KING OF HEARTS
Age: 35
Debut: I Too Had A Love Story, 2008
No. of novels: 5
Other titles: Can Love Happen Twice?, Your Dreams Are Mine Now, This Love That Feels Right.
Also: Runs a publishing venture called Black Ink.
Currently: All set to launch his sixth novel, Do You Still Love Me?
My co-panelist from the western world was shocked to learn this from our host, with whom the two of us were soon going to be in conversation. We were backstage, in the green room, at a literature festival.
She turned her head towards me. I couldn’t understand if that meant I was supposed to add something to that. She was too pretty to look at; even when the pair of her brown eyebrows was pulled up in surprise.
“What?” I asked, stepping out of my thoughts.
“Most young authors in India are men?” she repeated the exact set of words she had heard moments back.
“That’s not true. We aren’t that young anymore.” I said after finishing the sip of tea I was having.
My answer brought about two different reactions in the room. She made a face at me. Our host giggled.
“How modest! But, I was more focused on the gender part than your age,” she pointed out, crossing her arms across her chest. A wicked smile sat on the corner of her lips.
“Who is talking about age here? I was referring to the span of my writing career,” I said with a smile, my eyes glued to hers, which kind of loosened the circle of her arms around her body.
She gracefully got back to the subject at hand. “Great! Now that we are on the same page, can we focus on the gender part, please?”
“If you insist!” I agreed.
I didn’t say anything further and waited for her to carry forward the conversation.
“I am listening.” She reminded me in style that she had already asked her question and that I was supposed to answer.
“I know you are, but tell me, why is this surprising for you in the first place?”
“Because where I come from, romance is a baton in the hands of women authors.”
Truth be told, I had never looked at writing on a subject through the prism of gender. Unfortunately, in our country almost every other profession or career is male-dominated. And therefore, till then, this thought that a majority of Indian romance authors are men, had never crossed my mind. However, in the light of her explanation, I understood why this appeared odd to her.
This led to quite an interesting exchange between the two of us.
“Who consumes love stories more in your world? Men or women?” I asked.
“Women! And it’s a big majority. How about here?”
“Definitely more women.” I nodded. And then added, “Though slowly and steadily men too are catching up on reading romance.”
It is true that when it comes to consumption of love stories, women are at the forefront. With a crystal-clear clarity on the buyers of romance, internationally, this genre is promoted as women’s read. Genres of romance and chick lit are bundled together. And in this segment, women write for women.
“So true! Who else would know what exactly a woman wants in her heart, if not another woman?” I bantered with her.
“Very funny!” She tried to dismiss me, but immediately changed her mind. “Hold on to that thought of yours. How do you then explain that the male authors here are able to do it?”
“You mean knowing what women want?” I double-checked.
“That even God doesn’t know.” Our host pitched in and we laughed to that.
The more I thought about her question, the more I realised that the Indian romance writers we were talking about weren’t even trying to cater to women in the first place. Honestly, they didn’t even know their target audience before they wrote their first few books. Majority of us weren’t here to become full-time authors one day.
Quite different from the romance written and consumed by the women in the West, Indian romance is story-based — stories of youngsters, from their lives, about their relationships. Often the need to write is triggered by a break-up, a rejection; some sort of heartbreak.
“So, most of them don’t write while they are in a happy relationship?”
I shook my head, agreeing to what she said and added: “Heartbreak is the mother of creativity.”
Most of the time it is that void of love they try to fill by writing their bittersweet experiences and end up pouring their heart out. That’s how they step into the world of romance writing. Perhaps most women prefer to keep their experiences to themselves or in a closed circle, while men choose to share it openly with others. Who knows if it is their way of deriving empathy, if not sympathy?
Very often debut romance novels in India are autobiographical in nature. And because these are the stories of the boy and the girl next door, the readers relate to the characters, to the events and experiences mentioned. At times, while reading they wonder, how come the author has stolen a piece of their life and put it in that story? Hence, for these readers, Indian romance writers become the go-to people for relationship advice. Boys generally read less than girls. A lot of female adulation therefore does come to the male writers.
Having said that, just like the romantic cliches in the West, where an alpha male hero wraps his well-muscled arms around the slim waist of the heroine or a rich handsome guy falls in love with a poor beautiful girl, we too have our own cliches — campus love! While romance in that part of the world provides a form of escapism, romance here is close to reality. It silently consoles a lot of people by letting them know that they are not alone in what they are going through.
