Kanpur girl Harshita Srivastava is an avid reader and prolific blogger. Currently she is pursuing Mechanical Engineering at G.L. Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management, Noida. Apart from writing she loves travelling, reading, listening to music and spending time with close ones. ‘One In A Million’ is Harshita’s debut work.
In an illuminating conversation with Susmita Bose, Harshita reveals more about her life, her writing and future plans.
Congratulations Harshita on the release of your debut novel ‘One in a million’. Tell us what kind of responses you have been receiving?
Thanks a ton for your wishes. It feels heavenly to hold my book, it’s definitely a dream come true. The responses have been good. All those who have read it have shared positive feedback. I hadn’t expected such a lovely response. The best part is that even after being a woman centric book, it has been read and enjoyed by the masculine gender as well.
How and when did the idea of “One in a million” cross your mind? What inspires you to write this particular story?
The idea landed up in my mind last year in May and amazingly I wrote the first chapters two days before my exams were to commence. I run a blog on relationships called Relationship Vows(Woes) in which I tend to discuss about why the vows of a relationship turn into woes, how relationships die and lose their charm and what we can do it save them in the form of stories and simple conversations. I generally pick up the idea about these blog posts from our daily lives so you can say by the time ‘One In A Million’ began I had studied relationships extensively for a span of six months. All this moved me to write a story that deals with the major problem which the youth faces today. Infatuation, love at first sight, dating on social networking sites, blind dates, getting into a relationship with your best friends, choosing the right career option, these are some very common circumstances that teens and young adults are going through and I have tried my level best to convey an aspect of each of them.
How much the story is taken from real life incidents? How much Priyanka is Harshita?
Well, the story doesn’t hold any relation with real life but then even fiction needs inspiration from reality. The situations that arise in the protagonist’s life are things that happen with every guy or girl next door.
And as far as Priyanka is concerned, she is a lot like me. I am just as lazy and crazy like her (giggles). She is full of life, a tad too emotional, can do anything for her friends and is confused about her career. Every girl will find a glimpse of herself in Priyanka.
In your opinion how much social networking sites are influencing our social lives?
A lot. Social networking is definitely a great way to connect with friends and one of the best ways to market stuff but this should definitely not hamper your personal and professional life in anyway. All of us have become Facebook addicts. Whether we go shopping or dating, the first thing you do is posting it on Facebook. Hunger, thirst, mood swings, outing or even if you are doing nothing, everything is going to be tweeted. Even though that’s a personal perspective, I believe too much of anything is bad. So let’s not try to imbibe the adverse effects of this in any manner.
Do you believe in love at first sight?
Personally, I have no belief in love at first sight. I do not understand the concept in any way. It takes time to love.
Does writing come easy to you? How was your journey to become a writer?
Writing is something I have been doing since I was eleven so yes, I love it and I have a flair for it but there are a lot of times when I get stuck with the plot and the characters just like any other writer. There are moments when the characters do not seem to act according to your thought process, the plot stops midway or I just can’t write the way the character wants me to but all this is a part of being a writer and I love it.
The journey of writing has definitely been an amazing ride for me though becoming a writer or a published author has brought in a lot of struggle. I began with diary writing and moved onto writing for school magazine. I carried forward this passion by writing for a lot of online portals and my personal blogs and now I have a full-fledged book to my credit. But I know there’s a long way to go and I am ready for it.
What is your opinion about the standard of Indian writing in English?
There has been a drastic change in the Indian writing sector. There was a time when there weren’t much of people in India who would venture in this field but by God’s grace, today we have a lot of Indian crowd plunging into this field. I am glad that Indian writers are finally getting their due. Quite a lot of good Indian literature is coming up in the market but the sad part is we are still looked down upon sometimes and all of us can certainly not take it up as a full time job. I do hope things get directed towards the better side so that India can produce even better writers.
What kind of books you like to read? Can you name a particular book which has influenced your life?
I generally love reading romantic fiction, serious drama and motivational books. I am a die-hard Mills and Boons fan. There isn’t one book actually, there are two. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens made me love reading and writing eventually while Chetan Bhagat’s ‘Five Point Someone’ gave me the dream of getting published someday. And here I am today, holding ‘One In A Million’ in my hand.
Romantic stories are considered as safe to be debut with and the success of these books proved many times. However would you like to write on different topics in future?
Well, I do agree to the fact that romance is one genre that people are always going to love. I write romance because I love doing so. As mentioned earlier I run a blog on relationships so this is something that excites me to pen down. And I would definitely write on different genres in the future. Social issues provoke me a lot so you might see me coming with a book dealing with women empowerment or child labour.
What interests you other than writing? Tell us something about you…
Well, I am just another youngster basking in the glory of life. I have a zeal to learn and have big dreams to achieve. I just completed my engineering from GLBITM, Greater Noida and I am presently working on my startup, Expert Hippo with a few of my batchmates. Reading and travelling, these are the things I love to do when I am not writing. And like a lot of people, I love listening to music. Music gives solace to my soul. My friends call me the agony aunt so you will often see me giving out free advice to people in my circle, discussing out their problems and giving out some gyaan on some or the other topic.
Any other projects or plots you are working at? Would you like to share some details?
There’s a plot I have in mind and I have been trying to put it on paper since long though it will be too early to comment on it. All I can say is this is something which is very close to my heart.
Any message to the readers…
Do read my work and also ask your friends to do so (laughs). I’ll be highly obliged to you all for this and to all those who have read my book I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude towards them. Believe me, a writer is nothing without her readers. Do share your feedback at hsrivastava0205@gmail.com.
That was Harshita Srivastava! In a candid conversation with Spectralhues she expressed her delight that her debut novel ‘Once in a million’ has been received well by book lovers across India. Spectralhues wishes her glorious success and hopes she would come up with many more remarkable books.
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