They are as different as chalk and cheese. Ketan Bhagat’s stories begin where his famed author brother’s ends. Yet Ketan who was in the city to talk about his latest book, Child/God has no qualms in admitting that Chetan was his inspiration when he took to writing, even though not entirely. “Chetan was definitely an inspiration, but only as much as he is an inspiration to all aspiring writers. I have good relations with Chetan but they are strictly at a personal level. Professionally, we lead completely independent lives. I used to write for a music channel during my MBA days, but never took writing seriously and then, I stepped out of the country and never thought of writing. Even when Chetan went on to become big, the urge to write never came to me. While friends and my wife, Pia, constantly encouraged me to do something creative, I was happy roaming the beaches of Sydney and vacuuming carpets. Yet at the same time, as life was unfolding, I experienced situations that I saw all men of my age going through and yet no one had written about them. I realised how little literature exists about what men go through in life. The stories are almost always either from the woman’s point of view or the college phase of men; never what happens to them post marriage. This bug eventually made me a writer,” reveals Ketan on his becoming a writer.
The Delhi-born graduate from the Institute of Hotel Management, who holds an MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute for Management Studies likes to write stories around situations that all men encounter and yet have never been documented. “This book is about a 35-year-old father falling head over heels in love with his newborn and then surrendering to his three month old infant. Isn’t it amazing how in the very same house, when we as adults find some economic situations frustrating, a child is able to live blissfully? I became a father and experienced similar intensity and enlightenment and took more than two years to complete the book. The feedback I got for Complete/Convenient was that it ought to be made into a movie, and as luck would have it, I met Rahul Roy, an avid reader, who spent a few years in Australia. He wanted to make a movie based on the novel. Then my second novel Child/God is again experiencing similar unexpected blessings and my producer friend Vikram Saxena felt that it will be a great plot for a movie and is working towards the Bollywood adaptation of Child/God,” shares Ketan as he counts his blessings.
Ketan doesn’t fall short of thanking his friends who stood by him, and stating that it wasn’t the Bhagat surname that helped adds, “Although I don’t have a mentor, friends from all walks of life reached out and willingly poured themselves out to help me become a writer.” Talking of his love for Bengaluru and his hobbies, he adds, “I visit Bengaluru often for book promotions and motivational lectures and I’m in love with the weather and vibrancy of the city. I love spending time with my four-year-old son. I have taken him as my guru and constantly learn from his way of looking at life. I also love watching movies and going for long walks. I am a man of simple tastes.”
