An Interview with Authoress- Meghna Pant!!!

1   An Interview with Authoress- Meghna Pant, author of "One & A Half Wife" and "Happy Birthday":-

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.   Hello Meghna mam, what is your feeling after being an author now? What’s your perspective about life now after achieving a rare flagship in your life?

I treat success and failure with equanimity, so nothing has changed for me except that a lot more people now recognise me.

2.    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 exhilarated.

3.    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 continue with the job or come into full-time writing?

While writing my first two books, One & A Half Wife and Happy Birthday, I worked full-time as a business journalist in New York, Mumbai and Dubai. I found the stress of straddling two parallel careers overwhelming and have now taken a year off to write my next novel Son Of Gods.

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

Happy Birthday is a collection of thought-provoking short stories that are written with delicate and rare human sensibility. The stories have been called ‘provocative and inspirational’ by Ashwin Sanghi, ‘deft and merciless’ by Jeet Thayil, and ‘surprising and moving’ by Chitra Banerjee. The reviews from both critics and readers have been overwhelmingly positive and I am so happy that people love the collection.

I seek my ideas from the world around me. So my stories are steeped in reality, that empty space where the individual and society intersect, the place where what is said and left unsaid meet each other. The stories capture the life of many individuals, mostly from middle-class families in India and America, ranging from a blind stalker, a retired civil servant, a prostitute seducing a Gujarati businessman, a slum girl who wants to play national basketball, and an American tourist in an ashram.

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.    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?

Happy Birthday was written between 2008-2010.

6.    Indian publishing is too hard to deal with, was it easy for you to get a publisher or did u wait for a long time to get your work published?

My first novel One & A Half Wife was picked up by Westland in two hours. Meru Gokhale, who is easily India’s best editor and is renowned for spotting talent, picked up my collection of short stories Happy Birthday for Random House a few months after my first book came out.

If you’re talented, hard-working and dedicated, publishers will find you and treat you well.

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

We’re doing what everyone does: social media, book launches and reviews. As with my last book One & A Half Wife, the latest book Happy Birthday is also receiving critical acclaim, and gaining huge traction word-of-mouth. 

8.    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?

My writing is not determined by peripheral factors. I write because I love it and I will continue writing even if my work is never seen by anyone else.

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

I’m in the early stages of writing my second full-length novel Son Of Gods based in – and between –India and China. It’s a dark comedy that portrays a family’s greed, lust and power, in the wake of geopolitical tension. There are also a few unplanned short stories that are taking root and threatening to become a collection. A book takes its own time to become what it’s supposed to, but I’m hoping Son Of Gods will be ready for publication by 2014.

10. 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?

I did win a national literary award this year for Best Young Author. No speech was required. I think the smile on my face said it all. 

 Thanks.

 ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!