Murlidhar Srivastava. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

A retired marketing executive in Patna has chosen fiction as a medium to spread awareness on superstitions.

Murlidhar Srivastava, 55, who gave up his job in the marketing department of Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited in 2003 to answer the call of the Muses, recently made his debut with an English novel, Love, Destiny… and those two days.

Published by New Delhi-based Mahaveer Publishers and Vaibhav Distributors, the novel narrates the tale of two lovers and how superstition alters their lives.

“My book was published in April. The response has been good,” the author told The Telegraph.

Booksellers in Patna corroborate the author’s claim. Atmanand Das, the proprietor of Boring Road-based Books-and-Ami, said: “We have sold over 50 copies of the book. Mostly teenagers are buying it.”

At present, Srivastava is busy promoting his novel through new media like social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.

Asked how his work is different from the current crop of easy-reading, romantic bestsellers, Srivastava said: “After the phenomenal success of Chetan Bhagat’s novels, several new writers are trying their luck. Most of them stick to one narrative frame — a campus love story. Their target readership is students or young professionals who prefer light reading. But my novel is different. It deals with social issues like superstition and blind belief in astrology.”

Srivastava discussed the plot of the novel without any hesitation.

“Mayur, the male protagonist of my story, falls in love with a girl named Shobha. They were all set to get married. But Shobha walks out of Mayur’s life without any explanation. Both of them then get married to different people. But for years, Mayur is troubled as he tries to figure out why his beloved abandoned him,” said Srivastava.

He added: “After 22 years, the two of them meet accidentally. Then Mayur discovers that Shobha had deserted him because of her family’s irrational belief in superstition. The narrative begins in the 1980s and continues till present. As the story moves forward, suspense is created because of some events that occurred over two days.”