AUTHOR INTERVIEW- Nilesh Chogle

Interview with Nilesh Chogle, the author of

"Passion Fruits: A Bundle of Short Fiction"

Greetings Sir..

Hope you are doing good. Let me begin the interview.

Can you tell us about yourself?

Before I begin to tell you about myself, let me say this "I was not born to write. I wrote out of a sheer desire to write only in the midst of an impending crisis". I was happy with a full time job, getting my salary at the end of the month. Hard work indeed! It did not pay off too well—Hardest Work, I mean. I had to find an occupation which kept me going on until I would have one day died! The day I retired from actual service, I had already created a road map in my mind's eye that I wanted to write a Life Script which was different, more satisfying, which would one day earn me money and fame, as well. Sitting in front of a Personal Computer--this I never wanted to change! I never wanted to travel too in my job which I frequently did in my career.

Because, I was never such a great traveler, after my little health hiccup, an accident which paralyzed me partly. Instead, I thought of an occupation which could give me my daily bread and butter sitting in front of a computer asking for a fair amount of dignity in society and the happiness of using my thoughts getting carved out on a paper. This script had to be, obviously different from what I used to pursue for a living. Now my paradigm had changed, as I thought to myself that I can change old habits and get into new ones. But I would not have the ability to change all my old habits. Some habits would still remain.I used to spend hours in the office in front of a computer. This is how I started writing or carving a plot, as a planter would carve one, for a good story.

When did you first start writing?

In 2015, I started writing short stories for a cloud sourced short story contest. Having not scored a single winning entry in this contest, I did not lose hope, but decided to carve for me a more satisfying way of writing—writing differently.

How did you get interested in writing?

Well, I scribbled something all the time.....

But something told me that I may not be able to come out with a better novel right in the beginning with the kind of failure or so to say a stepping stone, I had endeavored to take. I therefore learned the craft by reading novels of prominent writers. Some of them being best sellers, but not necessarily, extraordinary writers. I need not spell out their names. They are all there and everywhere today. And have become famous through their writings indeed! But they all inspired me immensely....with their writings and the fascination of the fact that they were all making a hell of a lot of money out of their writing abilities. That made me at time jealous too of them. I was a nobody in this mighty world...My fascination was primarily towards the writings of Chetan Bhagat and Ravinder Singh...I liked their genres---Love and the stories woven around these themes. I was fond of Bertrand Russel's writing style, and later Paulo Coelho's. In fact, I learnt a lot by reading through and through some books of these writers quite intently.

Tell us about your book, sir.

My novella, Passion Fruits: A Bundle of Short Fiction is indeed a book framed around the cycle of life...As individuals we go through many different experiences, gathered through our perceptive power of imagination and the actualization of those perceptive preoccupations. We go through many revelations in this process. But we must have faith in our abilities to begin with. My novella is a compilation of different stories. They are a cluster of about seven stories, interwoven around a chord touching human emotions and passions. The stories are quite captivating, are in varying tones reflecting the emotions of love, doubt,deception,mystery,passion,desperation and fear. Both daunting and fearless, as well..stories that would touch the heart of my readers.

What is the purpose of writing this book?

This novella is a breather, meaning it would test my writing skills in the hands of my readers. The purpose is to bring out a small novella which one could read quite easily and finish in one go.... It would not make me a best selling writer with this novella, but certainly it would put me on a trail of improving my writing craft and my story telling skills. There are many people chasing the title of the best seller in this world. I don't want to once again get caught up in the rat race of winning the best and achieving a title. This I had already experienced in my corporate job serving almost half of a life span in leading Pharmaceutical MNC for several years. Now, I wanted to do things "differently". If I can borrow Shiv Khera's words in letter and spirit "Winners don't do different things, they do things differently". That sentence inspired me a lot and would love to practice that genre. As I said, I don't want to settle for the title of the best selling writer. I want to be a better writer whose book is read and appreciated across different genres.

Reason behind the title?

Obviously, my book is all about Passions, and the fruits of passions. I am hence named the title in a way befitting the content of the book. It sounds misleading as well because there are real fruits in this Novella, called " Passion Fruits". But these captivating tales are not about fruits that we eat, but the fruits that we chase because of our passions, created by our thoughts, through our perceptions and imaginations.

What or who was the inspiration for this book?

The inspiration was partly my own willingness to enter into a short story contest and also the fact that I had found that I can accomplish some such kind of a book. In fact, my belief in my abilities, as a writer. You may not win a contest, but you cannot be denied of your belief that you are a writer. There is another facet to the writing episodes. I already was an accomplished fine artist, who loved to draw and paint as a hobby. This dimension is a dimension of creativity, of our inner voice and our abilities to observe, introspect, and do a fine art work on a canvas in a medium of your choice. Writing a book is somewhat similar to painting, and opens up our innate talent and our inner self to the world around us.

