Writing A Story Detaches You From The Real World

Never Say Goodbye is a love story. But what it definitely is not, is a plain-vanilla love story. It is a story of how the field of science can bring together two ordinary individuals, throw challenges at them, bind them together, push them to explore new frontiers, raise ethical questions and make their relationship explosive, to say the least. It is a story of how a relationship can stir up an urge to do much more than just-the-ordinary in life.

 

The story is woven around the life of a doctor who is so fascinated by her work, that she puts her heart and soul in it. She is spurred on by a man who starts off being her mentor, but ends up being her lover. It is a shaky ride in a boat on a fast moving river, but the reader will love to hold on to the sides and will never want to put the book down until the racy story ends.

 

I have written a lot of poetry and some of my poems are used in this book. The reactions to this have varied from “they are like the songs in a Bollywood movie..” to “they are like thought-provoking interludes in the narration..”. Nevertheless, everyone has appreciated them. Although I have written technical papers in journals before, this is my first work of fiction and as such will always remain dear to me.

 

Once a story forms in the mind, writing comes as a flow. So I don’t think I had any major difficulty in putting the book together, except for the fact that time was always at a premium. There were days when I was able to write in a stretch, and then there were large gaps when I was busy with other things. So I would have to read through the manuscript to get back into the flow.

 

My favourite writing place was a very quiet corner in the library at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. For the last few years, on most Saturdays and Sundays, I have been a ‘regular fixture’ in that quiet corner where, somehow, I was able to detach myself from everything else and was able to concentrate on the book. I don’t think I can ever forget those numerous cups of coffee, the scattered papers and the umpteen saved files on my laptop as I researched on the story as it developed.

 

The book has taken me into the world of genetics. I am not a doctor, nor am I a genetic scientist. But ever since the decoding of the Human Genome was announced, I have been very fascinated by human genetics and the multitude of ethical questions that have been thrown up. I have tried to bring some of these into the story of Never Say Goodbye.

 

There were two other titles which were being discussed with the publisher before we finalised on Never Say Goodbye. These were ‘Turning The Tide – Love and Beyond’ and ‘Entwined – It’s All In The Genes’

 

I am a teacher. The greatest energy drink a teacher can have is spending time with his students. The youth of today are so full of energy and so bubbling over with fresh ideas, that it is almost infectious. I am pretty sure some of that energy gets transmitted to me whenever I interact with them, either in class or outside. So many of my students have commented on my book, that it has made me feel top of the world.

 

Opinions on this would differ, but for me a really good read is one where I sigh after having finished the book, one where I spend time letting it mull through my mind well after having finished it, one where I can easily associate with the characters and where I felt I was living the story when I was reading it.

 

Living the story! When you write a story, you start being part of the characters, being part of the twists and turns of the story. It sort of detaches you from the real world for the while that you writing the story.

 

A very different type of book. I have just started reading Shashi Tharoor’s Pax-India. It is a brilliant book written for the layman, on India’s foreign policy and its relationship with other countries. I am enjoying it.

 

Paper format.

 

I am not too sure. Never Say Goodbye has a very open ending and that, many say, lends itself to the good possibility of a sequel. Quite a few readers themselves have given me ideas on how the story of the sequel could develop. But I guess I am going to wait a while before venturing into writing another book. Wish me luck.

 

(Compiled By Sanjitha Rao Chaini)

 

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