MTALKS with Sudeep Nagarkar, Author of ‘Thats the Way We Met’

By manjulikapramod

Mtalks 7/7 is back, yet again with another hit Indian writer who belongs to the bandwagon of Young, Enthusiastic Indian Authors. He is a rising star.

      The 'Author of the Week is Sudeep Nagarkar'

Sudeep Nagarkar, an established Author has initially given us a lovely romantic story ‘Few Things Left Unsaid’ . This week he is set to rock on Pendown. The first book was all about his love story, lost love Riya and his true feelings which had become a rage with the youngsters. The young readers had connected with it lovingly. Moving forward the legacy of romance, love and relationships, his second book ‘That’s The Way We Met’ has lived up to the high expectations and has become a favorite one with the readers already.

Thats the Way We Met

Pendown is glad to have the author in the hot seat. 7/7 volleys 7 questions and these will get him talking!!!

;) 

'LOVED ONE' CONTEST

That is not all, we bring a contest too. Tell us ‘HOW YOU MET YOUR LOVED ONE’ and the best one gets a book from the good people at Random House. Drop a comment or blog about it.

Let us know your secrets  and we are all ears. We are looking forward to your sweet story of meeting your loved one by 25th Dec’2012.

                          :)  :)  :)

M talks– Congratulations on the success of your second book. Tell us what is ‘THE BEST’ thing about the book. 

Author Sudeep– Thank you so much for the appreciation. I am happy that readers are enjoying and connecting well with ‘That’s the way we met’. The response is thrilling and it feels great. I can’t express one best thing about the book but yes, it was difficult to Pendown this book more than ‘Few things left unsaid’ as it had to live the expectations of the readers. I am glad that it lived up to the expectations. Still, if I have to mention the best thing about the book then it will be those Manali nights which I spent with my love Riya. It still brings goosebumps. Also the message I have conveyed to the current generation is what makes the book stand unique in its own way among the other love stories. As the book reveals my personal experiences it leaves a message that you need to be positive in your life and do not give up if you face rejection in relationships or break up. There is a line in the book which says ‘Do not fall in love, rise in love and make your love proud of your life. No matter he or she is with you or not’.

M talks– You are an Electronics Engineer turned Author. What is more of you as a person, ‘an Engineer or an Author’? How has been the journey?

Author Sudeep—  :D You are bang on in your questions. If I answer this with an Engineer, my parents and all the passionate engineers will smile and if I answer it with an author, all the fans and readers will smile. Ha ha. I will not be diplomatic though. If I think calmly, I think every person has an artist hidden inside him. You just need once incident which will leave a deep impact on your life, to bring that art in public. I think I identified it before I would have got trapped in rat race. I still believe completing engineering is tougher than writing a book. :D . To keep it simple, I am an author by passion and engineer by profession. Talking about the journey, the transition phase was quite difficult and I must say to get recognized in the league of authors you need to be very proactive and at at least for some time you need to give full time to promote it. Hard work will always be recognized and I felt honoured to be a part of Bangalore literature festival which included some big names of literary field.

M talks– How is life post becoming an Author? How do things change overnight, tell us your memorable experiences of the journey from manuscripts to hard bound books.

Author Sudeep— I don’t think life has changed overnight. I still roam with my friends and enjoy my freedom. It’s just that nowadays people recognize me in the crowd as the guy in the author picture of ‘That’s the way we met’ and ‘Few things left unsaid’. :D

As I said I never thought of becoming a writer, and never imagined to become a best-seller author too. So every positive experience and even negative are worth cherishing. The difficult phase of getting published was the memorable one. Now I look back at those 10 months when no one accepted my work and smile. Recently, when I was in Bangalore literature festival a small 13 years old girl asked my autograph and snap. So it feels nice. When I was at the airport I saw ‘That’s the way we met’ in recommended and best-seller section. I think that is the dream of every author. I am proud that now I can keep the memories of my relationship with Riya near my heart forever. It was painful to write the emotional break up scenes and I cried many times while writing both the books but I had to do it for my love. Looking at the response from the youth, now I can proudly say that one night stands have not taken over true love in the current generation. They still appreciate and want true love in their life rather than sex buddies.

M talks-What prompted you to become an Author? You always had it in yourself or was it the love loss that made it happen?

