Tanmay Kulshreshtha (centre) interacts with youths at Patna Book Fair on Tuesday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

A BTech student and a retired marketing executive have chosen two pressing issues veering around a love story for their first books.

KIIT University (Bhubaneswar, Odisha) student Tanmay Kulshreshtha’s book on the effects of drug addiction is available at Mahaveer Publishers’ stall at Patna Book Fair. Priced Rs 200, The Meth: When a lie takes up a life has sold just 25 copies till Tuesday. Hardly disheartened, the BTech student, who interacted with visitors at the fair, said: “I am not at all discouraged. No one knows about my book and still 25 copies were sold in the past three days. I am quite satisfied with the sales.”

Before leaving for his university tomorrow, Kulshreshtha said: “My book is about the drug, methamphetamine. It is a love story of two characters, Arush and Trisha. When Trisha comes to know about Arush’s addiction, she tries to save him but fails. Arush dies because of his addiction. With my story, I have tried to show how meth or those addicted to other drugs can end up losing their lives and affecting people associated with them.”

Impressed by the youngster’s subject, non-government organisation Shikhar Foundation has even decided to re-launch his book next month. Cricketer Virender Sehwag is also associated with the foundation.

Umaire Baig, the production head of Shikhar Foundation, told The Telegraph over phone from New Delhi: “We came to know about Kulshreshtha’s book through a source and were touched by the subject. We want to sensitise people about meth and so, we have planned to re-launch his book at a programme at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, in the second week of April. Sehwag may also join us that day. Apart from him, some professionals from the corporate world would also be invited to the launch.”

Nineteen-year-old Richa Priya, who was at fair and spoke to the young author, said: “This was a wonderful opportunity for me and I wasted no time to grab it.”

While Kulshreshtha is wooing admirers with his book, a retired senior executive of Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited, Murlidhar Srivastava, has taken up superstitions in his book, Love Destiny… and Those Two Days. The book will be released by March-end.

Srivastava, who was also at the fair, said: “I have taken a love story, as I knew it would interest youngsters. The story is of a couple in which the girl is superstitious and how it separates them. The boy marries someone else after which the story takes a beautiful turn.” He, however, did not wish to divulge the climax to The Telegraph.

On the subject for his first book, Srivastava said: “Whenever I used to switched on the television at home — in the morning or at night — I would see these astrology-based serials, where people were instructed to wear red cloth on a particular day, look at a particular direction when they wake up and what not for a good fortune. Although I am not opposed to astrology, there should be a limit to everything. Nothing should control our lives and that is the reason I decided to write my book.”