Faraaz Kaazi is a young man on the verge of realising his dreams - the release of his debut novel Truly, Deeply, Madly - A Love Story. For every writer it is his biggest dream to get his work out for public introspection. On the eve of his debut novel's release, I had the opportunity to have brief chat with him. Excerpts from our conversation can be found below;Hi Faraaz, so how are you feeling as your book is about to be released in few days time?
Excited-Yes! Nervous-No! The first book of every author is special, it might not be his best work but it is like a milestone, especially so, if the author is young. As the days draw nearer, the joy keeps on increasing as the first published book is like a dream come true when you have been writing for ages and have seen the rejection e-mails flood your inbox. I would just say, let’s wait and watch!
Can you please tell us more about yourself and your background?
I’m currently pursuing my post-graduation in management in Mumbai, the city I have been in all my life. I operate a small soft-skills training academy in Mumbai that deals with a lot of things from spoken English to creative writing. I am the sole child of an exceptionally hardworking couple, who have seen to it that nothing lacks as far as my education and upbringing was concerned. I took to books at an early-age. Started with comics, then read Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie before coming to JK Rowling and of course after that, picked up the literary jewels. I have a humungous collection of books and I keep sifting through them to find a nice read whenever I get time. Apart from reading a lot, I enjoy good music, I used to sing earlier being blessed with a good voice and of course, I used to play cricket till my clothes were drenched in sweat.
How was your growing up years? How did your family react to your decision to become a writer?
Ah, the growing up years! In one word-Memorable. If you read the book or even see the trailer of the novel, you’ll get a glimpse of those growing up years. I had some real fun with my best friend of those days, Raj Agarwal and remembering those days, I miss him even today and I miss those days, the fun we had in the parking lot and our long, and almost girlish gossip sessions. We used to call up girls from PCOs and mimic voices, irritating their folk and driving them crazy. We used to play cricket and fight over trivial matters with the others, in the small garden beneath the locality that has withered with time today. I have some really great memories of those days spent with my friends, boasting, basking in the glory, winning awards after awards in so many competitions but time moves as they say, all it leaves with us, are memories.
My family as I highlighted earlier has always focused on continuous academic improvement, hobbies were side-lined. I was always praised at family meets as I read out from my small notebook, the poetry I had written the day before or displayed the sketches I had drawn a week ago. Being a writer was always at the back of my mind but never as a full-time profession. Writing is my most loved art form today, something more than a hobby, especially once I learnt the intricacies involved. There was some opposition from my parents as they still believe in a traditional 9 to 5 job which keeps everyone happy and secure in their place. They wanted me to concentrate on my MBA as I worked and reworked on the manuscript and broke my head typing query letters and drafting synopses for the same. But I guess, in the end it worked out just fine. I have always been an above average student, so they never really took it to heart that I was following my heart!
What was the inspiration behind ‘Truly, Deeply, Madly’?
The school days! I just knew I had to write about them, there was so much to write, so many events to capture on paper and I had to keep out a lot of things lest the book ended up looking like the Britannica encyclopaedia the protagonist in my novel drops on his leg in the library. On a more frank note, the book stems from a short story I had written for a national story-writing competition of a popular newspaper, seven years back. Once it won a prize there, I knew it had potential and six years later, an idea came to my head that it could be expanded into a novel. People advised me against it, saying it will lose the flavour of brevity. But I believe if your heart says so, then there’s no use delaying it. I had the plot, I just changed the surroundings a bit and did all the things that fiction writers do, to make it more appealing and more pleasurable to the reader.
Did you always want to be a writer and is your book semi-autobiographical?
As I said, I started writing at a very young age but the thought of earning my living as a writer never really crossed my mind. Those were the days of dreaming about gun-wielding policemen, life-saving doctors and muscular actors who seemed more appealing to me than a khadi-kurta clad writer with big round spectacles on his face. I started writing, more like a satisfying outlet to my emotions rather than earning money on the love that people will give me. At the end of the day, keeping critics and all on one side, if the writer is happy with the work then his target will always strike a chord with the same.