Author Sudeep—I think the later part of the question holds true. If I would not have entered engineering, I would not have met my love Riya. If I would not have met her, I would not have loved her. If I would not have loved her, I would have never felt the pain of losing true love. My both books are dedicated to my love and to all those who feel depressed and decide to end their life after facing failures in their life. I wanted to give them a message that you cannot change your past, but you can live the happy moments you had in your past and live your present.

M Talks-Your first book had a heartfelt write up and a touching theme but I personally felt, it lacked refinement on literary context. I am sure they have been worked upon in ‘ That’s The Way We Met’. How much do book reviews help to improvise in the next projects?

Author Sudeep— I never wrote the books keeping in mind literary context. Reviewers and bloggers call it pulp fiction, chick lit books and so on. In India, we are still to accept thrash fiction widely. However, like other genre out there, this genre too has its own battles to fight and market share to corner. I just wrote as I felt the problems I faced in my life, are common in all the teenagers and youth of today. Thus, they got connected well with the book and got wide appreciation all over India. I get so many messages that ‘That’s the way we met’ was the first book they read and now they have developed the habit of reading. You cannot deny the fact that such books have increased the readership in India. Now its publishers take which script they feel to publish. Talking about book reviews, to some extent they help in improving yourself in your future projects however changing your style of writing because of some critics is not worth. I have seen some reviewers who write a book review not keeping in mind the readers of that genre but their personal views. So such reviewers should not be taken seriously. Indian critics and reviewers are very variable. Indian readers do not buy books only because of good reviews. They buy them out of curiosity, word of mouth praise from friendship circle or browsing on-line sites. It’s important to be yourself and leave on readers whether they like it or not. I hope you will love reading ‘That’s the way we met’.

M Talks-You connect really well with your readers on Facebook and I highly appreciate it. You are friendly. You write all about romance so definitely a loving person. Tell us more about yourself and your hobbies. What have you grown reading?

Author Sudeep--I personally feel it is important to connect with your readers to know their feedback. The scenario has changed drastically in last few years. Earlier when readers used to read Nicholas sparks or Dan Brown they never knew how these writers look or what they do in their personal life. Nowadays there is easy access through social networking sites and readers want to know more about their favorite authors. If we authors don’t connect with their readers, then they are not accepting the fact that we are recognized as authors only because of our readers. I love to be myself. I don’t try to pretend. I think my friends have helped a lot in developing this attitude in me. I love listening to music and go for night outs on the road of Mumbai. I am not an avid reader but reading books completely depends on my mood. I have read books like ‘Many minds many masters’, ‘Not without my daughter’ and even books like ‘Five point someone’, ‘Mills and boons’.

MTalks–When will the third book happen? Also give us a strong statement that would make the readers grab or order your books instantly…

Author Sudeep–I was expecting this question to come.  I am working on it. It’s too early to say anything on it. It’s just 5 to 6 months for the release of ‘That’s the way we met’. You can expect the book to release in second half of 2013.
To all those who have not read ‘That’s the way we met’, I can say you can read the book as it portrays that side of relationship where you are not the ruler of your relation. Sometimes you need to take decisions which will hurt you but you are helpless. Readers can connect with the incidents through their personal experiences. Even the IT professionals and office employees will connect with the corporate environment portrayed in the book. One strong message that the book leaves is you should love someone unconditionally and without expectations which rarely happens these days. Also, I would like to thank all those readers who read the book and recommended it to their friend circle. Love you all. Signing off!

Best way to connect with the Author is Facebook. He is very active one there. :)

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26 thoughts on “MTALKS with Sudeep Nagarkar, Author of ‘Thats the Way We Met’”

  6. My grand mom left this world few months back I was all alone because I couldn’t stay with out her. My friends want me to get me out from wretchedness and so they planned to hang around. I hanged out with my buddies reluctantly. I was surprised to see many of them, with my knowledge I thought only we four. They were about 7 people and I don’t know anyone of them. They are from Mumbai and Delhi. They came to visit as it was 4 years all of them met. My friend is from Mumbai, she got settled in Hyderabad due to her father business. I managed to fuse and enjoyed for that moment. I liked a person Ashish the way he behaved and the way he treated. I could see that responsibility and care towards his friends. Gradually, I kept in contact with everyone I met. I came to know about his details that he is from Delhi and he will be doing his higher education in uk. I never thought that we would come in contact again. I got a call from my friend and she told me about the bash as a gathering before they all leave. This time it was in my friends place, she wanted to tell about her relation to her parents but she couldn’t. We enjoyed and gradually I became very close to Ashish. We were almost in a relation and confessed it to our friends. I was amazed when my friend Prarthana knew everything about it. Whatever it is I am happy. Although we are from different mores I just feel it’s in destiny for us both to meet. Love doesn’t bother from which state you belong to it just bothers about its feelings. I am glad to have such friends and an understanding soul mate.

