By Hemarghya Bal New Delhi, Oct 29 (PTI) In today's technology and socialmedia driven world, 'true love' may seem passe, but DurjoyDutta, one of India's leading romantic fiction writers, saiddigital love, like romances in the earlier times, is very"passionate".
"It's great to find your soul-mate at the click of abutton," he said.
The writer of bestselling books like, "Of Course I LoveYouÂ…", "She Broke Up, I Didn't!", "Oh Yes, I'm Single!" andmany others, was speaking at a session titled, 'The Heart ofthe Matter' at Penguin Fever 2017, a special edition of thepublishing house's annual Spring Fever.
Writers Ravinder Singh and Sudeep Nagarkar were also partof the session held yesterday at India Habitat Centre here.
Dutta, who himself proposed to his wife for marriage onTwitter, said that people are dismissive of the new ageromance thinking it is "transient" and "not real".
"But it's as passionate as love in the past," he said.
Having penned nine love stories and been married for ayear now, Nagarkar said he was still trying to get his headaround the complex concept of romance.
He admitted that the style and language of love hadchanged over the years.
"But, the essence is still the same," he added.
Some of his books include "She Swiped Right into myHeart", "It started with a friend request", "You're thepassword to my life" and "You are trending in my dreams".
Singh agreed saying that love at first sight continues tohappen; only the medium had changed.
"We are living in a time where love at first sight hasbecome love at the display picture," he quipped.
For those aspiring to write romantic fiction, Singh saidit was important for the stories they tell to touch thereaders' hearts.
"While I may be sleeping, unknowingly, someone else isreading the book and perhaps shedding a few tears for mycharacters.
"That is the best thing about writing a book," he said.
The writer has several books including "I Too Had a LoveStory", "Can Love Happen Twice?", "Like it happenedYesterday","Your Dreams are Mine Now" and "This Love ThatFeels Right", to his credit.
Talking about choosing their characters, Nagarkar said hepreferred creating someone who is relatable.
Dutta said he was all for drama.
He chooses to focus on a single trait and then build aworld around it.
"When you get a character that is idealistic in animperfect world, you automatically get a lot of drama," Duttasaid.
The six-day-long literary celebration marking the 30thanniversary of Penguin Random House India, began on October 26and has already hosted the likes of Arundhati Roy, Shobhaa Deand Vidya Balan.
Upcoming sessions include "The Rise of the Elephant"featuring politician-writer Shashi Tharror along withGurcharan Das and Sonu Bhasin, and "The Line of Beauty"featuring Perumal Murugan, Kannan Sundaram, Bibek Debroy andShamsur Rahman Faruqi.
The event will come to a close on October 31. PTI HMB TRSRJS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.