As I said, I started writing at a very young age but the thought of earning my living as a writer never really crossed my mind. Those were the days of dreaming about gun-wielding policemen, life-saving doctors and muscular actors who seemed more appealing to me than a khadi-kurta clad writer with big round spectacles on his face. I started writing, more like a satisfying outlet to my emotions rather than earning money on the love that people will give me. At the end of the day, keeping critics and all on one side, if the writer is happy with the work then his target will always strike a chord with the same.Like the first book of most authors, mine too has autobiographical shades, influences of the past on the present and their implications for the future. My understanding of teenage life, of teen psychology and pimple-scratching, hormone-bursting adolescents stems from personal experiences. The book goes to extremes in certain situations but that too can be assigned to the influence of today’s media on young minds, especially films and their favourite role models, who aren’t Bhagat Singh and Sardar Patel, like for the past generations but more on the lines of a Shakrukh Khan or a Mahendra Singh Dhoni. I have pulled out events from real life and given them a fictitious setting, so the book is an amalgamation of fact and fiction.
While every author in India is writing about their personal experiences in the IIM, IIT & MBA colleges or even love stories that have been done to death, what is so different about your book?
The IIT, IIM trend started after a popular author explored the underlying goldmine beneath it and right after that, there have been a flood of authors picking up the pen and writing about classrooms, placements and the scarcity of good-looking girls in such places of knowledge. I even did an article some months back on my blog regarding the same and it was well received by people. It’s just a passing phase, for the moment this trend is fulfilling a requirement of getting busy people out of their lives, especially youngsters (who are too busy hanging out at coffee shops admiring the fairer sex and bunking lectures) to read books. Such books, howsoever grammatically irrelevant are finding an audience and that’s why publishers have their schedules jammed. In the US, practically one of four people have been published somewhere or the other, or even appeared on television. Are we going to see a similar ratio in India or just urban India (keeping out the 70% of the hinterland)? You get my point, I hope.
The thing is every book has a heart. Consider two people who have stayed in the middle of an ocean, surviving a ship-wreck and they’re rescued after months. And now they decide to pen down their experiences at sea, thus even if it’s the same story written by two people, you’ll find a distinct flavour to it. I’m not implying here that my book has a similar storyline than any other book in the market, for all I know and trust me, I read a lot, there haven’t been any book or any story that deals with teenage infatuation, that joyous feeling of first love in school times and its impact if it breaks all barriers and shatters all bonds. My USP is very simple- people will identify with it; it is as close to reality as the plot may seem surrealistic.
How positive are you about the book being well received by the general reading public?
The book has generated quite some hype even before its release, so I can safely bet that people will at least give it a try. My target readers will surely identify with the story. I have had people mailing me after seeing the promos that they know of people who sound just like the protagonist. Online stores where the book has been listed for pre-ordering are reporting a surge in orders. This is caused by the expectations the book has managed to create and the faith the people have put in me. On a broader note, I can say that the book will click with everyone who has ever passed through adolescence or experienced the funny feeling of first love.
Tell us more about the writing experience of ‘Truly, Deeply, Madly’ and did you find any particular situation in the story that was difficult to write?
The hardest experience for a first-time author is to find a publisher (exception those people who are naturally blessed with godfathers in the industry). So once you actually set out to find one and see the rejection mails coming in, you say “Gosh, I thought the hard part was done!” No, you couldn’t have been more wrong, you know then. The hard part has just started. Writing the book wasn’t much difficult, I already had the plot in mind and on paper; all I had to do was just expand it and draw from real-life situations. Drawing up settings for the characters was a bit challenging but it came out well in the end. I had to force myself to take out time out of my schedule though, bunking lectures and sitting at home with my overworked lappy almost the whole day. I don’t like being disturbed when I write, so I used to switch off my phone and snap at anyone who interrupted me.
Most of the critics feel that these days using colloquial language is a trend which doesn’t go with the essence of writing a book in English language. So what’s your take on that?
Ha-ha, true to some extent. A critic’s work is to criticise, a writer’s job is to write. And at the end of the day, it is a mutually dependant relationship. If we don’t give them fodder, what will they chew on? Again one can attribute this trend to the emergence of quick-reads in the market which are liberally spruced with teenage jargon and blessed with hip urbane lingo. The most surprising fact is that the market is adapting to this change! The publishers are in a dilemma as traditionally manuscripts used to get rejected for such usage of words but now publishers themselves, especially the major ones in India are themselves asking prominent authors to include such bits in dialogues or narrative, after watching the success of some small domestic publishing houses. And it’s not boring if well-written, I read Anuja Chauhan and she uses Hinglish at intervals and the effect can be hilarious at times. I have not done that much in this book but plan to do so in the next. Though you’ll find some Urdu poetry here and there but there will always be an English translation accompanying it in ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’.
