BENGALURU : Written in a way that each section in the book has a theme, And... Perhaps Love (Penguin Random House India, Rs 275) helps the reader shatter labels associated with love. Author Sanil Sachar, the founding partner of Gurugram-based incubator, Huddle, says the most challenging part of writing his fifth work on such a diverse topic was to find six beginnings to the story. Excerpts from an interview:
How has the book captured the essence of the emotion of love?
Vulnerable in every positive sense! I think the moment we openly speak and write about love, people start to believe you know the subject inside out, but then they also question what you know versus what they have encountered. To speak about love in the manner the book is created, definitely was nerve wracking to begin with because it was very experimental to remove all elements of characters from the book. This way, while I wanted to get the reader as close to being the character, love as a subject has different reactions per person.
Does the book have any real-life inspiration?
Fiction is typically a term given to reality we try to hide… so, yes, there is reality in this book too. However, not just my reality but those I know and several strangers I’ve collected information from while having conversations over my travels. I end up holding conversations with strangers at bars and cafes and make notes from our conversations. With And… Perhaps Love, it was easy because any conversation either revolves around beginning with love or ends up in love.
How does the book proceed?
We all have a different approach to love, so for a reader to read it in my way, would lead to tunnel vision. Therefore, writing it in a manner that helps the reader become the protagonist, and pick up the book to begin with six different ways, was a challenging but fun experience at our end. Books are typically read as per the character but here I want to let the reader play protagonist.
How easy it was to include prose and poetry in a single book?
Definitely not easy, but I loved mixing all forms of literature in one because it makes it easier to get as close to the subject of love in all forms through this amalgamation of writing styles. I’ve experimented with this approach before and realised it helps make the work more conversational, which is essential for any book. As the writing styles utilises short and long form, marrying prose and poetry was easy, but the structuring to ensure the reader can read the book with six different beginnings and end around 50 ways was a new challenge.
As a writer, what inspires you the most?
Challenging the norm and forms of literature, whilst inspiring my readers to play the protagonist and take the words forward in whichever way they’d like to recreate it. As a writer, diving into unchartered territories inspires me each day to pick up what is harder to do and harder to speak about.
What are the intriguing things you found that you have mentioned in the book?
Love is the most powerful tool we have. Like a pendulum, it dictates how our time will be spent, and like oxygen, it is the reason we live. Without oxygen, we see no light and without love, well, there is no life.
What kind of research went into writing the book?
It’s one of the few books where there was no structure to the research. Simply because the subject is as deep as the ocean, and no amount of research would be enough. Therefore, I’ve been utilising the research from reading books on love, how people perceive love (typically romanticised) and conversations with strangers around the world. Of course, lastly, personal experiences!