Interview with Author of Love at Air Force – Gaurav Sharma

After getting an awesome makeover, Finix Post wanted to come up with something different and new to mark this event. But the different had to be special.

What could be more special than beginning the much awaited and anticipated interview series on Finix Post? The plan is to bring lots of influential people in fields of writing, blogging, technology and Life at one place – Finix Post; so that they can share what it took them to be what they’re at present and help you to develop your own self.

The first interview is of a person who is special to me not because of his new profession where he’s getting quite a lot appreciation but because he does that thing very well for which I struggled for my whole life (and it continues till now – MATHEMATICS – The only fear I had as a student and still have).

The only subject which is  hated by one and all (except the scary geeks) for none of us would be able to figure out where can we implement those algebra problems in our real life. 😛

I should better stop talking about myself and talk of him – GAURAV SHARMA, Author of Love @ Air Force

Love@Air Force is certainly a love story set up in the world of Indian Air Force which revolves around three friends Sergeant Sushil Awasthi, Wing Commander Shabd Mishra and Soumya. The story tells what is faced by a low rank officer at Air Force and what goes inside the mind of a normal middle class husband. Then comes the time when Sushil gets to know about Shabd’s extreme love for Soumya and their tragic love story where Shabd still loves and lives for her and Soumya has no idea about it.  What happens when all three meet at one place? What goes on at the Air Force Station, Agra?

The book has seen an awesome response from readers and there’s not a single negative review about the book so far (author tells me there’s one but God does build ‘extra smart’ stuff.. Doesn’t He? And do we care?  ) And also it finds a place in my 5 Must Read Books in Summer 2014 list. It gotta be good!

Let’s see how Gaurav Sharma responded to my questions .. 3:)

1. Tell us about your life before ‘writing’ hit you? Why Air Force? How did you become a mathematician?

I think, I was a writer before becoming anything else or considered myself a wordsmith even when I roamed around in knickers. I might sound snobbish, pardon me if I do, but I believe that writers and teachers cannot be made. They have it in them. It is just the matter of time when they realize their abilities.

I am just a devotee of mathematics and no mathematician. I was struggling in life when mathematics rescued me.

(mathematics and rescue? If one day I decide to commit suicide.. mathematics would be the only culprit! )

2. When and why did you begin writing? What inspired you to write your first book? Is the book based on someone you know or events in your own life?

Writing a book was an ambition since childhood. When life spared me of nagging for essentials, I started writing a story. I had lost my father around that time. I wanted to dedicate my debut book to him so I set the story in the world he belonged to-the Air Force. Until I finished it, I had lost my mom too. So I dedicated it to both of-my Dad and Mom.

Every character a writer conceives or the story he bakes is inspired by some people or incidents. LOVE @ AIR FORCE is my experience in Air Force Schools as a teenager and my dwelling in Air Force camps across the country.

(One blogger said you worked at Air Force.. And people accuse me of not doing proper research before writing my posts. Critics! )

3. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

 I don’t think the need to change anything; since you’ve read it you may agree that the story is alright, ethically and aesthetically.

(Yep, that’s true.. I wish I could deny that.. the interview had been more interesting :P)

4. Which book are you reading now? Are you working on a new book? What is it about?

I am reading False Impression by Jeffery Archer who is my favourite author.

Yeah, I have finished another manuscript. It is the story of a rape survivor…. going to submit it to the publishers soon.

(We all are eagerly waiting for your new book and I am hoping to get it for free again from The Readers Cosmos 😛

5. What was the hardest part of writing your book? Do you have any advice for other writers?

The hardest part of writing this particular book was to constantly curb the desire to criticize or to appreciate Air Force excessively.  I wanted to be balanced. And when you are taking such a prestigious institution by the horns, that too in your debut book, you have a fear of landing up in controversy. I tried not to cross limits and therefore researched a lot, even for the things I already had knowledge of. Air Force was a difficult setting for a debutant author. I am contended with the end results.

(Exactly, I get astonished by how less controversial books are as compared to movies but then I get reminded of the fact that only sensible and literate people read books..)

I am too naïve to give advice to other writers. I have said before too that write from heart without letting anything come between your thoughts and the keyboard or pen.

(A beginner always gives better advice.. #Fact)

6. If you had been at place of Shabd, what would you choose? Living together with Soumya forever which meant she would have to say good bye to her not so lovely husband or keep trying to forget the only love of your life?

It’s a naughty question. Well, Shabd did what I would have done. True love can never be selfish. Love is not about acquiring somebody and success in love is not that the other person reciprocates the same amount of love and intensity as yours. If your love is true for somebody, he or she may not be with you physically but his or her soul will definitely have you in it. If I were Shabd, I would be fine if Soumya had reverence for me as a person. Shabd never imagined her below the neck. I am the same.

(I missed this question – Did you have a girlfriend? Does your wife know about her? 😛 )

7.         With whom can you relate more – Sushil Awasthi or Shabd Mishra?

I relate more with Shabd Mishra but I used to be Sushil too, until a few years ago. And then time transformed me, same as it happens to Sushil Awasthi in LOVE @ AIR FORCE.

(So, Sushil and Shabd are ‘past’ and ‘present’ of Gaurva Sharma? )

8.     Favorite book

It’s a Hindi novel…’Chitralekha’ by Bhagwati Sharan Gupt. It is a very famous adult story that I read in class 9. I was writing a Hindi poem in the class when the teacher was teaching. He snatched my diary and took it with him. After reading my poems, he advised me to read ‘Chitralekha’. I got it in the school library. However, I hardly understood it then. I bought that book later and have read it more than ten times. Sorry for elaborating.

(I also got inspired to read books in the same way.. I was writing the same story which I want to be published as my first book..  and a teacher(Mrs. Vibha Bahunguna) saw it, read it.. and asked me to read more books for she was certain that I could write much better..  )

9.         Favorite author

Can you make it ‘authors’?

William Shakespeare, Jeffrey Archer, R.K. Narayan, Vikram Seth, and Nandita Bose.

10.       One thing you hate about writing

Though I don’t care much about it but it is the persistent attention towards the saleability that troubles and affects your writing. I hate when I have to abstain from being descriptive to make the story crisp and to keep the pace.

They say that think like a reader while editing your manuscript and I find it really difficult to consider my own words incongruous and omitting them is painful.

(The writer’s woes… I feel at home 🙂 )

11.       The best part of being a writer

I find it the subtlest way of expressing my thoughts and feelings. A writer can bring out the enigmas buried in his heart through the mouth of any of his characters. You can live several lives. You can be whatever and whoever you want to be. I aspired to be a doctor and see, my first protagonist, Shabd Mishra is a doctor.

(I want to be a writer too )

12.       Message to your readers.

The love that the readers have bestowed on LOVE @ AIR FORCE is invaluable. I thank all for loving the story from a novice author and helping him to gain confidence of carrying on.

Please keep showering your love and I promise to deliver.

 I take this opportunity to thanks Finix Post for a wonderfully encouraging review of LOVE @ AIR FORCE and also for this interview.

 Thank you sir for giving your precious time and sharing your views with us. I hope this would help many aspiring authors and readers to know more about you and ‘writing’.

FIND GAURAV SHARMA:  BLOG