Is this your debut book?

No, this is NOT my debut book.

I crafted prior to this book a small fiction book entitled "Together With You Forever", which was launched in October 2015. This book would make anyone become humble in love and romance, while facing the challenges of life. Life is not always a bed of roses, but also has thorns in it.

This is a different story about two lovers who begin their journey of love and romance around the floods and end in trying times. Love viscilates in turbulent times and is lost and found frequently. The plot has locations set around areas of Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore and Germany. It is not the usual kind of love story which we read, but a true contemporary story with a message about dementia, the much talked about dangers to civil society.

Since I had worked all along in the Pharmaceutical sector, somewhere I rubbed myself with this idea of introducing the genre of contemplative reading in my contemporary love/romance story line. This novel has been much liked by my readers and I have been well appreciated in my debutante venture. This is evident from the various reviews I received on ecommerce sites of amazon, flipkart, infibeam, as well as on the publisher's ecommerce site.

I have also brought out a Hindi translated work of the above mentioned book entitled:

"Tera Saath Rahe", and is available on all ecommerce platforms mentioned above. This book is primarily for the Hindustani people, as Hindi is our National Language, and I thought that a Hindi translation of my celebrated book "Together With You Forever" would benefit more Hindi speaking populace.

Is this a total fiction or inspired from real life?

Most of the book is about real life. But, has been appropriately fictionalized to suit readers' interest. Adding to it, fun, entertainment, romance and a spiritual angle.

What is your passion?

My primary passion is art and the aesthetics; creative writings and reading, around goodness in life.

I am also an ardent listener and have a flair for rendering favorite vocal numbers from the golden ages of the Hindi film industry, both semi-classical and the pop. I have also studied astrology and palmistry and continue to study this ancient science.

What are your views on God?

I have no specific views on God, but I believe that there is some higher force around us which defines all human and nonhuman activities, whether you call it God or Infinite Intelligence, Consciousness, awareness of a different realm.

What are your views on love and relationships?

Love is the primary force around which, I feel Life goes on... If there was no love, all of us would be robots. We would not have progressed the way mankind has progressed till this age. Love is a burning fire, always alive, and is the true blessing of God or the Infinite Intelligence. Relationships are changeable, fleeting and conditional. They depend more on situations and circumstances, than on the human being, perse. It is based on morality and our personality and character ethics. All these relationships are woven around time. Best of the relationship perish because of misunderstandings and egotistic desires. Human beings have a bundle of choices. We chose according to our needs and have to persistently change ourselves as per times. They are dynamic and fluctuating. But some relationships face the challenge and test of our survival instincts.

How do you feel when you write?

When I write, I feel that I carry no baggage on my shoulders. When I write, I allow my creativity to seek its zenith in my own way.

What are your other hobbies?

The other hobbies, as I said earlier, has been drawing, painting, reading,music and astrology.

How was your publishing journey with blue rose publishers?

My publishing journey so far has been mixed. Meaning I had to frequently contact different departments for support. But most of them who attended to me were receptive and adherent.

When can we expect your next book?

No plans yet.

Where can readers find your other writings?

On many platforms amazon.in and amazon.com flipkart, infibeam, shopclues and The Oxford Book Store, Mumbai, Delhi; Hugginbothoms and Spencers in Chennai, Gangarams in Bangalore and Crosswords, in Pune's infinity mall.

Where can readers connect to you?

My readers can connect to me on Facebook, twitter handle @6chogs1, on my Wordpress blog :http//www.nileshchogle.wordpress.com Goodreads and Linkedin.

They can connect to me on my web site : nileshchogle.in created by Blue Rose Publishers, as well.

Few words you would like to say to your readers.

I loved the goodies Blue Rose Publishers sent me, and particularly loved the magazine "LitGleam of Blue Rose Publishers", which is brought out every month and is available also on amazon.in

In addition to this I would say What Mark Twain has said " A man who doesn't read has no advantage over the man who can't read". That sums up, practically all advices on reading and writing and being literate, educated and cultured. Most of the literary writers were not those men or women who earned huge University Degrees, but were educated in the real sense of the word!

Finally, few words of advice for the budding writers?

I can only say this much " Read and Keep Writing...Because Writing would lead to further Writings...and Better Writing and make you a better human being.....".

Thank you for your time sir... All the best for your future endeavors..