Exclusive interview with author Rochak Bhatnagar

Rochak Bhatnagar is the bestselling author of 'Love Happens Only Once'. With a stock of over hundreds of books, he is a voracious reader and loves his collection that includes both fiction and non-fiction. He has been fond of reading, writing and composing stories since childhood. 

 At present, he is handling engineering and his passion for writing simultaneously because well, you know, a small packet of happiness mostly comes with a bundle of responsibility and a promise of dedication towards the achievement of your goal. Inspired by the events around his environs, his stories seem realistic. At least, that’s what he likes to think. He resides in Delhi, and loves to pen down his thoughts whenever he gets time.

Here, we present Rochak Bhatnagar in an enlightening conversation with Alka Shrivastava.

Congratulations Rochak, your second most-awaited sequel “One Life One Love” is knocking to youngsters’ heart shortly. How are you feeling?

Thanks a lot!  It is always exciting to see your name as an author on a book and your work being read by the world and after the success of “Love Happens Only Once” the expectations for “One life one love” are much higher. So, basically a bit nervous! 

 Tell us in brief about the story for our readers.

Well basically it’s a sequel to ‘Love happens only once’. The male protagonist Rishi Sinha finds himself in a dilemma. On one side is 'Ananya', the love of his life and on the other side is 'Pragya', a dying and needy friend. On one side is his most ruined past, while on the other his present, his future. 

  He has to choose between the two. So to sum it all, 'One Life, One Love' is a tale of 'Love' and 'Friendship' along with some social issues like 'Prostitution', 'Mafia', 'Live in' and 'Gambling' which we talk and read about daily but never realize how intense they are. 

As being an author of bestselling, how do you feel?

Firstly, I want to say thanks to my lovely readers for their acceptance and support.  Thanks for making ‘Love happens only once’ a National Bestseller.  It feels really great seeing the “Bestseller” tag on your book.

Protagonist Rishi is a happy-go-lucky corner and a career-concerned geek still very caring to his close ones. Is the character totally fictitious or somewhat closer to Rochak?

I’ve gathered a great deal of my life experience and incidents in both the books and happy to have shared them all. You can say, Rishi somewhat defines ‘Rochak’, because in me u will find a true friend who will always be there with you sharing all your joys and sorrows.

PS: I am not a geek!

The books somewhere depicts dilemma of a character Rishi to make balance and limits between love life and friendship. What the message it serves in this regards for readers?

One day or the other in life, we all come across this situation where we need to choose between our friends and our lover. It becomes tough for us to take the right decision at that time, because no one can give you the kind of support a best friend can, at the same time no one can love you more than a true lover. So basically, both are important in their own ways. This is what I tried to portray through my book.  Because, the decisions we take in life not only portray what sort of a person we are but also pave way for the choices we will face in future. 

How did the idea to intrigue the story with social issues like 'Prostitution', 'Mafia', 'Live in' and 'Gambling' click to your mind?

‘Prostitution’, ‘Mafia’, these are some of the issues we read daily about but never ever realize how intense they are. We just talk about them over a cup of coffee and then forget. Have you ever thought how these prostitutes live their lives? Or for that matter how much they earn in a day? Or why do they do this job? And how they get involve with mafia? Well, you will get all your answers in “One Life One Love”…

How you decided to move towards literary world?

Well I think two things have influenced me to write. Firstly, as a child I was an ardent reader and secondly, my passion for writing. I just write the incidents that come to my mind randomly. I get my inspirations from everything around me, all the people around me, almost everything I see and observe. I apprehend everything around me and let my pen run loose.

Did you find it hard to interact with publishers? Tell us your experience in that respect.

My experience with my publisher till now is been really good. He was humble enough to accept the story and give me the platform to tell it to masses. It was quite a long wait to see my book published. But, patience bears the sweetest fruit!  I definitely see a longer and stronger association with him. 

What kind of support and responses you are getting from readers?

It is always good to know what people think about your work. If they don’t have an opinion, then that means you are not being noticed. I try to address each critic in the best manner possible. Fortunately though, most of the opinions on the book have been positive. Of course, tastes vary and not everybody likes the same thing. People have different likes and dislikes. Some may like it or some might think I have wasted my and their time.

The journey from engineer to voracious reader and next to writer, what things did make you learn at best?

I would say failure. People say hard work is the key to success. True. But, for me failure is the key to success. Because when you fail you learn something from it and you try again until you succeed. As they say, a man best learns from his mistakes and failure.
 

What kind of books do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors?

Well taking up the name of any one particular author is a bit difficult. But, I would never hesitate picking up books by Dan Brown and Nicolas Sparks.

Apart from writing, what interests you most?

Playing PC games and guitar. 

What are your plans for future? Are you working for your next book?

I can’t say as if for now. Discussing about it would be too early. 

Any message for readers of “Read In Park.” ?

Journey of life started with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. The goal is to fill the bag of experience before the bag of luck gets empty. Get down and start writing. And never try to write something that does not come from your heart. Don’t care about the future, live your present to the fullest.

Thank you so much Rochak .Best wishes to you from "Read In Park" team for a refulgent career ahead. May you win heart of millions of readers. 

Thank you.