1. Hello Dipen, tell us something about 'IN THEIR SHOES...'.
Hi. “In Their Shoes” is an English phrase, which means, ‘from other’s angle’. This book is about how the world looks by being in the shoes of different people such as – a 24 year old mentally challenged girl, an uneducated corrupt politician, a saadhu baba, etc…I have take such 17 different and ordinary characters and have tried to visualize how the world looks like from their angle…
2. How did you think of the concept of this book?
Last February, I attended a wedding of a cousin of mine. In that wedding was a drummer who was playing drums. Along with the drummer was his daughter in a red colored frock. She kept on observing my sister who dressed as beautifully as a fairy; She kept on looking at the stage where the pheraas were going on, She kept looking at the decoration all around, the guests dressed in their best, etc… All this while, I was wondering as what she must be thinking about this whole wedding and that is how I came up with the first character of my book…I then made a list of 25 characters for the book and started visualizing the world from their angle.
3. And in what span did you complete the writing process?
It took me 1 month to make the book proposal and then 3 months to complete the whole book.
4. You must be kidding! You just took 3 months to complete the whole book?
Hahahahahaha..yes… seriously. See, the thing is that people normally believe that writers take at least a year or so to complete a book. I guess it is a myth that a writer HAS to take at least a year to imagine, draft and complete the manuscript. “In Their Shoes…” has 17 different characters. So, all I had to do was to get ‘into the character’ of one character and fully complete that character and then move onto the next character. Being simultaneously in the shoes of 2 or more characters is mentally very draining.
5. But, how was it that you used to write a whole story? I mean, what was the thought process and all behind every story?
That’s a good question. Before starting with any character, I used to spend a lot of time imagining that character. Once that was done, I used to take an imaginary interview of that character. I used to ask questions like “what was the most happiest or depressing moment of your life?” or “what are your dreams?” etc. Then I used to ‘get into that character’ and then try to visualize the world around! That helped me try to understand the psychology of that character very easily.
6. Can you give us any example of that?
Oh sure! Hmm… let me take the example of a character called as “8th std kid – Vineet”. This is kind of a character that I would like to be if God gives me a chance to rewind my life. The way he behaves in front of Rhea-his crush, the love-letter that he writes, the way he enjoys his life in school, the way he plays pranks on his friends and teachers….all that is what I would like to do if I get a chance to rewind my life!... Ok, so before I started writing “Vineet”, I took an imaginary interview of that naughty character. Along with the naughtiness of that character, I also realized that there are many other serious issues that should be raised – like for example – the Comparison syndrome, the usless lesson diaries that we complete, etc… I have tried my best to touch upon those issues too… I hope the readers understand those points properly…
7. You have highlighted some social problems creatively, with a touch of humor. Did this serious writing, anytime, take a toll on you?
Oh yes!... It’s mentally very tiring to be in some other character and visualize the world around that character. Initially, I was going to write on 25 characters. But, after writing 17 characters, I felt really drained out! I mean, it is very difficult to keep hopping from one shoe to the other and try to FEEL or SEE the world around. There were a few characters that were very easy to write and a few very very difficult to write. For example, I thought of writing a character called as “Saadhu baba”. One day, after coming from office, I sat down to write 6 pages of this character. I kept typing from 11.30 PM to 3.30 AM! I was so much into the character that I could literally see a hut, a dense forest, a stream of clear water flowing beside a hut, the froth getting generated in that stream flowed! I am sure that if I hadn’t stopped writing that character at that point, then I would have gone mad!!! :-D.. One needs to know when to give up on a character! I have tried my best to compare Froth in a stream to the way we live life. The last 3 pages of this character are on different interpretations of life. I hope you like those different perspectives on life…
8. Coming to you, how and when did you take up writing?
I had been blogging since april 2007. But I wasn’t serious about it till last year. The book-writing bug bit me in the start of 2009. In March 2009, I started writing a book (which I might think of publishing if you all accept me as a writer and if my publisher thinks that it is a good book) based on the life of an imaginary Gujarati character. After writing some 100 pages, I circulated it amongst my friends. The response that I got from them was just amazing! I mean, I couldn’t believe that my book would be liked by my friends so much! In a hurry, I made a book proposal and sent it to the top publishers in India. In a week’s time, my work was rejected! I tried to analyze the reason of my first failure. I still believe that the reason of my book getting rejected was that I hadn’t made a good book-proposal. But, one of my friends from office told me that he felt that a serious book would work and that I was good at writing serious stuff. I thought chalo serious book likh ke dekhte hain… Then I spent a week brainstorming over topics. I came up with 5 topics and finalized on “In Their Shoes…”! Since childhood, I have been fascinated by trying to visualize what others keep thinking. Whenever I travel, I look at people around and try to visualize as to what they must be thinking. Do you remember the essay questions in school exams? Out of 4 topics for essay questions, there used to be at least one topic on Autobiography of XYZ (xyz could be anything – Rs. 5 note, a donkey, a horse, a pen, etc.) I always used to attempt Autobiography questions. I somehow had a knack of thinking from others’ angles. After finalizing the topic – In Their Shoes…, I started thinking about the characters on which I would write the book.
9. Do you want to convert your passion into profession? What/Who was the motivation/inspiration behind you taking up the task of book writing?
Sure! I do want to take up writing as a profession. See, in today’s time, I sincerely believe that a person should have a passion or a hobby which he can convert into his main profession by the age of 40 or 45. So, pursue a job out of your qualification and work till the age of 40 or 45. Simultaneously, start nurturing your passion slowly and steadily so that when you are bored of your 9 to 5 job, you can bank upon your passion to sail you through the rest of your life. I am lucky that I tried to take my passion to the next level so early and if my dear readers accept me as a writer, then I would surely like to churn out more books!
10. Lastly, do you want to give any message to your readers?
There is one very simple message that I want to give to my readers. See, if you open a dictionary and try to find the meaning of ‘ordinary‘, you will find it defined as people or things that are normal and not special or different in any way. Simplicity appeals to me a lot. And I feel that ordinary people are simple people. But, the problem with this world is that for you to get noticed by the world, you have to be something great or different. Simplicity simply goes unnoticed. That is why I chose to write on such simple and ordinary characters that we see every day but don‘t ‗observe‘! I want the world to take notice of such simple characters too! Even those ordinary characters have a story to tell; even they have a life that you would be intrigued by; even they have a wish, a few moments of sadness, happiness, many unfulfilled dreams...
The next time you see an ‘ordinary‘ person around you, take a few moments out of your precious time to ‗observe‘ him/her. In short, try to be in their shoes, and be happy that God has at least been more kind to you than majority of the people around you!
If you all accept me as a good writer, then I would like to come up with few more books that have ‗’ordinary‘ characters as the protagonists. I want my book(s) to be
By the ordinary,
For the ordinary
and Of the ordinary!
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