HYDERABAD: “The average young Indian reader’s attention span is barely an hour. That is why my new book tries to keep it short and simple,” states Prraveen Khumar N, author of the e-book titled An Incredible Indian Rescue. Although he was keen to release a paperback in April, the Covid-19 lockdown delayed the launch and now he has released this self-published book in late May. “I did approach traditional publishers, but the wait and the whole process was tedious.
In fact, I encourage most writers to try self publishing because by the time the publishers actually give a go-ahead, the fire in your belly will die and you will no longer have the motivation to write,” says this 29-year-old country head of a property evaluation company based in New Delhi. However, Prraveen says that Hyderabad has a sweet place in his heart as he started his career at a bank in Gachibowli in 2013. “I visit Hyderabad twice a month as part of my property valuation and I do have many friends who will relate to the book. In fact, I can speak Telugu fluently as I studied in Nellore for two years to get IIT coaching,” says this IITM alumnus.
Prraveen started writing his book in November 2019 and wrapped it in three months. “While the book is a fiction, the inspiration is from a diligent CISF officer called Mani Bharathi. Mani was my classmate who was a topper who went on to graduate in Computer Science engineering but chose to work in the Armed Forces. I am proud of him and if my book can convince at least one youngster to join the Forces, I would consider that the purpose of my book has been served,” says the author.
A big fan of Indian English author Chetan Bhagat, Prraveen believes that it was Chetan who inspired him to not just read fiction, but also to motivate him to pick up pen and paper and write too. “I know that Chetan Bhagat’s books are labelled fastfood literature, but his ability to write about the average Indian youngster, his down-to-earth simple and lucid style of writing inspired me to also pen a book.” “My book is for the young Indian adult, say a Class VIII grader to a 21-year-old. You can finish reading my book in an hour in the time you take a flight from Hyderabad to Chennai or do a cab commute from Secunderabad to Gachibowli,” says the author whose book ranked 26th in the 100 list of Amazon as on June 3.
The young author also got his friend Suresh Kalpathi, Chairman – Kalpathi AGS Group, a movie production house in Chennai, to write the foreword for his book. Suresh has produced movies such as Thani Oruvan which was remade as Dhruva in Telugu. “Indians love movies and when a production house tweets about a book, it will automatically raise curiosity about the book. In fact, book writers should collaborate with movie producers in future as it would be a win-win for the author whose book can be made into a movie later,” says Prraveen who adds that Suresh has mentioned that the book has all elements of a good movie script. An avid book reader, a trained singer and a huge cricket enthusiast, he says proceeds from the book will be sent to the Alumni Association of IIT Madras. The e-book available on e-commerce sites is priced at Rs 120.
Book synopsis
Mani Bharathi, an IPS officer from the Intelligence Bureau of India, gets pulled into an emergency rescue operation to deal with a hostage situation of a minister from the ruling party. From a daring rescue operation to aggressive handling of the Press, Mani garners the attention of the entire nation into this mission, only to realise that the terrorists had been causing a diversion from something bigger. The cat and mouse chase begins, as he picks up the threads that would lead him to discover the atrocious act that awaited behind the flashy decoy the terrorists had conveniently staged...