A product of the Naval Officers’ Academy, Kulpreet Yadav has spent two decades as an officer in uniform and has successfully commanded three ships in his career. Since his retirement as Commandant from the Indian Coast Guard in 2014, he has authored several books in diverse genres, including espionage, true crime and romance. Winner of the Best Fiction Author Award for Murder in Paharganj, an espionage novel, at the Gurgaon Literary Festival in 2018, Kulpreet is also an actor and a film-maker. He lives with his family in Delhi and his latest book is called “The Battle of Rezang La”.
In an exclusive interview with Nitish Raj; Editor-in-Chief, The Literary Mirror the award-winning author & filmmaker talks about the various aspects of writing along with his works.
Q. With your interestingly varied background, how did writing happen in your life?
KY: By accident! Before I tell you how, let me give you my background briefly. I have always a reader, but until 2006, I had never thought of writing a book. In 2006, while posted in a small town called Haldia in West Bengal, once I was stuck at the Howrah railway station for over 10 hours because my train was late. While waiting, a story started to form in my mind and I wrote it all down just the way it came to me. When people now say that you don’t find a story, the story finds you, I know what they mean, because that is exactly what happened to me that day. Call it the Bengal magic. But by the time the train arrived, I had written nearly half of the story. After I was back home a few days later, I shared it with my wife, who is a good reader, and she liked it. That encouraged me to develop the story further and I finished writing it. This story was published in 2006 itself as a book and it is called “The Bet.”
Q. Your book ‘Murder in Paharganj’ won you the title of Best Fiction Writer at Gurgaon Literature Festival. Would you please share with your readers what this book is about?
KY: Murder is Paharganj is an international espionage thriller in which an alcoholic, out of job journalist named Vicks Menon, who has also been thrown out by his live-partner, is caught in the crossfire of the decade’s old rivalry of Mossad (Israeli intelligence agency) and VAJA (Iranian intelligence agency). It opens with a white woman’s murder in a cheap hotel in Paharganj, and as a desperate Vicks breaks this story, the police think he is the murderer. The only way now he can prove his innocence is by getting the real killer killed. As this chase takes him from Delhi to Udaipur, to Bangkok and, finally to Sikkim, his ex-girlfriend who’s also a criminal profiler, helps him to get closer to the real killer.
Q. What risks have you taken with your writing which have paid off?
KY: Writing is a risky business, no doubt. But tell me, whether it’s the entertainment industry, or sports, or even the entrepreneurship world, there is a lot of risk in these industries. For me, I think everything has paid off. I surely don’t make a lot of money, but I am happy to be doing what I love and let’s not forget, I have no boss. I write when I want, I don’t write when I don’t want.
Q. The ‘Andy Karan Series’ has made quite the waves and is an intriguing read. When should the readers expect the next in the series and what is it going to be about?
KY: You are right, the 3rd part of the Andy Karan series has inordinately been delayed. It was tentatively called The Girl Who Loved a Millionaire. There’s no date decided at this moment for the third part, but I’m grateful to the readers for the love they have given to the first two parts.
Q. What is your writing schedule? Do you have any writing quirks?
KY: I do most of my writing from 9 in the morning until about 6 in the evening. I can’t write late at night. Nights for me are for watching films, spending time with my family, or drinking and partying with my friends. Quirks, yes, a few that come to mind. One, I don’t drink and write. Two, I write mostly in cafes eating good food and drinking fresh masala chai or coffee. I can’t write when I’m on flights or in buses / trains, though I can write a fair bit in hotel rooms.
Q. What is your favourite and least favourite part of writing and publishing?
KY: The best feeling is of course when you see what was just an idea and for which you labored for months and sometimes years, is now a book. Holding it for the first time is an indescribable feeling. It also makes every pain and effort of writing worth it when readers recognize you in airports, hotels, or markets and come and say hello, ask for autographs etc. I really don’t have the least favorite parts. Writing is a lonely process and it’s labor intensive, without a doubt, but to call it a problem would be taking away the essence of the writing process. I love the writing process and books are an outcome of that love. Sometimes, when the process becomes too labor-some or uninspiring, I treat myself to an expensive gourmet meal at a fancy hotel and that usually sorts my sense out to a great extent because I love food.
Q. What would be your advice to aspiring writers who want to write full-time?
KY: Well, you are welcome to join if you have the appetite to face rejections, stand up to some serious competition, and if you are okay with not making a lot of money. But I must say that there are some really wonderful people in the publishing industry and some of them will definitely lift you up when you fall, or give their shoulders for you to pause and reflect. The writing world is no one’s jagir and everyone is welcome. You have my best wishes!
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