We recently interviewed published author Vijayendra Haryal
Short Bio:
A Mechanical Engineer from IIT Kharagpur, Vijayendra Haryal is from the Class of 2008,IIM Ahmedabad. He is now working as a Business Manager with an IT Co and his alternative interests are Social Media, Social Enterprise. He has also co-authored India's first most comprehensive book on Social Media titled 'Social Media Simplified'. His passion for writing fiction ignited when his stories, poems got featured on the writer's forum of a leading Television channel. Some of his work has got featured in renowned collections subsequently. An ardent observer of 'creative pursuits' (Entrepreneurship, writing, music, sketching hence on and so forth), he believes that there is some method to what the world perceives as madness.
So here goes :
Tell us something about your book 'The Break Up' and the reason behind its title. How did this book happen and why did you choose to write about it?
The journey of this book started in 2005. I wrote a poem that went too long . I pressed the delete key ,added some more words and did convert the poem into a story ! Subsequently I sent it as an entry to a leading TV channels writer's forum. To my pleasant surprise, this entry won Story of the Week. The story is titled ' The Rose' in the book. There after, I decided to take up my writing seriously.
While initially, I just wanted it to be a collection of short stories on love, life, relationships et al , somewhere in 2008 it dawned on me that may be I can portray the bigger picture ,somehow weave a theme and bring this to a logical conclusion . It took a lot of time, thought and finally I was able to conclude with 'One Happy Love Story' and ' The Color of Love' .
Another key milestone, in the course of this journey was when I came across this beautiful quote " There are no facts, only interpretations" Friedrich Nietzsche. This is what resulted in title story and hence the name of the book. We all have our own versions of how we see the world. Isn't this so true ?
When did you take to writing?
I have been penning down poems ever since I was in fifth standard. However as I mentioned it was in 2005, when I decided to take my writing more seriously.
Where do you usually write? What is your favorite setting to write in?
I usually write in café bars like Café Coffe Day, Barista etc. The ambience and aroma of the coffee does wonders to my concentration and creativity.
Did the stories come to you easily or did you find yourself stuck with a writer’s block sometimes?
I do get stuck at times, but it’s rare. I start writing usually, when I have a clear theme and an ending in mind. The course in between the story is usually not a big challenge
Tell us about your life online and the sites you maintain
I am a big fan of Facebook and it’s largely my private network or the people I personally know . On a public basis, I am active on LinkedIn. Now I am beginning to get active on Twitter also.
What are your thoughts on life – The one thing that it takes to live it?
One should spend some quality time identifying his or her passions. Life without passion becomes very mundane and boring. So ‘one thing’ is surely passion and being associated, involved in issues, activities etc you are passionate about
How has been your experience so far in the literary world? Any highs or lows being a part of this space that you would like to share here?
Last year 2011, was pretty interesting for me. Early in the year, book titled ‘Social Media Simplified: Twitter Facebook beyond casual networking’ got published which I co-authored. It got some good reviews from mainstream media as well as the Indian social media community. Later in the year this book got published. While the former book deals with more of ‘ black and white’ , this book deals mostly with ‘grey’ . Accordingly the feedback / reviews for this book are highly diversified, unlike the former book. This entire exercise has made me richer with new interpretations of my work. I shall cherish these inputs, suggestions for quite some time.
Tell us something about your work & hobbies?
I am a Business Manager with an IT company. Other than spending time with my family and work, whatever time is left, I devote to writing and exploring the grey areas of life. I do watch a lot of TED videos and am a big fan of Sufi music.
So how did it feel when you finally finished writing the book?
It was a fulfilling experience. The whole journey of the book spread over years was quite refreshing.
Top 3 All-time favorite books
Alchemist
Eleven Minutes
Freakonomics
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