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| Faraaz Kaazi with Shaiju Mathew |
Who are your favourite authors and which is your favourite book?
Ah, too many to name! Can you imagine one person who is constantly surrounded by books to name a few titles? The art of choosing becomes the most challenging task in such a case. But still without meaning to be partial to my friends (read books), I will go on to say that I have enjoyed reading Khalid Hosseni, F. Scott Fitzgerald, JK Rowling, Steig Larsson and Cecelia Ahern. Closer to home, I have liked Salman Rushdie, Khushwant Singh, Ruskin Bond, Tuhin Sinha, Aravind Adiga and Samit Basu. There are of course chick-lit queens too and then dude-lit too emerged, but I think most of the authors are at par when it comes to that genre.
My favourite read would be The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini though I say that with a heavy heart, ignoring the humming sound of the pages of the other innumerable books in my mind.
Do you think India has become a huge market for reading books? If yes, then what has influenced this change?
Youngsters today are more inspired to read a Chetan Bhagat than go and while away time in multiplexes. Also, many books have been turned into movies due to a dearth of creative and efficient script-writers, thus giving Indian literature a more presentable form in the minds of the youth today. Ever since, the IIT-IIM trend has hit the market, light or quick reads have occupied shelf-space in stores for a long time because they are written in simple, lucid language, free of complex metaphors and as grammatically incorrect as the reader’s urban English. Also, the writer is more likely to be a representative of the youth generation and not some Man-Booker aiming, witty person whose language would sound Greek to such a target.
That’s the reason why literary titles disappear of the shelves soon enough to make way for new ones but the light reads are always in stock as the youngsters have finally turned to books and demand a language that is closer to the way they speak.
What is that one thing about you that others don’t know?
I am an introvert when it comes to socialising but I try to do away with it when it matters. So, I keep most secrets to myself as I don’t really have an enviable friend circle. There might be so many things which might qualify as an answer to this question but I guess the most suitable thing for people to know now is that I love surprises and especially which contain books emerging out of wrappings. You never know, someone might be planning to gift me one if ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’ is successful!
What are your future projects and when is your next book expected to release?
Right now, I am trying something very different. I have been asked to write a book on social media as most people still recognise me as ‘The Young Marketer’ thanks to my ultra-suave blog. Amidst this, I would be working on two more fiction manuscripts. One is a romantic story; hand-written, almost complete, as it is my habit to hand-write the entire draft before I formulate the story while typing. The other is going to be a surprise from a completely different genre. I guess it will at least take me another year to come out with my next fiction book.
How is writing as a career? Do you recommend aspiring writers to take up full time writing?
At the end of the day, a career should be what you are happy in. A job is like a boat in waters, neither too wobbly nor too steady. It should move and it should do so at the right speed. Writing as a career is still frowned upon in India, though prominent writers almost have a celebrity status. But as I say, you don’t really make it unless you end up making five points on someone during a night in some call-centre and then intentionally err with three mistakes in your life in two different states.
Writers don’t earn much, to be very honest and break the myth that most people have formed in their heads. Writing for joy, for self-fulfilment is the real motive for a true writer. It’s a gift that not everyone is blessed with, as Ms. Shobha De told me yesterday while autographing a copy of her book. So write to explore your mind, your creativity and write to look at life from a completely different perspective.
What is your message to our today’s youngsters?
Ha-ha, wrong person to ask. I’m still running 24, so I guess that does qualify me as a youngster too, doesn’t it? But yes, I have always believed in ideals laid down by my father, I have some principles, a self-code of conduct which I can never violate. My message is plain simple- Live your life to achieve your dreams. As life gives you just one chance, make use of it!
How do you describe yourself in just one word?
Faraaz! (Find the meaning of my name, to know)
Last not the least a question I like to ask every author I interview, have you read my book ‘Knocked Up’? If no then when do you intend to read it J? If yes then what are your comments?
Yes, I did read the hilarious ‘Knocked up’. The story draws a lot from your personal experiences and it was fun reading and reminiscing about my own college days. The book is easily readable in a single sitting and I believe that any book that can be read in one-go is really enjoyable. I wish you a lot of success with this book and all the upcoming works in life!
