Interview with Leema Dhar

Leema Dhar, B.A. 1st year student of Allahabad University; completed her ISC from St. Mary’s Convent. She left her AIEEE rank for her creative passion bloomed at the age of only three. She is the youngest bilingual poet and writer in India. Her first collection of Hindi poems ‘Kuch Lafz Naqab Mein’ (2007) published at the age of only thirteen. Second one in English ‘For The Hundred Tomorrows’ (2010). She got huge coverage/critique from print and electronic media. She was nominated consecutive second time for Hindustan Times Women Achiever Awards (2011&2012). This is her debuting fiction that will surely mesmerize you.

In conversation with Alka Shrivastava, Leema speaks  about her book, life and experiences with the pen.

Congrats Leema , Your second book “Mom and I love a terrorist” is now approaching reader’s doorsteps. How are you feeling?

Hearty Thank you…

Every creation is an achievement as only the mother knows the feeling of bringing forth a new-born baby. This fiction is one of my dream projects. My debut fiction ‘Till We Meet Again’ is a romantic love story so my readers may think that another writer in a herd of chic lit authors has entered the arena. However, from the beginning, I was adamant to prove myself with different taste of thoughts and thrilling plot of the story so my readers could get the real taste of ‘popular’ as well as ‘literary fiction’. And after my second ‘Mom and I...’ I was successful in making the difference.

Tell us briefly about the book for our readers.

The synopsis of my latest fiction MOM AND I…

Kelly, girl with a thousand dreams, was happy with her mom in a distant Island, Andaman, till she turned nineteen. 

A dark night sudden entry of a black stranger in her life.

Unanticipated, he shares her mom's bedroom. 

Passing through sleepless nights and intense depression, she finds a secret diary that reveals a clandestine past, creating a tsunami in Kelly's rhythmic life.

Ricko, a Casanova, falls for her.
She finds Amaan, the boat maker on the sea, the superman she needed.
Will she be able to unfold her mom's haunted past and her cryptic love?
Do Kelly and her mom love the same man, the black stranger, a terrorist?

The book is mingled with romance and thrills .what difficulties did you face while making balance in depiction of such emotions?

When I write I never think of the cobweb of the story altogether nor do I keep in mind the genre I’m about to pen down, it’s just at the flick of the moment that I imagine a film running in my mind and the only thing that I do is try to do justice to the characters till the end. The characters themselves poke me to showcase their own lives, dilemmas as well as their dreams. And human emotions of love, hatred, struggle, success and failure make me add flavors to each of them. I tend to stay awake (sometimes even by 3 am) once I begin a story. Since I step in their shoes, there’s no difficulty to balance the story.

How did it take you to write one story? What were your inspirations behind this piece of writing?

 I’m a close observer of everything. Whatever I see in my every-day  life, I try to carve a road of my own thoughts and imagine from a writer’s angle. Even piece of an old, faded newspaper makes me pen down a good short story. But when I seriously work on a plot I just start thinking what relevance or impact it would create in the minds of my readers or in the society. If I get peace from within, my answer comes from my inner self, and then I proceed with the plot.  

 Sea has been my first love. So, I conceived this plot when I visited one of my favourite places in India— Andaman & Nicobar Islands in 2010. The idea popped up in the flick of a moment when I saw a guy working on a boat on the sea beach in the moonlight. On the other hand, when I visited my native town in West Bengal, Maoist attacks were the headlines in the eastern India newspapers. Both these sequences made me seriously sit back and think about writing this novel. And personally, I feel it was totally an untouched subject. Terrorism has a great impact in our social lives, and I felt the urge to deal with its soft side in literature.

Protagonist Kelly is innocent, self- respecting, courageous, at times flown away by emotions but ultimately characterized by integrity. How much is she closer to Leema.

Leema is very close to Kelly. When I was writing the novel, I was just having a balanced life with my rather intense imaginations and delusions, and I’ve portrayed Kelly living in a secluded island with those wild thoughts. Similarly, Kelly and I are both 19. So to some extent as an author I’ve walked in her shoes and tried to live her life while jotting down her character, and I must say it has been a memorable journey, and I’ve never felt so peaceful before.

Being entitled with author of a national bestseller, how do you feel?

Well... that is totally unexpected! The feeling is ecstatic when I see people liking my work and giving me positive feedback. And I’m extremely thankful to Almighty for giving me the opportunity to ride high on the tag of National Bestseller with my debut fiction at a young age. Working on the first script, editing and rewriting it altogether four times, I can say I’ve flagged off well!

How is the response of the latest one in comparison to the previous “till we meet again”?

“Till we meet again” made me a bestselling author within a very short span but “Mom and I…’ draws serious attention from the readers as well as critics. I’m getting huge fan mails and reviews and above all my publisher Azeem Sir (Mr. Azeem Ahmed Khan, CEO General Press) was very happy with this title, and he encouraged and appreciated me a lot for choosing a unique plot. He hopes this will also shortly be my second best seller.

Can you share your experiences with publishers?

