Some people watch birds, author Shobhaa D? confesses to watching marriages. It?s an obsession that has climaxed into Spouse The Truth About Marriage, a ready-reckoner on, what else but marriages ? how they work, why they fail. D? seems to have got it right once again, going by the fact that the book sold over 10,000 copies even before it was officially released and has already gone into reprint. Penguin India has never been happier as this is a record of sorts in the book world. The author who has 13 best-selling titles behind her, grins happily: ?It knocked my socks off, too.?

That?s the unputdownable Shobhaa D? for you. She?s been panned by the critics for her cache of explicit, sexy novels ? going from Socialite Evenings, Sultry Days, Starry Nights and Sisters, but that hasn?t bothered her for D? sold over 25,000 copies of each of them. ?I think I know my reader better than the critics know them,? she smiles. And Starry Nights, Socialite Evenings, Sisters and Strange Obsessions are part of the post-graduate curriculum on Indian Literature at the University of London. Mumbai University too, has Starry Nights as a prescribed text.

Her last book, some five years ago, was the brimming- with-attitude Surviving Men. She says, ?It took the mickey out of most men. It was meant to provoke, and it did.? She adds, ?If the contents of my books have shocked India, well, they did. I don?t want to explain, complain and certainly never apologise.?

People expecting yet another shocker from D?, who has bounced back after a five-year hiatus from writing, are sure to be surprised. For her latest treatise on marriage is mellow and warm. She says, ?I hate doing the predictable, I hate obliging and playing up to market expectations. The book reflects what I am feeling right now,? she says.

Why marriages, you may ask? Well, D? says that Indians obsess about them and now the rules of the game are being re-written. ?And I want to chart them,? she smiles. What?s more, she wants to make believers of non-believers, hopes that those in bad marriages can take a leaf out of her book and walk out, and others on the brink of marriage, will look at it as a journey worth making. Tips at the end of each chapter are targeted to help you get there.

Having handled a marriage gone sour, and a long, happy innings with husband Dilip, she feels qualified to delve into the issue. She says, ?I know what to watch out for, the pitfalls and loopholes.?

With Spouse, D? attempts to debunk a lot of the myths surrounding marriage (the pati parmeshwar, pativrata nari bit). But she also worries about movies and TV serials that reinforce such regressive stereotypes. She observes that social mores are changing and though marriage may still be a desired goal, it is often postponed.

She has some grave concerns. According to her, today there?s a radical shift in perception and young people are not interested in committing ? to anything, and least of all marriage. Stress, and the constant chasing of some career goal, is the biggest reason behind the postponement of romance, marriage and parenting. But she wonders where love, companionship and growing old together fits in? And of the loneliness that sets in when the targets have been met ? that third holiday home purchased and the fifth sports car in the garage?

Has she cracked the mantra for a successful alliance? ?No one can do that. Just when you think you know it all, something unexpected happens. Besides, won?t it be extremely boring to have decoded the spouse completely?? she asks.

But in all, her verdict is a positive one. She wholeheartedly endorses marriages and says emphatically, ?Don?t knock it till you have tried it.?

She?s obviously glad to be back from the self-inflicted sabbatical. The nitty-gritty of Spouse was discussed, signed and sealed way back in 2001, but D? decided to take a break from writing. She says, ?At that time I felt the pressing need to slow down and to do different things.? That included anchoring a television show for Sahara and scripting popular tele-serials like Swabhimaan and Kitty Party.

This former editor of magazines like Stardust, Celebrity and Society wears many hats: scriptwriter, columnist, TV star, novelist, mother of six and devoted wife. But feminist she is not even though her books usually carry a strong women?s voice. She retorts, ?Feminism implies a political agenda. I speak for the underdog and I?d do it for men too.?

She?s also had to carry the burden of some unflattering epithets: India?s Jackie Collins, Queen of Gossip and much more. She stiffens imperceptibly and then, ?When I was writing the out-there sexy novels, I can imagine India going into shock. In today?s context, it?s ludicrous to label anybody.? Though she believes such labels are irrelevant, D? confesses to have moved away from those books.

Her overriding passion may be writing, but the areas of her life that are non-negotiable are marriage and motherhood ? ?everything else is icing on the cake?. No surprise then that her most cherished moments are those spent with her family ? taking holidays or catching films at multiplexes.

Even as she enjoys the euphoria surrounding her latest book, she?s looking forward to the release of her next book, this time for pre-teens and teenagers. ?And it doesn?t involve wizards, wands or magic.? So can one expect another scorcher from D? in the near future? ?I can?t predict, it may just happen? she says with an enigmatic smile.

Photograph by Rupinder Sharma

D? SPEAK

• All touching is not sexual. There?s no better way to make up than to hold each other wordlessly.

• Harmless hypocrisy is okay. Manipulative hypocrisy is not.

• A wall of silence between partners leads to ?deadness?. Be aware. Share!

• Put a fight behind you permanently, once you?ve thrashed it all out.

• Keep fights private. There?s nothing worse than a public brawl.

• Friends should not dominate your spare time ? it?s equally important to make time exclusively for your partner.

• Abuse on any level ? verbal, physical, emotional ? constitutes ?foul? in my vocabulary. Tolerate it once and you are dead for life.