Mr. Murlidhar Srivastava, author of Love, Destiny... and those Two Days was born in Patna into a traditional family. He completed his graduation and then pursued management courses in marketing. He joined a central public sector undertaking its marketing division and worked for many years before opting to leave and start his own venture in an IT enabled service. He currently lives in Patna itself.
MD spends most of his free time listening to old Hindi songs. He absolutely adores Lataji’s golden voice which works like "magic" whenever he is tense or burdened with work. He also enjoys watching cricket or comedy shows on TV, and has a green thumb.
He can be emailed at-
or
Arpita was the chosen one to review his debut novel and we were glad she could also be free and willing much to have this wonderful and insightful talk with the author. We loved her review, and hope her interview would interest you too.
Q) “Love, Destiny... and those two days” is particularly interesting because it
looks at the ‘luck factor’ in the success of a love story from a different
angle. How did you come around to writing a plot that revolves around
astrological predictions?
A) I always planned to give my first book a
plot which will make it a little different from the rest- a plot or a subject
which has not been touched upon much. Maybe I had been thinking that I will stand out. Yes,
it was quite an unusual and hard decision at the first, to incorporate
astrology in a love story plot- but I went ahead. Now coming to astrology, I am not totally averse to it but what I am against is its
overdose which I am watching these days in different media; particularly, our TV
channels are full of such shows. The more we
make people to believe such incredulous stories, the harder it gets for them to
think rationally. It in fact weakens one’s ability to realistically look at thing or a problem. These thoughts were instrumental in
deciding to write a love story revolving around astrological predictions as it
made me feel that it would not only give a fresh and new kind of a subject to
the readers but also a sound message to both the youth as well as the elders
to not let their life run by these superstitions.
Q) The book has a quite a few underlying themes if you read between the lines. You
have managed to touch upon different aspects of married life through the
portrayal of characters like Chandani, Sandip and Lata. What would you say is
the most important message that the book sends across to the reader?
A) So far as the Indian marriage
scenario is concerned there are some typical issues in
Indian marriages in almost every family and every part, which if not looked
properly and at the proper time will lead to many problems later in the married
life – be it arranged or a love marriage.
Faith and trust are very
important in a married relationship. Family’s compatibility is very important for
a marriage to sustain. Continuous fights and brawls in a married life are the most
usual reasons which can give rise to an extra marital relationship. Love
marriage is still not very well accepted by parents in most of the families. Parents
in an arranged marriage go more by their own fascinations than seeing it from
their daughter/son’ perspective…
Q) The bond between Chandani and her cousin Mayur, the protagonist, seems to be
strong and certainly is charming. He takes an active part in getting her
married and watches out for her like the ideal elder brother. But one does not
really get to know much about Chandani’s own dreams and personal ambitions
until later in the story. Does it have anything to do with a girl not getting a
say in her own marriage until and unless things get out of hand?
A) To some extent yes. As said earlier, certain
issues must be properly seen and properly dealt with at the proper time.
Chandani’s character and her marriage portrayal try to depict problems in an
arranged marriage. There were many
issues on which the marriage did not seem feasible and those were strongly
argued by his brother Mayur. But her parents were obsessed with their own points
and did not bother to look at the things from her daughter’s perspective. Chandani
coming from a nuclear family was not able to adjust and remain confined in a
joint family system. She had ambitions in life other than
being an ideal home maker which her parents could not assess and ultimately
these led to
conflict and separation. So yes I conclude that every girl must come forward
with her ambitions, likes, dislikes even in an arranged marriage and those must
be given ultimate weightage much above than matching horoscopes,
and innumerable other worthless issues.
Q) Which character would you call your favourite and who do you actually relate
to?
A) An author gives birth and raises every character of
the book as per his story line. It is no wonder then that he starts liking each
and every character as his child as the writing progresses. But so far as one favourite
character is concerned, Lata’s character is one with whom everyone can relate
easily and so am I. She is very practical, full of life and always has a
positive attitude while looking at a problem, which may be considered as one of
the greatest assets a person can have -- Look Positive even in Negative
situation. She is full of confidence and wins her husband, who is first
haunted by his past and then sandwiched between his past and present when he
meets his yesteryear girl again, only by showing a positive attitude and having
full faith in him.
