Interview with Sathya Sam

Sathya Sam

Gauri..!!

The author of the book Gauri...!!, Sathya Sam is a regular blogger and runs an exclusive website to express his ideologies about the world. He was a mimicry artist, a skit writer, a stage show artist, a cricket player, and a part-time singer during his college days. He loves driving and seizes every opportunity to get behind the wheels for a long drive. He is also fond of animals and likes to spend a lot of time watching and photographing them. The author is known for his quick wit among his friends. He is a motivational speaker who has spoken at several institutions, inspiring youngsters with his realistic articulation. 

Sathya Sam is an avid reader, who especially likes brain-twister stories. He strongly believes that if a story and its characters do not occupy the mind space of readers when they wake up the next day, the author hasn’t done justice to the piece of writing.

 

Q.1 Tell us something about yourself not many people know?

A. I am an information monger. I crave to read on varied topics. Though it is not possible I aspire to talk on any topic under the sun. This motivates me to read most of the time. One day you can look at me reading astronomy and the other day it can be a religious book. Chetan Bhagat to Stephen Hawking anybody can inspire me based on the topic they deal with.

Q.2 When should we expect your next book? What will it be about?

A. My next book is going to be my dream book. It will be a cutthroat thriller and deals with DNA reengineering and time travel. As an author, I am fully aware that if I don’t put enough hard work into the selected topic it would become a mockery. The work got over and you can expect the book in a few months.

 

Q.3 When did you decide to write Gauri?

A. Writing Fiction stories is my childhood dream. I have always aspired to be an author and a speaker. I have written many stories during my school days and college days and published in the in-house magazines. But to publish a book and exhibit to the entire world you need certain traits. I waited patiently until I developed those traits and got ready to tell my stories to the world. Gauri...!! was an attempt to put myself on the center stage and see how I look. I wrote this book in 2016.

Q.4 How do you select the names of your characters?

A. Interestingly I selected the characters from real life. Whom I meet, see, read, and interact. Certain times I take the character names from some good movies based on the features and characteristics I imagine for my story. I won’t use the star’s name rather some of his/her movie names to suit the characters I describe. Once Mrs. Gauri Khan, Wife of the Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan said in a magazine that, Handling and managing a popular husband is a Himalayan challenge for a wife and the woman would require patience and profound thinking to be his only solace factor. This in fact inspired me to name my protagonist Gauri. So, a token of gratitude I have given a tribute to Mrs. Gauri Khan in the book. 

Q.5 What were your feelings when your novel was accepted/when you first saw the cover of the finished product?

A. It was an emotional moment. Especially when the publisher said it is a workable material I was flabbergasted. The best moment was when I saw the cover design. Gauri was staying only in my brain cells until I saw the cover. She replicated what I thought. Difficult to express my happiness.

Q.6 What do you want readers to take away from your book?

A. Everybody who reads my book is like watching a movie. Many say it as a compliment some say it as a complaint. However, that is my style. I prefer to run the story visually in front of the reader while he/she is reading. And am a page-turner freak. I can’t imagine writing a story if it is not a page-turner. Unexpected twists and turns are going to be a part of any of my storytelling.

Q.7 What was one of the most surprising things you learned while writing this book?

A. I never thought Fiction book would have a big market in this modern world until I wrote a book by myself and I was surprised by the fan base in the market for the paperback version in this e-book era. It is a very happy news that many people would like to read the book having it physically on hand. It was a real revelation to me.

Q.8 What was the hardest part of writing this book?

A. Describing a place that I have never visited. I prefer to give a lot of details about the backdrop of the location where the characters of the story live. But certain times I have to use the places which I have never visited or a non-existent place as well. Describing every bit of it was slightly difficult, But I enjoyed doing it.

Q.9 Your book depicts social issues like physical and emotional abuse, according to you what is the main reason that women or a man have to go through all that?

A. I am a strong believer in Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna. They have given answers to this question. Only when you don’t put yourself in the shoes of others or when you miss showcasing benevolence to the people who respect you, only then you would get to abuse them. Today the world has become a materialistic one, People try to camouflage a fake mask until the opportunity is reaped from the other. Gone are those days where people from different fraternity shared the wonderful camaraderie.

