Home
author
Books
Friendship
Interview
Interview Friendship
Promotion
Recognition
Stories
Questionairrie with Mukul Kumar
Friday, 26 June 2020
Can
you tell us a little about yourself? Your profession and your hobbies!!
I am a bureaucrat by profession and a writer
by passion. I belong to the 1997 batch of the Civil Services. An Indian Railway
Traffic Service officer, I am at present working in New Delhi. I have studied
Humanities at Delhi University. I have been honoured with the National award for
outstanding service to the Indian Railways. My written works include the poetry
anthology ‘The Irrepressible Echoes’ and two novels, ‘As Boys Become Men’ and
‘Seduction by Truth’. ‘Catharsis’, is my second poetry anthology is about to be
published. Besides writing my hobbies include reading, travelling, listening to
music, driving etc.
I can recall scribbling verses
even as a schoolboy; it has always been there in me; I believe writing like any
other art form is intrinsic to man, it comes naturally. But yes, I took to serious writing since 2012
when I came out with my poetry collection. I see myself as a purely imaginative
person; writing is kind of creating a parallel world, maybe a parallel
universe as well, and that is possible only by imagination; Einstein rightly
says imagination encircles the world, while knowledge is limited in its reach.
Reading and trying to figure
out what is inside me waiting to be written. Not writing for long drives me
restless; it is like living with some mind-space always occupied with writing.
Future is anyways uncertain,
and this Corona experience has gone only to testify this wisdom. But yes, aim
wise I want each passing day to improve my craft of writing and amplify my
presence as a writer in the world of letters. I am genuinely happy that post my
bureaucratic career, I have something so meaningful and exciting to fill in the
vacuum.
Here I am reminded of Mark
Twain who said that he never wrote a book that did not get written by itself. I
feel that amply answers the question. A writer has to wait for the story to
catch him. But yes, the first novel of a
writer I feel tends to be quite autobiographical content-wise. My first novel
‘As Boys Become Men’ is a coming of age novel that carries quite much of the
boy I was, more with regard to experiences than events that are majorly
fictional.
I will begin with a caveat-
the world of letters has always been challenging, more so now when many are
trying to write, and in consequence, this world is getting flooded with what I
call instant literature. Publishing is really an uphill task. My tips - Do not
write unless you feel compelled, write from your heart, have patience with
regards to publishing, and read a lot to test and improve your craft. For me,
originality of style is one of the crucial driving forces.
Let us accept the fact that reading
has taken a beating in these times when writing has surged in surfeit, with new
forms like the blog and social media expressions having fattened the volume. Even
in the late 19th century, Oscar Wilde could not help saying that books were written
by the public and read by none. So, making
money out of writing is not easily possible, especially in case of fictions. I am coming
to experience that nonfictions are selling far better, and one must look at the
other ways like articles etc. to make some money if one can. But yes, having
said that I do not want to miss saying that if you have luck anything is
possible; ‘click’ is the keyword here.
I find this question quite
close to my heart as a writer my best tool to handle religion is the reason.
Rationality kind of purifies religion, exalting it to ‘faith’ that furnishes
hope and sanity, and Dharma which is nothing, but morality based upon the sense
of righteousness and humanism; religion must serve man and not the vice versa.
‘Seduction By Truth’ I feel is
an interesting blend of fiction and non-fiction;
story-wise it explores the theme of marriage and desire with the storyline
being based upon extramarital relationships, but I have conceived and crafted the plot in such
a manner that I could finely weave religion, mythology and history into it.
That takes me back to your previous question; this book amply illustrates my
approach to mythology and religion.
Author: dipali
0 comments: