It’s time for
another author interview. Today, with us, we have Mohan Nair, who currently
lives in Cochin, Kerala, India. He teaches Management in SCMS Cochin School of
Business. Prior to teaching, he did Mechanical Engineering and was working with
Indian Oil Corporation in its management cadre for 25 Years. 4 years ago, he
quit the job and switched over to teaching as a profession after acquiring a
doctoral degree in management.
What is the genre of your book? Do you enjoy writing this kind of book, or there is something else that you want to experiment with?
The book ‘Nair
Told & Untold’ is a collection of satirical short stories dealing with
day to day affairs of people living around us. In each of the stories a
character Nair is present adorning a role suitable to the theme of the story.
In some stories Nair would be the protagonists, in some others he could be
merely an observer and in some others he could be a person wielding some
influence on the life of main characters of the story. Every story has some suspense and Nair is
privy to that suspense. In all stories,
readers will be able to connect the suspense to Nair in some way.
I like to
watch the lives of people closely. We are controlled by our ego and selfishness
which we conceal. All of us put our best
effort to make our lives meaningful and happy. But these are short term acts.
We are also people of immense ability. You may not be aware of it until an
occasion warrants you to perform. But often you may feel on hindsight that
events in your life are preset and we merely acted a small role in a whole
drama directed by someone else. With this insight when you look at the people
around you, you feel amused at the struggle of people to excel and outsmart
others. You feel like telling it aloud. A satirical story is a way to express
it.
I wish that
the readers of my stories feel happy and amused at the richness of life as they
read each one of them. I want to engage them right from the caption of the
story till its last word. I wish they cherish the feeling; look up, and smile
at life.
Do you think writing a book from the comfort of bedroom or study room is possible? Where do you write from? Do you go to some specific place, like beachside or into the hills?
I write in
bits and pieces and do it when I feel like, if the occasion permits. I do not
have any specific place to write. I like sitting late in the night to read and
write. I hate waking up early morning.
Did you do proper research before penning down this book or was it something based on personal life?
I feel that a
reader should benefit with additional useful information or a new insight after
reading each of my stories. In this
context, I try to include such references in the stories in a subtle way.
Otherwise each story is a mixture of observations, intuition and imagination
all knitted together.
What inspired you to write this book? Any stories to tell…
I want to
create a world of my own where there is life and action and a hope for future.
It is very difficult to change anyone’s life in real world. Real life takes its
own course and is beyond your control. But in your stories you create your own
world. You feel so happy when you see that the readers enjoy the way you
created it.
What was your biggest learning experience throughout the publishing process?
I never
realized that I make so many mistakes in my writing till I went about
publishing the stories. You get carried away with your thoughts and do not
notice that the text you made do not physically have many words that you tend
to see and read.
Looking back, what did you do right that helped you break in?
I used to show
the stories to my children and wife to get their feeling about them and make
changes. I was shy to tell others that I
write. One day I happened to tell my friend Sanal that I have scribbled few
stories and gave him the print outs. He read them and encouraged me to think
about publishing. Had I not told him about this, probably the stories would not
have got published this way.
Any future books that you would like to discuss now?
I would like
to explore the world with the help of Nair. Hopefully Nair would guide me to
unchartered areas. I will be happy to
share with readers what he shows me in future as well.
Connect with Mohan Nair on Facebook
Comments
Post a Comment