Hyderabad: Harsh Warrdhan, whose debut novel When Hari Met His Saali hit the stores recently, has a multi-dimensional mind. He has done engineering, written screenplays for various television serials and films, and has also directed a film titled A Secret Handshake. Through his book, he shares his belief that a person should always follow his heart.
You were an engineer before you took up writing as a career. How did writing happen to you?
I come from a family of engineers. So I went into engineering, not so much as a well thought out career path, but more like a conveyor belt production because that is what was expected of me. I discovered writing by accident. The first time I wrote anything was when I wrote an essay while applying for BA in cinema at various universities in the US. Since I got accepted in all the universities I applied to, I thought my writing must be good. Ironically, a year later, I learnt that it was my engineering degree and not my writing that got me in.
How did you come up with the title of this book?
I already had the story about a love triangle between two sisters and a man. Now, during my college days in Nagpur, a bunch of us film fanatic friends used to play this wordplay game where we would come up with desi names for Hollywood films. When Hari Met His Saali was a wordplay on the iconic Hollywood film When Harry Met Sally. All these years I had forgotten about it and then one night, it came to me out of nowhere.
Are you a romantic in real life?
I am a realist when it comes to love and romance in real life. Unlike my moral and ethical values which were taught to me by my parents and teachers, I had no one to teach me about the idea of love and romance. So, being a man, I picked up things from here and there, but mostly from other men.
Do you think your book will strike a chord with the young readers?
It should. When Hari Met His Saali gave me a perfect setup to highlight and discuss the very issues which concern today’s Indian youth.
