SaumyaReviews: In conversation with author Shubham Choudhary

Shubham Choudhary: Shubham Choudhary is a Final year student of MNIT Jaipur, pursuing B.Tech in Electronics and Communication. Being an active blogger, he has written over a hundred articles, stories and poems. His works are based on hillarious observations of the daily life. Besides writing, he likes to travel and read biographies and fiction. He also has a deep interest in music and has taken training in the field of Radio Jockeying as well.

My EX Fell In Love is his debut novel. He has also got a short story published in an anthology by Grapevine India Publishers. He is actively involved in the start-up TalEx India. He has written for many websites, noticeable among them being, Youthdiaries.in, Bewakoof.com, News That Matters Not and TheWittyShit.com. He has also been awarded the blogger of the month award by YouthInc.

Let's read what he has to share with us :-

Before you became an author, you have been an avid blogger, your blog ‘Crap Reloaded’ famous for wit and sarcasm has been featured for its various hilarious blog posts. What has been the journey like?

=> That takes me back! Man I am talking like a forty year old. But it does, that time I was more regular with my blog. From one post to another, readers kept growing and I kept loving all the appreciation I got. I still remember some of the posts that crossed the so called ‘barriers’ of likes and re-tweets. Honestly, I owe the book and everything I do in the field of writing to my blog. I have actually seen myself grow as a writer, maybe one day I’ll grow up enough to write better. 2.Tell us about your first memory of being inspired by writing.

=> I have loved writing since I was a kid. English had always been my favorite subject. It became a passion when I started my blog. I think faking news and thewittyshit.com were two things that gave me the appreciation for the smallest pieces I wrote, which inspired me to write more. 3. What made you realize your aspirations of becoming an author?

=> The aspiration to write a book; well, it was like love in my case, it just 'happened'! I don't know how, I don't know why, I only know that once the idea came to my mind, I never though twice and went for it.

How did your debut novel ‘My ex fell in love’ see the light of the day?

=> I am a fast writer, but very lazy! Once I started writing, it was either one chapter in one day or nothing for weeks. After I got the acceptance for my sample chapters, I freaked out since I didn't have the manuscript ready. But things fell in place and one day I receive this call from my father saying you have a parcel couriered from someone. I go home and I see a book with a green cover and my name written over it. I am yet to have a better moment than that in my life!

That sounds terrific! ‘My ex fell in love’ was released 4 months ago. How has it been received so far?
=> I never keep a track of the number of copies it sold, since I didn’t write for that. But when it comes to reviews, luckily they've been too good. Even the finest of the reviewers of the country have given it pretty good reviews. Just hoping it continues and although I don’t keep the numbers, hope they’re good too.

To what extent is the story of your novel influenced from your own life?

=> Hardly one percent or maybe not even that much. Some thoughts of the characters might match mine, maybe one or two incidences, but the story is pure fiction. And that’s what I keep telling to all my readers. Maybe this interview will help telling them all at once, erm… again…

Tell us one reason why your blog-readers should go for your book.

=> Because the humor and the language you like on my blog in a one page article, is present in 204 such pages in it.

I am pretty sure about that. :) In the writing field what is going to be your next project?

=> There are three. I am back to blogging regularly, this time almost double the number of readers. So that’s one, blogging regularly. I have started writing my second book. Pretty hard topic this time, need to concentrate on that too. Plus my online forum YouthDiaries (a platform for budding writers) has been seeing a good rise in subscribers and writers lately. So I am going to be a little occupied with that too.

According to you how difficult the journey from ‘aspiring to be an author’ to ‘becoming an author’ is?

=> In one line, this difficulty is inversely proportional to the amount of dedication and honesty you show towards writing.

Very well-said! Tell us something about TalEx India and YouthDiaries, what is it all about and how are you involved?

=> TalEx. It means ‘ex’ploring ones ‘tal’ent. I and 4 friends of mine are working on this startup. I am the director along with two more friends from IIT Hyderabad and MNIT Jaipur. TalEx basically is an idea to create a linked in network of creative people. So that the artists get their buyers and the startups and services get their work. YouthDiaries is one project by TalEx where we have successfully provided a platform to many budding writers and we also have interns all across the country.

Besides writing what are your other passions?

=> Dancing and Radio Jockeying. I love both and have tried both semi-professionally as well. In fact I’d definitely try RJing professionally in future. Calling other things a ‘passion’ won’t be fair. Writing always stays on top.

Do you plan to go full time with writing? If not then what are your plans?

=> I am just a newbie. Currently I can’t even think of going full time. Not because it’s monetarily not feasible, but I won’t be doing justice with literature by doing it so early. Neither would this be a wise decision for an entrepreneur like me. I need to grow a lot as a writer. Maybe after that.

Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line?

=> No idea! I do plan to write a few good books, make good money, spend a good time learning new things and probably do post-graduation too. But all that is just a plan. Who knows what’s next!

You are in the initial stage of being an author. What is the one thing you enjoy the most about it?

=> Some obvious answers include the small bits of fame, the interviews, the media mentions, the fan-mails and the increasing number of friend requests. I thought I’d love it when I wasn’t an author. But frankly, this is all just a matter of a few moments. The thing you really enjoy is when someone talks to you about the book. Like they lived it, like they know the characters, like they were in it. When someone praises Yatharth or Vikalp, I smile because I know I created them. Nothing gives a better feeling than that.

Would you like to give any message to our readers?
=> 1. If you want to become a writer, do it now. There’s no next time

2. Ask this blog’s writer to be a little more regular, we miss the old awesome posts!

3. Read My EX Fell In Love. I won’t say it’s a literary masterpiece, but it sure would make you laugh like hell.

Rapid-fire round :-

One hobby you wish to inculcate:

=> Writing! And RJing comes next.
One author who inspires you the most:

=> Sydney Sheldon.
One place you can never get tired of visiting:

=> Pizza hut!
Favorite genre of music?

=> I love every kind. Rock has a slight edge though.
Favorite cuisine?

=> Indian (Rajasthani) and Italian.
Favorite movie?

=> Rang De Basanti (Bollywood) and The dark knight.