An Interview of Bestselling Author: S. R. Saha!

An interview of the bestselling author of "Jab se you have loved me" who has recently come up with his 2nd book "The jadoo of your love":- 

Hello Saha-da, what is your feeling after being an author now? What’s your perspective about life now after achieving a rare flagship in your life?

-          Feels good, but I must thank India’s No. 1 publisher Srishti for giving me the opportunity to be a published author. I wouldn’t call it a rare flagship is my life, but since this book, ‘The jadoo of your love!’ is doing very well, probably I’ll write another one quickly.

When you saw your first novel for sale on E-commerce websites and placed at a bookstore for the first time, what kind of thoughts dominated your mind?

-          I was indeed delighted. These are the moments in life which one waits for. I wished everyone who had purchased a copy of ‘Five Point Someone,’ or ‘Immortals of Meluha,’ buy my book too.

Before we head towards discussing your book, we would like to know in spite of being an author, what do you exactly do? And do you wish to be in the job some day or come into full-time writing?

-          Well, I maintain airplanes for a living. After graduating from IIT, Madras way back in 1987, I had joined Indian Airlines, which was merged with Air India in 2007. I am now an employee of Air India.

-          Full-time writing is something that I would love to do, but in the near term I am looking forward to quitting Air India and setting up my own business. If that doesn’t work out, I shall try for a job in some private airline company. But then as I have said in my book that in my life it always happens, ‘jo sochta, woh hota nahin, aur jo hota woh kabhie socha bhi nahin.’

What is your second book all about? And from where did this idea occur to you?

-          My second book, ‘The jadoo of your love!’ is a love story obviously, but here I tried to deal with some mature stuff like a boy falling in love with a lady older to him, loneliness of a working woman, the dilemma of an unwed mother and so on. Of course, my audiences are the young readers, and so it has been written in such a way that it remains a light read throughout.

-          Honestly, the ideas  have come to me from various films that I have watched.

How much long did it take to write this book from the moment you started developing the story to start writing it till completing it finally with editing and all?

-          This one took a little long, as I was not in the proper frame of mind to write the entire novel at one go because of the turmoil that was going on in our company. The entire process from conceptualization to the book hitting the stands took about two years or so.

Indian Publishing is too hard to deal with, was it easy for you to get a Publisher 3 years back or did u wait for a long time to get your work published?

-          Actually I wrote my first novel – a love-story cum thriller on the backdrop of Indian aviation some twelve years back. But at that point in time I couldn’t find a publisher. Thereafter, I tried to publish a collection of short stories, but failed in that too. However after I wrote the love-story, ‘Jab se you have loved me,’ the first publisher I approached, namely Srishti, they accepted my book.

What are the Promotional strategies that you and your publisher have applied to promote/market your latest book?

-          Presently, my publisher is doing all the publicity of the book, but I have decided to promote it myself next month onward. Of course I have limited resources, but every author has to keep in mind that his book is his own baby and the publisher is only the midwife. The publishers’ hands are full anyway, and they will become busy with their next project the very next day of your book’s release.

-          I really don’t know how to go about promoting/marketing the book, but if anyone would like to assist me he or she is most welcome.

What exactly is your target from your Books- 1. Getting most copies sold out, 2. Getting the love of readers or 3. You just wrote it because you wanted to write a book once in your life, hence you have no targets?

-          No, the third option is ruled out. I would very much like to see myself as an established writer. But I guess the first two options are intertwined – if you get the love of readers, your books will automatically sell. 

By when are you coming up with your next novel? And if possible, do give us an idea about what it would be.

-          My next novel should come out in six months’ time. And well, it will be another Da Vinci Code. Ah! Just kidding. But this time around I want to write something different and not just another love story.

In the end, tell us in 5-7 lines, what speech will you give if you win a Major Award for the Best Indian Author for your books?

-          Oops! It’s almost like asking the Indian football team’s captain as to what speech he would be giving if India won the FIFA World Cup. I know my limitations brother. That I can never be another Amitav Ghosh or Kunal Basu is as certain as the brand new mobile phone that you have purchased yesterday getting obsolete in just about a year’s time.

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