  8. March in Hyderabad is a hot, brooding month. The days are long and humid . I was in the final semester of my bachelor’s. I belonged to those fortunate few who were already placed in Multi National Companies, even before the completion of the final semester. So, I was felt like a king. As it happens in India, before I even get the offer letter on my hand, my mother told this news to our maid and she had spread this to our entire colony. I still remember that day! My mom asked me to get some groceries from the nearby shop and thus I started walking out towards the store…I just took a left turn from a lane and suddenly saw a girl. She was tall, lean having oval face with sharp features. Instantly I realized that she was none other than my neighbor, with whom I never used to talk (not because I don’t like talking to her but because I never got a chance to talk). All the while I was thinking while walking and started to observe if she greets me. She was coming nearer and nearer but there is no sign of her greeting to me. So I thought of taking a chance this time and greeting her. I said a hello and in turn she congratulated me for my placement. I was stupefied as how on earth did she come to know about this news. Later during our discussion she told me that the maid had told about this to her mother. After an hour, we suddenly realized that we both were talking under hot sun and we exchanged each other’s contact information and left. Later that day, after reaching home I pondered how come I talked to someone under the hot sun for more than an hour. And on the top of it, I didn’t even felt the climatic heat, which was indeed terrible that day. From this day, my life has took a new direction altogether. I had found a wonderful friend in her who is ever ready to care, share and bear every walk of my life. I always used to have a strong conviction that anything that happens for the first time in our life leaves us with a indelible mark, be it first love, first kiss, first job, first salary or anything for that matter. This is indeed my first love and perhaps the last. And this is how we met  , kyaa life hogi set? Lets hope for the best !!!

  11. i met my loved one in a train… a trip from vaishnodevi to bangalore… i was a patient travelling with my family and he and his 3 friends were in the same compartment of mine…. they spoke to my brother and started the conversation ending up playing antakshari with me… my guy managed to take my number from my bro and texted me once we reached banagalore… thats the way we met… :)

  15. nice one……evn i wanted to write my story but somehow felt it would be a “conflict of interest” for u, so may be next time for some generic topic…….all the best M…..

  18. After completing my degree and a gap of 6 months including a few months outside India. I went for my first interview outside campus.. Though I had a few offers but I didn’t get that feeling that I belong there or wanted to work for any of those companies.
    Anyways reached the place before time, as usual.. Had a few friendly glances from people around and continued with preparing myself for the interview.. After HR round came the technical round.. Waited for almost 6 hrs finally my turn came and just before me a guy came out of the room and said that the interviewer is a quiet cool guy.. A very good human being.. I felt relieved.. We always have that feeling that interviewer is a monster.. Lol
    I entered the room, my heart beat starts running and the person in front of me had the most positive aura.. Very warmly he asked me how long have I waited, did I eat something since Mrng and apologised for the delay.. My nervousness vanished in seconds.. And that’s how i met my loved one..
    I never knew that this person will be mine for life.. For me it wasn’t love at first site, for him it was.. I took my time in knowing him as a person anddddd yesssss he is the best thing that has ever happened to me..
    People say no one can love u like your parents do.. And just like manjulika I am also a bigg fan of my dad..
    R loves me equally if not more :)

    • That was lovely Akriti..Welcome to my blog.
      So u met your loved one in the Interview for job.. wow.. dats cool.
      A great meeting with R I must say and its heartening to know that you are fond of both the men in your life. I am sure they both treat you like a princess.
      Thanx for being part of the contest. :)

      • Your reply brought smile on my face.. And yesss you are right, both of them treat me like princess, one of them even calls me that :)
        Andd I must say keep up the good work.. Thumbs up for ur attempt of taking out time for writing from an otherwise hectic life.. All the best:)

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