Parul Mittal: Heartbreaks & Dreams
By Resmi Jaimon

While IIT trained Chetan Bhagat is a household name after the success of his books Five Point Someone, One Night at the Call Center and 2 States - The Story Of My Marriage, other IIT graduates have also won critical acclaim for the magic of their words. Indian techie and IIT Kharagpur alumni Farahad Zama won international acclaim for ‘A marriage Bureau for Rich People’. 

Now an IIT alumnus Parul A Mittal joins the ranks of successful techies who have written popular books. The marketing blurb of Parul Mittal’s book Heartbreaks & Dreams describes it as: ‘When it comes to matters of the heart, and so many to choose from, how does one know who is Mr Right? -Heartbreaks & Dreams!- is a delightful and funny attempt at depicting circumstantial challenges intrinsic to a college campus characterized by a skewed sex-ratio, cut-throat competition, grueling course work and a largely geek population. Seen through the eyes of a confident and intelligent yet simple, middle-class girl, the book journeys through the most vulnerable and youthful times of her stay at IIT.’

Parul (Agarwal) Mittal did her BTech. in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi in 1995, followed by Masters in Computer Science from UMich, Ann Arbor. After twelve years in the corporate world (Hughes, IBM Research and Nextag), she is currently freelancing as an IT Consultant.

Techgoss caught up with Parul

Techgoss (TG): What is your family background?
Parul Mittal (PM): I come from simple, middle-class family. My father was born in a small village in Rajasthan. He studied on his own accord and was the only one educated among his siblings. He did CA and worked with IOC, Indian Oil Corporation – a PSU, for his entire career.  My mother was born in Old Delhi, and has done B.A in Sanskrit honors and is a house-wife. I have a younger brother who went to IIT Delhi, 1996-2000 and a younger sister who has done BA.

TG: Share with us your educational and career background.
PM: Born and brought up in Delhi, I did my schooling at Lady Irwin School, New Delhi (nursery to class 9th) and Navrachna School, Baroda (10th-12th).

I did my BTech. in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi in 1995, followed by Masters in Computer Science from UMich, Ann Arbor. After twelve years in the corporate world (Hughes, IBM Research and Nextag), I decided to quit the job and do something different. I first wrote the book on IIT girls that I wanted to from very long time and then started freelancing as an IT consultant. I specialize in e-commerce and social networking websites based on Drupal.

TG: Was IIT your first choice?
PM: Yes, I knew it long ago as does the main character in my book. I even gave medical entrance exam and got admission in Delhi Harding Medical School. However, my heart was set on conquering IIT.
 

TG: How many women were fellow students?  What was it like being so outnumbered by the men?
PM: In a batch of about 320 guys, there were 13 girls in my batch. In my specific department, Electrical Engineering, there was only one other girl (from SC quota) and in the three years above me, there was only one senior girl in EE.

How it feels to be an outlier is what I have tried to describe in my book Heartbreaks & Dreams! – The girls @ IIT.  Personally speaking, I remember being uncomfortable among so many boys especially in first two years. Academically it used to be tough to discuss and clarify doubts, as the girls were so few and sometimes none in your cycle. There were manufacturing workshops that were physically tough for girls. However by the third year, I had made my mark and was either 1st/2nd ranker in my department. Most of the class copied my notes and studied from them. I had also formed a few friendships with boys and life became easier. I was really a maggu back in IIT and I wish I had some more fun.

TG: The general Indian society can sometimes be a bit sexist.  Was it more emancipated at IIT?
PM: I don’t recall being treated differentially by any Professors because I was a girl. It was easy to be noticed but that was both good and bad. You couldn’t bunk classes and get someone to mark proxy presence for you.

The skewed sexual ratio played more of a role in making the girl-boy interaction uncomfortable and difficult.
 

TG: What was the nature of your work after you left IIT?
PM: I first went to UMich, Ann Arbor for my masters and then returned from US to join Hughes Software Systems as Software engineer in Jan 1997. The nature of the job was C++ programming in Networks/Telecom domain. However, I soon shifted to Internet/Ecommerce domain and Java. I was at IBM Research lab, Delhi for 6 years where I worked in e-commerce, e-coupons, e-governance, data-mining, targeting algorithms. I wrote over 12 patents and several research papers. My last job was in the area on comparison-shopping at Nextag.

TG: When did you first start writing?  Was it hard getting a publisher for your book which is doing well?
PM: I started writing in July 2008 after having quit my job at Nextag as Manager Engineering. I went about writing quite methodically using Ywriter tool.

After I finished the writing the manuscript, I approached several publishers over Internet. They were all intrigued by the topic but for some reason didn’t agree to publish. I am thankful to Jayanta Kumar Bose of Srishti publishers for having the confidence in my book and bringing it to the market.
 

TG: Why did you name your book Heartbreak and Dreams?  What were the other names you mulled on?
PM: ”Heartbreaks and Dreams!” refers to the two aspects that I have brought out in my book – relationships and aspirations. It is a story of conflict between a girl’s heart and mind. I chose this title as it is simple and conveys the essence of the book very well. The other titles were “Lovebirds and Bookworms” and “Beyond pigtail dreams”. 
 

TG: Is your book based more on fiction or based on the happenings at IIT?
PM: A large part is based on happenings from different people’s lives blended into a smoothie and presented with a flavor of fiction. However, there is fair bit of fictional incidents and characters to make it an interesting read.

TG: In India more and more women are taking their rightful place in the IT-ITES sectors. Why do you think more and more women are dropping out of tech careers in USA and Europe?
PM: This is news to me. I would expect women in US/Europe to be able to continue careers in IT-ITES sector because of more flexible and work-from home options. In India, either you work more than full-time or you do your own business. It’s very hard to have a satisfying career with reduced/flexible hours or work-from home.
 

TG: Is there any club/group for women who have passed out from IIT?
PM: We have a yahoo IITWomen mailing group and a small group on Facebook, which isn’t very active though. Nothing that has all IITWomen registered.
 

TG: Have you started your second book?  What is it all about?
PM: Not yet. I am trying to figure out the subject for my next book

TG: In the recent times, more and more IITans are writing books. Why do you think the trend is growing?
PM: I feel that every one has a story to tell. Like anywhere else, IITians are a mixed bag with some people good at writing, some at sports, some at singing, some at painting and some being only geeks. People are only following their creative streaks.

Of course market is also open to publishing first time authors and college fiction genre and that makes it easier.