Writer from your land: A Metro Nightmare
By Chandan, on 01-03-2011 10:53
Holding the tradition of being the culturally and literarily fertile land of great writers likes of ‘immortal wordsmith’ Sarat Chandra and others, the Anga Bhoomi continues to hold that tradition even now with Shiv Kumar, who is perhaps the first writer in recent times to come up with his debut novel from this great land. Since, the writer belongs to our times, his novel has full blend of romance, suspense and Love-enemical society. angvani interviews the writer on his book and also how did he manage to successfully write a book from Bhagalpur where most of the youths now struggle to compete in railway, bank or any other govt exams.
We are pleased to introduce Mr. Shiv Kumar on this online newspaper, who recently launched his debut novel – A Metro Nightmare. The book has been published by Leadstart publications
A brief background about Shiv Kumar – he was born and brought up in Bhagalpur. After doing his schooling from Mount Assisi , he went to Delhi for completing his twelfth from Modern School Barakhamba Road and then went to BIT Sindri to complete his engineering in Electronics and Communication. There after he joined BHEL and have served at various places in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand ,Uttar Pradesh, TamilNadu, Kerla and now working in Noida office.
angvani: Hi Shiv, it’s great to have you on our online newspaper. We have read A Metro Nightmare and found it pretty interesting. We could feel the difference in the style of writing as the story progressed. The way suspense was built up in the initial chapters and it progressed subsequently was awesome.
Shiv: Everyone who has read the book said that the suspense in the story kept them glued to the book till the end. When I started to write the story I wanted it to be faced pace so that readers cannot resist reading it and I think I have succeeded.
angvani: The middle of the story seems to be your autobiography. Is it so?
Shiv: Some events of the story are definitely inspired by own life but overall it is a fictional story. In fact I believe every author gets inspiration from his own life.
angvani:The end of the story is unconventional. Why did you choose this ending?
Shiv: Well, I think everybody wants a happy ending to a story and especially a love story and so I tried to present a happy ending. Some liked it; some could not digest the ending.
angvani: The last few chapters are very fast paced, in fact like a bollywood film. Do you want it to be made into a film?
Shiv: Our films are expression of what we think. Many people have commented that they would like to see my story turned into a film.
angvani: Bhagalpur is famous for a literary genius –Sharad Chandra. Do you wish to be like him?
Shiv: I can never dream to be like him. But now a days Bhagalpur or we can say Bihar as a whole do not produce quality writers. In fact people all over the country know Bihar for all the wrong reasons. I just want to change this perception. In this novel I have tried to highlight reasons for our backwardness of our state and I will continue writing about Bihar.
angvani: The major theme of your story is love marriage. You have tried to justify it. Do you think it will be accepted in Bihar’s society?
Shiv: I have not justified it but have put my views about it. In fact I have devoted a chapter where there is heated debate between the police officer and the witness of the marriage and it has got lot of reasoning.
angvani: You have devoted one chapter to your spiritual beliefs. Do you think people will agree to it?
Shiv: Again it is my personal view. Readers are free to agree or disagree on it.
angvani: How do you take out time from your busy work schedule to write the story?
Shiv: I mostly write when I am at home in the evening. My wife is cooperative on this!
angvani: How did you get the inspiration about this story?
Shiv: Well I always wanted to write a suspense story. I had written a story in my class magazine in Mount Assisi. I found some of the events of my life fascinating enough to be told as a story. I combined my life experience to my desire of writing suspense story and got this story. Now a days most of the novels written by Indian authors are based on their campus experience. I wished my story to be different.
angvani: Dont you think the pricing of your novel will hurt the sales of your novel. Now a day’s novels of good writers like Chetan Bhagat are available in less than Rs 100.
Shiv: I believe if my story is good readers will read it even if it is priced at Rs 200. Even this is not more. As I have already said in my promotion material this is less than a price of Pizza or a bottle of whisky!
angvani: This is your first piece of work to get published. How do you feel regarding this lucky break? Can you tell us how you approached Leadstart Publications and if any other publisher, and the process that followed? A lot of aspiring authors struggle to get noticed and your answers will definitely help them.
Shiv: Well, this is a long story. Nobody wanted to touch A Metro Nightmare as it was the work of a first-time author. I had finished the manuscript about a year ago and approached many publishers but none responded. Finally, Leadstart publications agreed to publish my story. This publication values the worth of new authors and hence gives them a chance.
angvani: How did you come to choose the title “A Metro Nightmare” for the book?
Shiv: This is indeed a strange name. Some people think it is related to nightmares people face in metros or a ghost story. But the meaning of the title is also a suspense which is revealed only in last chapters.
angvani: Apart from the love story you have also touched other issues in it like- unmindful completion to get into IIT or IAS , regionalism, dowry and other issues. How did you balance these issues in a single story?
Shiv: I have introduced various sub plots to highlight these issues and it has merged well with the main story.
angvani: What is the response of your novel?
Shiv: People have enjoyed reading my novel. The greatest compliment I got was in Bhagalpur where someone told me that he has written a line from my novel on his working table for inspiration. The line though not a part of the story is- One gets what one deserves and if anybody thinks that he has not got what he deserved it was because God wished it like that.
angvani: What kind of works do you plan to publish in the near future?
Shiv: I am working on another manuscript which will be a political suspense thriller. The setting of the story again will be in Bihar and Delhi. There will be lot of suspense and action in the story. The story as usual will be fast paced with a message and a short but cute love story.
angvani: Is your book available at Bhagalpur?
Shiv: Yes, it is available at all the major book stores at Bhagalpur. Leadstart has a good distribution network and it is available at all major stores in India. It has also attracted fairly good reviews.
angvani: How do you feel about Angvani?
Shiv: You are doing a great job. You are the first online newspaper of Bhagalpur and your news and articles are very informative.
angvani: This concludes our interview. Thanks Shiv for agreeing to come on our website. We hope that you become a successful author.
Shiv: Thanks. I enjoyed answering your questions. Special thanks to your editor Mr. Chandan for inviting me for this interview.
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1 Comment to "Writer from your land: A Metro Nightmare"
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March 23, 2011