Author Ravinder Singh talks about his journey as a writer

Four years ago when author Ravinder Singh went on a trip to Europe, he had no idea his adventures would turn into his ninth novel The Belated Bachelor Party is a collection of adventures from this trip. “I kept talking about the incidents from the book to my publisher and one fine day he asked me to write about it! It took over two years of cajoling from his side to sell me that idea, but now I am glad that he did it,” said the writer who was in town to launch The Belated Bachelor Party at Pages The Book Shop. While it was his second visit to the city as a published author, his connection to Visakhapatnam dates back to the 90s when he was an engineering student who studied in Bidar, Karnataka. He would change trains in Visakhapatnam to head home to Burla in Odisha “I had to wait for over nine hours for my next train and I would spent that time roaming around the beaches or visiting a friend who lived at the Naval Base. This city has changed drastically since then and I would love to visit it for a holiday,” he said.

The Belated Bachelor Party is based on the story of four friends - Happy, MP, Ravin and Raamji who set out on a European tour that turns into a series of (mis)adventures. They get marooned on an unknown island between Croatia and Slovenia without valid visas, havebanned party drugs and a rifle cartridge in their luggage and are strip searched by border police...

Copies of 'The Belated Bachelor Party' by Author Ravinder Singh on display at Pages The Book Shop in Visakhapatnam

“Sixty per cent of the novel is based on real-life incidents. Forty percent of it comes from the creative liberty that I took to add a punch to the novel,” said Ravinder who also had to convince his friends to allow him to write about them!

It is a well known fact that it was the loss of his fiancee Khushi that triggered the writer in Ravinder and he wrote his first book, I Too Had A Love Story . “It was a catharsis as I wanted an outlet for my grief. However, the overwhelming response that the book got, prompted me to continue writing and here I am 12 years later with the ninth book.” Another novel Will You Still Love Me? came from his father’s accident where he lost his leg. “In the previous books I have woven these incidents into a romantic plot. But for the first time for The Belated Bachelor Party , I decided to keep the focus on friendship. If the readers like it, I would love to experiment with different genres.”

He has stepped out of his comfort zone all these years of writing aboutlove, loss and romance, that left his readers in tears. “This time I wanted to leave my readers in splits and thankfully the book is doing that.” The book has also given his fans vacation ideas. “So many readers tag me on Instagram or Facebook saying that this book has encouraged them to plan a vacation with their friends. People have also been posting pictures of their favourite lines from the novel. It is satisfying to see that the readers are enjoying what I wrote and the book is getting people together.”

Ravinder runs a publishing house called The Black Ink through which he supports aspiring writers and publish their debut novels. “At some point of time every writer is riddled by doubts about whether people would be interested in reading their story. But that should not stop one from writing.” He advised wannabe writers, “Write your story in all honesty and get it edited from an experienced editor.””