We interviewed him after his new book "The Involute Dunes" (English) / अव्यक्त कामल (Hindi) was released last month. Here are a few excerpts.
Where do you belong to? Our readers want to know about your
education and family.
I belong from a remote
village (near Pilani) of Rajasthan. Now, education!! This is where people think
I am joking whenever I answer this. Well, I have studied till 12th
(10+2). It was not that I did not want to study further, it was a play of fate;
I lost my father just after my schooling. And now I have my mother, wife and a
younger sister in my family.
Tell us about your book.
This book is epic,
seriously an epic desert saga born in the age of Kali. I don’t have enough
space here to tell the comprehensiveness of this book. It is not about one or
few things, it is about everything. By keeping this in mind, let me give the
overview of the book (which again is not sufficient to capture the essence of
the saga) – “There
were the tales of legends sailing in the air of Jaisalmer, legends of the
forgotten warriors, rulers, of people; of the forgotten empires; legends of the
forgotten beauty until this volume. We have read many epic volumes from the
previous ages but here is the epic saga of the age of Kali filled with
abstruseness of the desert land.
We are in the eleventh century and India is called ‘The Golden
Bird.’ Islām is a newly born religion and is spreading its pinions with rapid
velocity. These are the times when Indian rulers are fighting amongst each
other. So does the Jaisalmer and Mārwār. But there is another huge nation which
is eying upon India. The ruler of that place wants to reign over India. He
wants to make Jaisalmer his Centre because Jaisalmer lies on the famous ‘World
Silk Trade Route’ and is the connecting link between the Western and Indian
trade.
This is the tale of two generations. The tale of magnificent
desert land and golden city. The tale of a huge empire and two little Kingdoms.
Tale of bravery, politics, friendship, lust, the tale of war, tale of
love & hatred, of faith & deception, tale of importance and futility,
of establishment and ruination; and overall, the tale of Salvation.
It is more than a book and even more than a motion picture and
is an irresistible read. Welcome to ‘The Involute Dunes’, a timeless
description of the timeless people and places.”
Tell us about your other books.
My previous book was
titled ‘An Immortal Story: a tale of tolerance beyond limit’, which was
released in April 2014 in Jaipur by Ayush Books. By the way, I am giving it for
free on my website (involutedunes.com) for a limited time
as a promotional gift for my dream project ‘The Involute Dunes.’ [You can also
download the FIRST FIVE Chapters of The Involute dunes completely FREE from
there.]
What is your writing journey like, where and when did you start?
Are you a writer by choice or by chance?
I am a writer
certainly by choice. I want to reach my books out to the whole humanity. I was
an avid reader since my childhood (now I don’t read much). I read everything
with interest, no matter what the subject matter, topic, genre, category of the
printed material was. I wrote in school too but only when provoked. But the
real turn came when I heard the story of a mythological movie and thought that
I can write better. I began to saunter in the verandah of my house and within
half an hour I cooked up a story, a novella rather. That was the beginning.
Are you an avid reader as well? What kind of books do you read?
What is your frequency of reading?
I was, and I used to
read whatever I got my hands on. There was nothing for which I can say that I
liked that kind more. Now, I don’t read much. But my taste is not bound to any
particular thing.
Which is your favorite book and why?
Favorites change with
time and circumstances. But there is one book for which I had thought, alas! if
only I would have written that book. And that book was ‘Madhushālā’ by
Harivansh Rai Bachchan.
Who are your favorite authors?
I have read Munshi
Premchand more than anyone else.
Do you pursue any other profession apart from writing? How do
you manage everything? How do you find family time amidst all this?
I don’t do anything
except writing. So there is no scope of managing. But, when I start writing I
go into a kind of shell, into solitude, so that I can immerse into the world
completely that I am creating.
What does your writing space look like?
My writing space is a
plastic chair, sometimes my bed, sometimes it may be under a tree, it can be a
open roof; sometimes I bolt myself inside a room for hours.
How do you overcome writer’s block?
I think almost all
writers overcome this phenomenon by themselves, naturally, with time. I can’t
say if it is writer’s block but I feel fear whenever I finish writing a book
that I have completed this now, now what next? Would I be able to write one
more or not? This is the only thing I fear. Else, I am never short of
creativity whenever alone. The hardest part is to finalize the topic, the theme
on which I will write. Once it is finalized, then I make a rough outline and
just that. I don’t make plots, details etc. before writing. Most fun part of my
writing is that even I don’t know what will follow in my story; and what twist
& turn it will take ahead. It flows, just flows as if I am telling and
story to myself; or I can also say as if someone is telling me and I am writing
smoothly.
What motivated you to write this book?
This book is set in
(imaginary) Jaisalmer, and I feel that I have some special connection with this
desert land. I see a different kind of beauty in that desolate land. Apart from
that I wanted to convey something to people, wanted to tell the things which
are lost. I wanted to give ample amount of food to the brains of people in
order to make them grow to understand ‘All That Is.’ And I think that God has
helped me to convey that through this mesmerizing tale of Timeless people and
Places.
How long did you take to finish this book? What was the process
like?
It took me 10 months
to complete the first draft. But as a whole process it took me two years to
complete this in both the Languages.
What kind of research have you done for the book?
My whole life is a
research and I have put a large part of that in this book.
Any story behind deciding the title of this book?
There is no such
story, but it took freaking four months before I finalized the Title (The
Involute Dunes) of this book.
Why should we read your book?
Jaisalmer and 11th
century, isn’t it enough. I don’t want t
give any spoilers, it is available for just ₹ 39 on my website (involutedunes.com), just go, get in,
and dive in to experience the Involute Dunes, believe me it will come out to be
a saga you have never read before. A world of dunes containing the beauty of
desolation and a story never heard before.
Do you have any blog or website the readers can visit?
Yes, involutedunes.com. Please visit. You
will get my previous novel for FREE there; and you can buy The Involute Dunes
at dirt cheap price there. Still not sure, okay, you can download the FIRST
FIVE Chapters completely FREE from there and then decide whether to buy it or
not.
What advice do you have for budding writers?
No matter what you get
in response, no matter whether you get published or not, never ever stop
writing. It is for yourself, not for others. It will make you, the true you. It
will keep you alive, keep you evolving. Please keep writing, no matter what.
Writing is bliss in disguise.
