Treating voracious readers who love being kept on the edge through a host of fascinating tales, award-winning and India’s bestselling storyteller Ravi Subramanian launched a series of mystery-driven short novels titled Shortz. The book series will see Subramanian collaborate with a variety of esteemed authors from the thriller and suspense genre. For those avid bibliophiles of fiction and action, the book series will consist of 20 short and pacey thrillers that are sure to leave them wanting more. As part of the book series, the first two thrillers, Insomnia and A Brutal Hand (Westland) respectively, have been co-authored with Jigs Ashar, a banker-turned-consultant. Excerpts from a candid conversation with Jigs Ashar:
Q. How do you juggle the two worlds— writing and banking?
A. There comes a time when one has to pause and think how to balance work with things you really want to do — what you love. Work is a part of my life, and an important one at that; but sometimes we let work become our only life. I have consciously tried to change that over the last few years. I took up running and now am an avid marathoner. I play the guitar. And of course, have taken to writing quite passionately since 2017.
Q. Why and how did writing happen?
A. You know, a phrase that really resonates with me is, ‘You do not choose writing; writing chooses you.’ I was pursuing a part-time course on Creative Writing, and loved the process of writing. Around the same time, in September 2017, I read about the Times of India Write India Season 2 short story contest. Coincidently, the advertisement I saw had Jeffrey Archer — one of my favourites — as the judge for that month. Just the possibility that my story might be read by Archer was hugely exciting for me. That’s how I wrote my first thriller short story: The Wait is Killing. And to my absolute delight, I was one of the winners! In the same season, I submitted my second short story — Make(up) in India — and that, too, was a winner! This time around, the judge was Shobha De. The genre I explored with this story was humour. Later, in mid-2018, I also wrote another thriller short story called Duel, which was short-listed in the ‘Short Story of the Year – 2018’ by Juggernaut. And it’s been an amazing journey writing Insomnia and A Brutal Hand.
Q. Why is writing thrillers so easy for bankers?
A.Writing is not easy, especially thrillers. But it is an immensely enjoyable experience — developing the plot, the graph of the story, the conflicts, the characters, the dialogues, everything! I think thrillers as a genre has always fascinated me; and I try and write what I, as a reader, would like to read. I have grown up reading Agatha Christie, Jeffrey Archer, Frederick Forsyth — still do. As for bankers turning thriller writers, on a lighter note, one look at the newspapers and you will know that deriving inspiration for thrills and mystery is not difficult for a banker.
Q. When do you find the time to write?
A. One has to make the time for what one is passionate about. I can write anytime and anywhere. My way of writing is very structured. Once I finalise the plot in my head, I start writing a brief summary of each chapter — how does each chapter take the story forward, who are the characters that appear in the chapter, etc. I do this to ensure the flow of the story is clear and at the pace I have envisaged; and, also to ensure each character comes in at the right time to take the story forward. Once this is done, I start writing the manuscript. And if I am stuck at a point, there is nothing like a good run to clear your head.
Q. Your experience of working with Ravi Subramanian. Did he interfere a lot in the plot?
A. It has been an absolute pleasure collaborating with Ravi. It is a dream come true for a debut author to co-write not one, but two books, with one of India’s bestselling writers. In the last two-anda-half years, during which time we co-wrote Insomnia and A Brutal Hand, we had a lot of brain-storming sessions on the plots, characters, their back-stories, etc. We especially spent a lot of time discussing the finale of Insomnia. It has been a lot of fun and creatively, a very satisfying experience. Ravi has been very open and discussed possibilities, but never imposed any ideas, which made writing with him very enjoyable.
Q. Any anecdotes you would like to share…
A.Before I started writing, or even expressed a desire to write a book, my wife, Vidya, always believed that I could write a book. She is the one who actually planted this idea in my head. And in early 2017, she actually did a lot of research and almost forced me to enrol in the creative writing course. That was the first trigger that’s gotten me where I am. So, in a way, it’s thanks to her that I am here with you. Another incident — a funny one — is from the first day of my writing course. When I entered the classroom, it was filled with other students who were almost half my age. So, when I entered, they assumed I was the professor and greeted me, and were shocked when I went and sat down next to them. The message is, it’s never too late to start!
Q. What’s next?
A. Currently, I am writing a thriller novel, which is almost 70% complete. The working title is The Strike of the Serpent. It’s an international thriller, with an assassination plot at the core of the story. I also want to develop my award-winning short story, The Wait is Killing, into a full-fledged novel.