Q.10 What is the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you?

A. Not to be kind to the people who don’t deserve my love and affection. I am trying to be like that. Yet to recover from the insane habit.

Q.11 Who would you most like to thank for their involvement in your writing career?

A. Without the second thought, my wife, who has sacrificed a lot for me to pursue my passion. She has been the best gift to date god has given me. Next is my father. He has been my pillar of support in this whole thing. He always wished me to be a wonderful author, and he personally took a lot of efforts to make the book a successful one.

 

Q.12 According to you, why is women’s empowerment important for development?

A. According to me ‘empowering’ itself is a wrong word. We shouldn’t have led society to suppress the dreams of one specific gender for so long. In India, the epics like Ramayana and Mahabharat suggests that both the genders are equal. But we missed the road somewhere in between. This is high time for the revival. According to me, women are stronger than men in many capacities. 

Q.13 Your protagonist Shiva emotionally cheated on Gauri; do you think it is worse than physical cheating. Why or why not?

A. I won't call Shiva to have ‘Cheated’ Gauri. He took her permission well in advance. The only mistake in that episode was to glorify his emotion in public. Which he shouldn’t have done. Gauri taught him a lesson for that. Otherwise, I tried portraying every character with the shades of grey only. We have heroes and villains inside us and we all are antagonists in somebody’s life story. Gauri...!! is a broader version of that one-liner.

Q.14 Do you have any unique and quirky writing habits?

A. I don’t know whether I can call it as quirky, but as I said earlier, I would like to introduce and diffuse small little surprises from time to time. Twists and turns, I insert in the story not only make my readers to be glued to the book but also to make it interesting to myself while I write.

Q.15 How does your family/friends feel about your book or writing venture in general?

A. As I said earlier my father and my wife were the happiest people in the world for this venture. They wished for my success from the bottom of their heart. My mother is an avid reader, I love to give a copy of all my stories to her first and take her feedback. They are all happy for me.

About my friends, some of them are my regular book reviewers. They have always been my pillar of support from the day I started writing. They give ideas from time to time for me to write a story. I mentioned them all on the first page of my book. That is the least I could do to the love I get from them.    

Q.16 Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with good and bad ones?

A. Of course, I do. I take both of them in the same manner. Greatest authors like Kalki Krishnamoorthy, R.K Narayan, and Micheal Chrichton’s books have criticisms. Nobody has the formula to write an impeccable novel that can rob the hearts of all the readers. Even Valmiki’s Ramayana and Veda Vyasa’s Mahabharata have their own critics. Look at the number of dislikes for the Titanic movie on the YouTube channel. As far as they read my novel and give feedback, I am thankful to every reader. Period.  

Q.17 Have any of your characters been chalked out based on someone you know?

A. There is a famous phrase in English - “The truth is between fiction and non-fiction”. Every fiction novel would have some non-fiction elements and vice versa. To what extent those characters or incidents are used in the novel is a noble secret which the author alone is entitled to know.

Q.18 Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why?

A. When I was a school kid, I have always fascinated to meet Sidney Sheldon. In fact, I wrote an email to him on that and got a surprise reply from him within 24 hours. Now, I would want to meet the late legendary writer Kalki Krishnamoorthy and ask him which time machine he used to travel to Chola’s dynasty to write Ponniyin Selvan. Greatest ever fiction anybody could even dream to write. My all-time inspiration, Superstar Rajinikanth, is someone whom I would want to meet any day. In fact, one of my upcoming books would be dedicated to him.   

Q.19 What books have most influenced your life?

A. Shiv Khera’s You Can Win and Long walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela.

Q.20 Share the experience of your journey so far?

A. Well, I have just begun my journey as an author. I know I am a rookie in this new mission. I will try to be as pragmatic as possible in my writing. My target market would predominantly be 20 to 40 years age group folks. So far, I am enthralled and exhilarated during the sail, and hope to continue in the coming years too. Godspeed!

Share your social account links -

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SathyaSam11

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/authorsathyasam/