IITian pens IIT Romance
By Suneetha

Shubha Ranjan Saha, who studied Mechanical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Madras, did not go far when he needed a premise for his debut novel. He chose the IIT, and the rest of his premise came from the peripherals of his work place, the airlines industry. S R Saha, the author of 'Jab se you have loved me... the story of an Airhostess and an IITian', speaks to TG

Techgoss (TG): Tell us about yourself, your techie background mainly with education and work trajectory.
Shubha Ranjan Saha: I am from Kolkota. I joined IIT, Madras to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering and graduated way back in 1987. Unlike, many of my batch-mates and much to the ire of my father, I chose to stay back in India and not go to the USA for higher studies.

I had chalked out my career-graph as such – job for two years, after my B.Tech, then quit the job, and go for an M.B.A degree and thereafter make a grand entry into the corporate world with everything in my arsenal needed to shoot down any competition – IIT, degree, engineering work experience, M.B.A et al. But it didn’t work out that way, as it had always happened with me – ‘jo sochta o hota nahin, jo hota o kabhie socha bhi nahin.’ However, in spite of not so impressive grade card I got several job offers from a number of India’s top companies. I chose to join Indian Airlines, for at that age the lure of getting to work on Boeings and Airbuses was too overbearing.

For the first five years of joining Indian Airlines, I was posted in my hometown Kolkata and had the time of my life. Adda sessions, theatre, soirees, football matches, ilish and rosogollas blended into a perfect intoxicant to make me drift away from my chasing an M.B.A dream. However, I had realized at that point in time, that aircraft maintenance was a very specialized job and needed many examinations to be passed to get an Aircraft Maintenance Engineers’ licence. I was to an extent enjoying the job as well, and decided, ‘I will make a career in aviation.’ I am still there, maintaining airplanes owned and operated by Air India now.

From 1992 to 2001, I was posted in Bombay (it was so called then), and it was during this time that I took to writing, primarily to get away with the boredom of being alone most of the times in the Western Region stations – Aurangabad, Indore, Mangalore, Goa and so on wherever Indian Airlines flew. I had written short stories and articles earlier, which could only find a place in the campus magazine.

My first novel, titled, ‘Airline’ a love-thriller, was rejected by all the publishers whom I had sent the manuscript to. But those were pre-Chetan Bhagat days and Indian writers meant Khushwant Singh or Shobha De. 

TG: How did you come about writing a novel and how come you chose an IITian as a character? 
Shubha Ranjan Saha: I have been writing a bit, mostly short stories. A few of them were published in the pullout of ‘The Sunday Statesman,’ a few on various websites, an obscure magazine and the like. For a long time I had nurtured the desire to get my own novel published – however trash it might be. But when I read Amitav Ghosh, Kiran Desai or John Grisham I knew I could never write like them. Then came Chetan Bhagat. When I read his third book, ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’ that was a roaring bestseller I told myself, ‘Machaan, you can certainly write like this.’ So, I wrote this novel, ‘Jab se you have love me,’ during my lonely postings in Guwahati, Agartala and all (by that time I was transferred back to the Eastern Region).  The title of the novel is however, my publisher’s brainchild, for I had ‘Pottycool’ on the cover in mind.

TG: How much time did you take to write the book?
Shubha Ranjan Saha: I wasn’t a regular writer, sitting with my laptop only during off days and so it took a little less than a year to complete it.

TG: How did you go about publishing it?
Shubha Ranjan Saha: Honestly, I did not expect it to get it published. But I had send the entire manuscript by e-mail to several publishers. And Jayantada of Srishti replied back affirming his willingness to publish the book. Thereafter, I had made a couple of visits to Delhi and rest was taken care of by Jayantada, who has been by mentor and guide.

TG: When was this published and what has been the response of the readers?
Shubha Ranjan Saha: The book was published in July 2010. I would have loved to say that the response of the readers were overwhelming, but that would be an outright lie. I did a John Grisham like act though. When his first book, ‘A time to kill,’ was published he, along with one of his friends went on to peddle his book loading them in the dickey of his car. Well, I did a similar thing, and purchased 100 copies of my own book, and went to the bookshops at Kolkata Airport, and a couple of roadside magazine shops in Kolkata and told those guys, ‘Sell these books and all the cash you get is yours.’. Those books of course got sold off in no time. I have received quite a few e-mails from young men who have acknowledged that the book is very enjoyable. But I do feel that a little more marketing would have sold this book more. I am unable to do it myself, as my job takes a lot of my time. The book that I wrote is easy to read, satirical and with all the ingredients of a bestseller – love, revenge, a little adventure and lots of fun.

TG: How have the sales been so far? Has a film offer been made?
Shubha Ranjan Saha: As far as sale of the book is concerned, I do not know, honestly. I have never asked my publisher. But he had once said that the ‘National Bestseller’ tag is put on the cover when sales of a book cross 20,000 copies. I see a flattering tag like that in the copies that are in circulation now and probably can assume that so many copies have been sold.

No, I haven’t received any film offer, but it’s a very ‘filmy’ book. Salman Khan as the hero would perfectly fit in. I just do not know how to reach out to a filmmaker.

TG: What are your reading habits?
Shubha Ranjan Saha: I read whatever I can lay my hands on – fiction, action, adventure whatever. I cannot say who my favourite author is, but I enjoy reading Jeffry Archer, John Grisham, Amitav Ghosh and Sidney Sheldon. I read a lot of Bengali literature as well and like reading Shirshendu Mukhopadhay, Sunil Gangopadhay and Suchitra Bhattacharya. Rabindranath Tagore, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhay, Satyajit Ray and Sharadindu Bandopadhay did have a deep influence on me during my formative years. Presently I am reading Amish Tripathi’s ‘Immortals of Meluha’, and am finding it engrossing.

TG: Have you read books by other IITians like Chetan Bhagat / Farahad Zaama and the rest of them? How do you compare yourself with them?
Shubha Ranjan Saha: Chetan Bhagat – sure, I’ve read all his books including ‘Revolution 2020’. In a way he is my ‘Guru’. Honestly, I have had never heard of Farahad Zaama before this query. But now I know (Googling, of course) that he is the author of the immensely successful ‘The Marriage Bureau for Rich People.’ No, I haven’t read this book and the others that he has written.

My first venture had flaws – the timeline wasn’t appropriate, grammatical and syntax errors had crept in. But the next one will be more carefully produced. I wouldn’t really like to compare my writings with other authors, for though I’m from the same genre, my style is a little different from them.

My stories are about love and friendship but are never boring as I add some element of adventure in them. I am probably the first author who has used (and will be using) a lot of Hindi words in an English novel to reach out to more young Indian readers. I write in simple language and make sure that the ending is on a high note inducing a ‘feel good’ element into the reader when he finishes the book. I put in little sub-plots, to make the story more interesting. I believe that these type of ‘masala, paisa wasool’ light reads will have even better market in the coming days.

TG: Are you looking to write another book?
Shubha Ranjan Saha: I am midway into writing my next ‘love story’ titled, ‘The jadoo of your love.’ It is about love and friendship, but with a completely different flavour. A little mature subject of a boy being in love with an already married elder woman is being dealt with. It is also a story about an unwed mother. It will be an interesting read for sure with lots of twists and turns. It will be published by Srishti.

I intend writing a children’s fantasy book set in India with kings, queens, flying horses next. Of course I really do not know if I will be able to find a publisher for it.