Something that started as self-therapy made him a popular name. Impressively tall, Ravinder Singh was in a typical writer’s attire (kurta and jeans) at the book signing event arranged by the Oxford, Bhubaneswar. His popularity could be gauged from the number of readers expectantly waiting for the interview to be over so they could get their books signed, first.
Turning a personal tragedy into a piece of story for the public to absorb and appreciate can be a daunting task, but Ravinder has done it well. With his first book ‘I too had a love story’ selling two lakh copies and the second book selling 1.70 lakh within three months, proves that he has struck the right chord with his reader. ‘I too had a love story’ was an outcome of his ‘journal-writing’ after he lost his girlfriend to an unfortunate accident, days before their engagement. “I am an author by chance. I never set out to become a writer. I wrote to give my emotions a proper place and shape. I never knew that the book would become so popular,” said Ravinder about his book finding such a massive acceptance.
Second book
His second book, ‘Can love happen twice’ was also based on his personal life. But he dismissed the notion stating that ‘‘its a mix of both, part of it (the three friends and a few incidents mentioned in the book) has been lifted from my life, but the rest is fiction.’’ On being asked for how long can a writer sustain if they keep picking up real life incidents, Ravinder’s quickly responded that fiction is a result of an amalgamation of real life experiences.
A Silent Observer
Being a silent observer of the world around him is what feeds this writer’s mind. Taking inspiration from the real world is what keeps him alive. “No one should write to satisfy the readers needs. A writer should write to express. The rest will come on its own,” states Ravinder. When aksed ‘Can Love Happen Twice’ in context of his personal life, he remained non-committal with a dismissive “May be.”
From being brought up in ‘very’ small town of Burla, Odisha to being one of the renowned authors, Ravinder has come a long way. He spoke of all the fun that Bhubaneswar had to offer like the OMFED stall tea to the Lingaraj Lassi and share auto. He is as much in love with Odisha as ‘Makke di roti’ (since he hails from Punjab).
Currently he is just another guy with an MBA degree who is on the lookout for a job. But with the writer’s cap on, he is Ravinder , the writer, who relates to the young mass.
