There was a big crowd gathered at a bookstore in Koramangala on Friday evening, 200 youngsters, maybe more. All to hear the 28-year-old author Sudeep Nagarkar share insights on his seventh book She Swiped Right into My Heart.
He is the author of six novels and recipient of the Youth Achievers’ Award for being one of the highest selling writers in India in the genre of romance. Sudeep’s writings clearly seem to have struck the right chord with the young Indians.
What is it about the popularity of his books That’s The Way We Met, Few Things Left Unsaid, It Started With A Friend Request, You’re Trending in My Dreams, Sorry You’re Not My Type or You Are The Password To My Life that have made him a national bestseller we wonder. Is it the catchy titles, true stories that connect with everyone, or his ability to describe humour, love and affection with ease?
Sudeep replies, “My stories and characters are inspired from real life. Everyone likes how I portray my proposal scenes in my books as they can relate to them. I decided to take up writing full time after completing engineering and management. It was so tough for me to convince my parents that my passion was here and not in a 9 to 5 job. I was writing a personal diary in my engineering days and one of my friends told me I should publish my writing and that’s when I decided to give it a shot. I was scared when my first book was about to get published and my parents told me “Ok fine, so what’s your plan about your further studies and job?” Luckily it was a huge hit and I could stick to my passion for writing.”
He has been invited for motivational and guest lectures in various institutions and organisations. Sudeep has also written scripts for many television shows and is developing concepts and stories for national television channels.
His latest book She Swiped Right…talks of how if one has never had friends, one has never really lived. “It was a conscious decision to make this book different from the previous ones. I wanted to touch some issues which I had not dealt with before. I had to portray some feelings that I personally have never experienced before. There are a couple of messages that I’ve tried to convey through this book. It’s a true story with characters inspired from real life, with a little bit of manipulation in the storyline to keep it crisp. The girls in my books have been beautiful and charming, but in this book the girl is average looking, has problems in her college life and goes through an emotional trauma. The message is that if you have a beautiful heart then you will be understood and will be happy. The second message is for the LGBT segment. Although there’s a backdrop of romance, I’ve also given a message on feminism, as there’s a huge difference between feminazis and feminists.”
All of Sudeep’s stories make us believe that true love exists, and all one needs to do is strive for it. Accompanied by his fiancé Jasmine, who Sudeep met on a social media network, he states, “True love exists and I believe that the real essence of love and friendship is fading away these days. The only girl I flirted with on Facebook is now my fiancé. My next book will be about our true love story.”
