The idea of forbidden love: In conversation with author Ravinder Singh

What happens when you are married first and fall in love later? Celebrated author Ravinder Singh latest - This Love That Feels Right sees him write for the first time in first person female narration. The idea was to initiate a debate in society says the author . “This work is very different from all the romantic novels I have written so far. It’s about ‘so called’ forbidden love. It’s a risky domain. I wanted to talk about why we call it forbidden, ” he says, and adds, “What will you do if true love of your life comes to you at a later stage? Should it be called forbidden because there is a late time frame? As the subject is explosive, I wanted to handle it in a mature and sensitive way. I attempted it as the idea was challenging as well as interesting. I chose a female protagonist and the story of an extra marital love because I wanted to bring out the female character and talk about their needs and wants. I wanted to initiate a debate, how right it is fall in love outside marriage just because of needs?”

Read: There is a writer in each one of us: Ravinder Singh

His latest is set in the backdrop of Gurgaon, talks about the lifestyle of people with mentions Gurgaon’s high tech gyms, Huda and IFFCO Chowk metro station, Golf Course Road to Raahgiri Day. Ravinder, a resident of Gurgaon over three years says, “I did my MBA from Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad and then immediately joined Microsoft. After I quit my job, I came straight away from Hyderabad to Gurgaon in 2013. Because I live in Gurgaon, I am familiar with the geography of the city. I believe that my narration should be realistic, and something that people can relate to.It talks about the lifestyle of the people of the Millennium City. Its a peculiar place, very different from other cities.”

From chasing publishers to vice versa, the author has come a long way since his debut novel ‘I Too Had A Love Story’ and says the response has been truly over whelming. “The tables turned after the first book came out. If I had to divide my life from AD and BC, my book ‘I Too Had A Love Story’ became that dividing line. Quitting my job and making writing a full time profession was a big leap of faith for me. I felt the hardship of getting my first novel published when I went to every publishing house I knew about. When I look back, I feel good about taking the decision to write as a tribute book three months after my first love was gone. I was determined ki ‘yeh book toh leh ke aani hai’. I never gave up on getting my first novel published,” says Singh.

Read: Creating a best-seller: Just a fluke or a clever marketing ploy?

Connecting with his readers is a divine feeling shares the author. With a huge fan base and following, do people come up to him with their love stories and problems? “That is the first thing they do. After reading my emotional stories, many end up confiding in me. From one sided love stories, stories that ended in break-ups to tragic demise of their loved ones. I don’t write about their stories, but the issues they bring to the fore, definitely becomes one of the source.”

On the notion of being a full time author he says, “Why can’t writing be a full time profession just like it is in the west. A lot of people in my distant family, in the remote village ask, “What do you do? I say, I write books’. They say who toh theek hai, par kaam kya karte ho? That will change if we bring the league of authors who don’t have to do a 9 -5 unless they want to. But can writing be a self-sustaining model?”