such as crossing the line, ignoring boundaries, getting too familiar too soon and, of course, the irrational obsession with marital status. So anyone who has lived in India long enough should be able to relate to it.
How much of it is autobiographical?
The book isn't autobiographical by any stretch of imagination. In fact, it's quite the opposite of my divorce story. The fact that I'm divorced is purely coincidental; this is a light, breezy book that should hopefully give you plenty of laughs.
Was any section more difficult to write?
Not particularly but I did get stuck somewhere around the 11th chapter because I had planned a certain ending but, as I wrote it, my protagonists seemed to take off in completely different directions. I abandoned it for a while because no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get them to behave as I wanted them to. I know I sound slightly goofy but the process really was as capricious as it sounds. And, finally, the characters had their way and the ending they wanted. I'm not complaining though!
What about your next book?
Two Fates was an experiment; I wanted to see if I could write a full length novel and didn't really expect to get published when I sent it out. So even now, it feels quite unreal. I'm not taking any chances with the second book, though it's going to be a LOT like my blog in terms of style. I'm sticking to what I know I'm good at. Having blogged frequently for the last couple of years, I have a fairly good idea about what works; so I'm going with my gut.
What's the meaning behind Woman and a Quarter?
Woman = me. Quarter = my five year old girl.
Has life changed after Two Fates?
Life hasn't changed much but the pace has drastically. From vegetating in my PJs and writing blog posts to not having time for a breather. It's been crazy and it's going to take me a while to keep up, but as of now, I'm loving it.
Favourite authors...
Marian Keyes makes me laugh out loud sometimes to the point of making my stomach hurt and I love her for it, No one does self-deprecation better than Ariel Leve. I love Elizabeth Gilbert for her disarming honesty (it makes me want to put the book down and hug her). Jodi Picoult helps me get in touch with every aspect of being human like no one else and most of the time, I find myself weeping. Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife is my go-to comfort book (like it says on the cover, it's a rare book) and of course J.K. Rowling is up there in a separate league by herself, watching over the rest. The dream is to someday write an epic adventure series like Harry Potter but I learnt recently that Arthur Conan Doyle wanted to be known for historical fiction, so I think I'll just stick to what comes naturally.
