Shreya Prabhu Jindal's Simply Complicated mirrors relationship problems among youth. The author tells Karan Bhardwaj how gadgets and the Internet have revised kinships
How have you struck a balance between realism and melodrama in Simply ComplicatedIJ
This book is essentially about five friends living in a big city, figuring out their relationships with each other and what they want to do with their lives. This might sound a bit cliched but I have tried to be very realistic about it. The relationships are not just romantic; I have also explored familial relationships as well as friendship and what these things mean in the modern age. This is why the book is different from others of the genre — I strive for realism rather than melodrama, though some drama is, of course, always a good thing!
Is growing up really complicatedIJ
Growing up these days is very complicated! The problem is that my generation thinks very differently about the world, partly because we are a lot more exposed to Western culture through technology. Our values are sometimes completely different from those of our parents and this huge, unprecedented gap makes things quite complicated. Also, people now have a harder time because unlike in the previous generations, you can actually date for years before getting married. Though this is a good thing, it has also given rise to phrases like “commitment phobic” and “long distance relationship” and a whole new dating code which is very confusing.
How do you craft charactersIJ
The characters are all based, loosely, on people I know or have heard of. There are five characters. Aastha was molested in a nightclub and is now trying to deal with the trauma of that incident and the effect it has on her relationships. Then there are Sameer and Karuna who are in a five year relationship which goes into a crisis when her parents start looking for a match for her. Rahul and Padmini are a typical couple and are always on the verge of breaking up. I gave each character a voice and a perspective. The entire novel is made up of alternating perspectives of these characters. I didn’t want to completely give my sympathies to any of them.
The subject is appealing to the youth...
I tried to make the book relatable by choosing problems that people face all the time. Not being satisfied with your job, being miserable in a relationship, fighting with parents because they want to marry you off early or don’t approve of your boyfriend/girlfriend — everyone will at least know someone who has gone through one of these things. That’s why I think a lot of people in my generation will be able to relate to the book.
Your books deal with emotions and turmoil in relationships. Do you take cue from your own lifeIJ
Not really, I am generally quite a calm person. My life is very undramatic and I’m usually the ‘sane’ friend who people call for relationship advice. A lot of the drama in my books is because of what I’ve learnt from the people around me. After school and college, a lot changes in life.
How should one prepare for changes in life at different stagesIJ
I think after college, people stop investing time in a relationship which doesn’t have a future. You get busy with work and you just don’t have time for emotional investment. Some people want to get into casual relationships where the ‘no-strings-attached’ policy is made clear at the beginning, others start thinking about the future of their relationships in a more serious way. I don’t think there is a specific way to deal with emotional baggage that comes along with relationships and with friends, that’s a part of life which can’t be avoided. You should just not let it take over every aspect of your life!
How would you decode relationships in times when people are guided by their gadgetsIJ
I think it’s hilarious that you have four people sitting at a table in a restaurant and all of them will be on their cell phones. Phones and the Internet have changed relationships. It has changed the way people court each other. Career and money have become important but people want meaningful relationships, too. One must try to get a balance in life.
You have written a short movie starring Kuch Spice To Make it Meetha starring Purab Kohli and Nauheed Cyrusi. Are you writing any other scriptIJ
I co-scripted the movie with Adeeb Rais, director of Main Aur Mr Right. Adeeb and I were classmates during junior college. We are both creatively inclined so we keep bouncing ideas off each other for our projects. This was an idea we both worked on together during our college years though we weren’t even in the same city at the time. We obviously had no idea that it would become such a big success on YouTube. No, I’m not writing any other script though I wouldn’t mind doing so if someone approaches me with something interesting.
Do you keep the possibility of movie adaptation in mind while writingIJ
I tend to write very cinematically and picture most of my book as scenes in a movie while writing. This is not something I do on purpose to make it more likely for my books to become movies. I just think it’s a good style that captures and retains people’s attention. I would obviously be thrilled if someone ever made my book into a Bollywood movie.
Being the granddaughter of linguist NS Prabhu, does writing come naturally to youIJ
My grandad loves and supports everything I do. He used to tell us so many stories growing up, so I think some of my love for stories came from him. As a writer, I get inspired by anything unusually powerful or emotional; a scene or moment which I think is interesting or unusual. My stories are usually built up from there.
What are your literary influencesIJ Who are your favourite authorsIJ
I grew up reading Harry Potter, lord of the Rings and other fantasy novels. I was a huge fantasy fan and always thought I’d write in that genre but things changed. What I’m writing is very different from what I used to read because it’s important to write what you know best. I do try to use some tricks from fanfic like putting cliffhangers at the end of each chapter to keep people reading.
Will you write non-fictionIJ
I don’t think I will ever write non-fiction. It’s not imaginative. I hope to expand my repertoire with time. As I experience more of life, I will have more things to write about.