Men have always been expected to be rough and tough, expected to prefer watching a sport to watching a romantic movie. It is expected that they will not show their emotions to the world. However, things are changing fast. We have now come to accept that it is okay for boys to cry, that men can be emotional too. And in this new age, men are expressing themselves in every form of creativity, including writing romance, which at times is emotional in nature.
“For me, India is certainly an anomaly, where men dominate the genre of popular romance.” She said by the time our discussion had come to an end.
Perhaps in the West it is more about perception than reality — that romance becomes more appealing when a woman writes it. No wonder then that there are a few male authors who have chosen to write under female pen names to find acceptance in the world of romance consumed by women.
For example, Jessica Blair — who wrote titles like In the Silence of Snow, The Road Beneath Me and The Red Shawl — is actually Bill Spence, a grandfather and a father of four. Thomas Elmer Huff picked different female pen names for different romance novels he wrote, viz. Edwina Marlow for the novel The Master of Phoenix Hall, Beatrice Parker for Come to Castlemoor, and Jennifer Wilde for Love’s Tender Fury.
In India, thankfully, there is no such need; else male authors would have to swallow their pride and assume a female name to sell books.
We could have talked more on this subject, but it was time for our session. We got up and left, but not before I made my final point.
“Exceptions are always there. And here is one. The top two among my all-time favourite classic international romance novels from your part of the world are the works of male authors.”
Even before she could ask me, I told her — Love Story and The Notebook.
THE BOYS’ CLUB
Durjoy Datta
Age: 30
Debut: Of Course I Love You ..! Till I Find Someone Better (co-authored with Maanvi Ahuja), 2008
No. of novels: 16
Other titles: If It’s Not Forever...It’s Not Love (co-author Nikita Singh), World’s Best Boyfriend, The Boy Who Loved.
Also writes: For television, with shows like Sadda Haq, Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi and Ek Veer Ki Ardaas...Veera to his name.
Currently: Ready with the second sequel to The Boy Who Loved, and changing diapers of his baby girl, Rayna.
Novoneel Chakraborty
Age: 31
Debut: A Thing Beyond Forever, 2008
No. of novels: 10
Other titles: The Stranger Trilogy, Black Suits You, Forever Series.
Also writes: Scripts for television, with shows like Million Dollar Girl, Twist Waala Love and Yeh Hai Aashiqui to his credit.
Currently: Writing the third title in the Forever series.
Sudeep Nagarkar
Age: 29
Debut: Few Things Left Unsaid, 2011
No. of novels: 9
Other titles: It Started With A Friend Request, She Swiped Right Into My Heart, Our Story Needs No Filter.
Also writes: Scripts for television.
Also...
» Tuhin A. Sinha: That Thing Called Love, The Edge of Desire, Let the Reason Be Love [He is also a BJP spokesperson].
» Sumrit Shahi: Just Friends, A Lot Like Love... A Li’l Like Chocolate and Never Kiss Your Best Friend [He too is a screenwriter for TV].
» Arpit Vageria: I Still Think about You, You are My Reason to Smile, Be My Perfect Ending
» Anurag Garg: A Half-Baked Love Story, Love Will Find a Way, Love…
Not for Sale!
THE GIRL GANG
Nikita Singh
Age: 26
Debut: Love @ Facebook (2011)
No. of novels: 10
Other titles: If It’s Not Forever… It’s Not Love (co-authored with Durjoy Datta), Like A Love Song, Every Time It Rains,
Currently: Finished a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from The New School, New York. Her next novel, Letters To My Ex, is out on February 14.
Preeti Shenoy
Age: 46
Debut: 34 Bubblegums and Candies, a collection of short essays and stories (2008)
No. of books: 9
Other titles: Life Is What You Make It, The One You Cannot Have, A Hundred Little Flames.
Savi Sharma
Age: 24
Debut: Everyone Has a Story, 2016
No. of novels: 2, including This is Not Your Story
Special mention: She self-published Everyone Has a Story and its runaway success led Westland Books to snap her up for a two-book deal, to start with.
Currently: Writing her third novel, due in
mid-2018.
Also...
» Koral Dasgupta: Rasia: The Dance of Desire, Fall Winter Collections
» Sakshama Puri Dhariwal: The Wedding Photographer, Man of Her Match
» Priyanka Menon: Served With Love, The One That Got Away
Which male Indian author writes the best romance? Tell t2@abp.in