Q) Well, Lata- Mayur’s wife- happens to be my favourite character too! Writers usually tend to give the lovers a happy ending but here we see them
getting married to different people, and at least one of those people turns out
to be quite likeable. It puts the reader in a difficult position, making one
unsure about whose side to be on. What was the reason behind giving Mayur and
Shobha a different ending?
A) See, at the very outset, I promote it as a love
story with a difference. This love story has a very unusual and uncommon plot
so let there be an unusual end as well. But then it is also a fact that all love stories do not always end
happily. Do they? Even the most passionate and true love may meet a debacle and
reasons could be many. Every time everything does not go as planned and that is
a more ‘life-like’ situation than every time the boy and girl meets in a story.
The question is ‘then what?’ – Accept the life for what it is and live in
present. One will sympathise with Shobha in the end for her sacrifice and then
realisation but she was only herself to blame and that sets an eye opener for
the readers. Yes, as you told, character of Lata is quite likeable and that exactly
was my aim too, so that readers will accept that an understanding, caring and compassionate
life partner and the family atmosphere which comes as a result of it, are very
important in a married life to keep the bonding of husband-wife and their
children always intact and strong even in adverse situations.
Q) The climax of the plot was very astonishing- I can’t spoil the fun by giving
away the details but there’s the confrontation between Mayur and Shobha where
things take a very filmy turn when he forces her to tell him the truth. Was
this purely fiction? And if not, then how much of the story is inspired from
real life?
A) Many incidents and happenings observed here and
there in my life might have their influence on the story line but so far as the
climax which you are referring to is concerned, it is purely fictional. The only
thought that went into me at that point of writing was that some grave and
extraordinary incident must take place for a girl to reveal something which she
did not do in the beginning, passed her entire youth and was holding it for
many many years now. I don’t disagree that some thing seen filmy anytime [I am
not sure though] might have influenced me to go to a climax situation like that.
Q) Coming to your choice of books, which novel are you currently reading and which
would you say is your all time favourite?
A) Previously I liked reading thriller fictions from
James Hadley chase to Sidney Sheldon and a few of Dan Brown’s but it has
changed over the time and today I can say that there is no particular genre as
my favourite and read all sort of things which is able to bind the interest in its
first few pages. But I always preferred
reading English fiction by Indian writers. Unfortunately there were not many
Indian writers in English fiction previously but things have changed
dramatically in the last decade making the market flooded with Indian writer’s
books. Chetan Bhagat’s books are definitely very interesting with morale and I can
gladly say his ‘Five Point Someone’ is one of the best that I have read.
Q) What are you working on at the moment?
A) I was waiting to see the
response of the first book. Thank god, the response to my first book uptil now
has been good enough. I am working on two books at the moment and right now not
sure which one I will finish first. In one manuscript I am touching and raising
the essence of our Indian values and traditions which are fast fading away in
this internet and global accessibility era but the base of the book will again
be a love story. In fact it will be portrayed through love stories of three
generations- the present and the two previous generations. But the second one
is totally different. This fiction will have its base on system and corruption-
may be moved by so many such movements going on these days.
Q) What advice would you give to aspiring writers who go through ‘Writer’s Block’?
A) Don’t think of name and fame in the
beginning. Until and unless you have delivered a few bestsellers you cannot
take up writing as a full time career. Read and re-read your manuscript as many
times as you can. Either try to give
something new or evolve some new type of writing style to get noticed because
market is flooded these days with so many books of same genre, same stereotype
topic.
Q) Last but not the least, how has the journey been so far? Has being a published
writer changed life for you, your family and friends?
A) My journey which started from writing
some small articles here and there to become a complete fiction writer took
rather long. But at the
end of the day I can say it is satisfying. It
feels great when you see that your effort is being acknowledged and
appreciated. The journey
has reached a destination now. From here I would like to take this journey even
forward. Well, some noticeable changes are
there in the life after the release of the book.
There is more recognition from the people around me. Many persons are
visiting my website. I receive their comments in my inbox or on FB pages. I
have received a few phone calls from press and e-mails from websites. These are
new and fresh experiences in life which is truly exciting.
To read the review of MD's debut novel 'Love, Destiny...and those Two Days' click HERE.
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