I’d initially begun with a painful journey when I started getting rejections earlier this year. But all of a sudden my life took a 360-degree turn when I got seven proposals within five weeks (from April to end of May) for my debut fiction ‘Till We Meet Again’. In the middle of May I was about to sign a contract with an esteemed publication house in Mumbai, but then I got a sudden call from the CEO of Diamond Books, Mr. Narendra Kumar Verma, who convinced me over the phone with  half an hour chat, and I ended up signing with his esteem publication without a second thought. He’s a great mentor for the budding authors. He gave me the platform to start my journey with ‘TILL WE MEET AGAIN,’ which is now history. 

For my second fiction, the journey had been quite easy when I got the mail from CEO, General Press, Mr. Azeem Ahmad Khan ( after four weeks of submission) while I was going through the edited version of my script of the first fiction and then followed consecutive three offers one after the other from various publication houses. I had a memorable experience while working with General Press, for my second fiction ‘Mom and I love A Terrorist’. Azeem Sir known as a great mentor for young authors, offered to publish my book within two months. His generosity and guidance have made me reach both the common people and the literary class.

Recently you got media coverage in various leading editions. What kind of reviews you are getting in that respect?

There have been a flood of reviews. You can see a few of them on my Facebook timeline and various online sites. Till the date, I’ve got 4- 4.5 stars from all the reviewers across the country. My readers and critics will get a clear idea where I stand; here I just quoting the premier newspaper  HINDUSTAN TIMES (21.10.12 & 01.12.12): "…her flawless prose, plot selection and the art of storytelling made her book hot seller… ‘Mom And I love a Terrorist’ is Leema's daring endeavour to bring before the world and her readers, her uncanny obsession and passion to explore a love story which indeed has enough love..."

Are you working on your next book? Is it also based on romance and thrills?

 I’ve finished my third fiction, ‘THE GIRL WHO KISSED THE SNAKE'. It's a romantic thriller, and shortly I will sign it up and hopefully it will be out in the market by May next year (2013).

You are such a great example of “Always follow your heart” statement, who left AIEEE for her passion. Would you like to give any message to young readers in such regards?

When I left engineering (AIEEE) to enter this field, many people then told me that I was on the wrong way. However, God has been kind enough to prove them all wrong! A little bit of belief in self, dedication towards work and honesty in your dreams can make you reach heights. Once established, one must continue working if they plan to take it up as a core profession. So, hold on to your breath and start off with the ride. You can reach heights if you trust yourself and convince your family for the support. You are sure to live up to expectations and live your dreams!

What kind of other projects you are handling these days? What you like to do in leisure?

My third fiction that has already been finished is tentatively titled ‘THE GIRL WHO KISSED THE SNAKE’. It’s a wild revengeful story with added romance, where the readers would love and hate the protagonist at the same time. I’ve tried a completely different genre this time that shows both the soft and evil part of love and revenge. I hope this will get the same appreciation from the readers as my previous two fictions. The fourth fiction that I’m currently working on is a pure literary work (title yet to be decided) its deals in both practicality and fantasy.

Apart from writing, I think of stupid thoughts, wild hallucinations and talks with the characters of my story. To be crisp, my brain is always popping up questions, finding answers and travelling to the supernatural world. In the meantime, I don’t mind clearing my throat for singing my own compositions, reading literature and enriching fictions of different genres and painting a few strokes. But most of the time I feel like ‘How I wish I could keep travelling' and study enormous field of human psychology. I love traveling otherwise to different secluded places where there is lots and lots of greenery or the influence of sea around me. I love to travel by road and prefer road trips to Mussurie, Nainital and Kolkata.

Any watchword, which you follow by heart?

“And miles to go before I sleep…”(Robert Frost) always reminds me that there is no ultimate goal or destination of this journey. It’s just going on and will go on and that is what keeps me revitalize my thoughts for the next project.

Tell us in brief what kind of support you are getting from your parents, relatives and friends?

My Dad Samir Dhar is an eminent author in Bengali and my mom Mausami is a teacher (St. Mary’s Convent Inter College). So I’ve my perfect mom and dad, both of whom stay awake late at night by 2-2.30 am just to hear me read out to them the piece of writing that I finished on the day. It may be a ten-page chapter of my fiction or a piece of prose of poetry. They are the real pillar of me. Dad is the first reader and critic of my writing. You can’t imagine before publishing, he made me rewrite my debut fiction altogether four times! But I got his enthusiastic smile when he finished reading my second ‘MOM AND I…”.

Last but not least, any message or suggestions for readers of Read In Park?

In comparison with international readers, our Indian readers are great. They’re purely fond of good story and good writing. It is we who are responsible to build a bridge between authors and readers. If someone follows a write up close to resembling any particular bestseller and tries to copy-cat the same it will be a disastrous journey for the authors. We shouldn’t underestimate our readers; they are more mature than us. So we should carve our own way and reach our own readers by honing our craft, pace of the story, storytelling style and lucid prose. And this will bring the result in the form of a bestseller.

At the same time, I will request them, please give us some time to prove ourselves. A writer brings his or her best by working months and years, so before rejecting or throwing it in a trash with a silly comment, just think-- are you justifying your views or not? Readers should know their views can kill an author forever as well as they can make a new best seller in this ‘big bad’ world.

Thank you Leema for all your pleasing answers. We wish you good luck ahead in the world of literacy. May you reach at pinnacle of yours and million’s of expectations.

Thank you.