What makes Indian Author Fawaz Jaleel a relevant figure in Indian Literature?

The literature industry in India is an extremely competitive one. Arguably, readers say the industry must be divided into two eras - pre and post Chetan Bhagat. While this controversial opinion can spark multiple rifts, it is safe to say the Indian book marketing industry received a phenomenal boost after the entry of Chetan Bhagat. Then came a string of writers with an IIT or IIM background, and often both much like Mr. Bhagat and published similar books in the adult fiction genre. Some of them met with great successes thanks to relatable plots and conscious investments in marketing and PR.

Then in 2021, a book was released - Nobody Likes An Outsider. It wasn't a young adult fiction or a romantic drama. It wasn't the new age romantic thriller which also has a growing audience in India. The author, Fawaz Jaleel decided to pick on one of the most hot topics in India I.e. politics, mix it with investigation, and neatly weave fiction into non fiction leaving readers wondering about the incidents. While the book is predominantly a fictional narrative, it pierces into real life events and contemporary history very frequently creating an eerie sense of curiosity in the minds of the readers. The book is far from perfect as it constantly dances between its intentions to be well-researched and intelligent while also consciously trying to be a massy reader pleaser. It succeeds to a great extent in giving both the readers a more than satisfactory experience.

This takes us to the question - Why is Fawaz Jaleel, a debutant relevant in Indian literature? In the early 2000's, the likes of Mr Bhagat, Ravinder Singh and others created and nurtured a new set of readers in India. They created a market out of nothing and went on to build a true commercial space for Indian literature. What Fawaz Jaleel's success indicates is the evolving need of the common Indian or reader and their intelligence and willingness to experiment into more serious topics while also continuing to accept reading as an activity for leisure.

Fawaz Jaleel's book is not a regular past time read but one that significantly takes a reader into an unfamiliar territory, supply them with the necessary knowledge and letting them indulge and investigate. Nobody Likes An Outsider is not the greatest thriller ever written in the history of India or the most dramatic novels in world literature. But, it is definitely one of the few books that is mindful of the Indian reader segment and caters to both the quintessential literature aficionado and most importantly, the common Indian man/woman. That said, Nobody Likes an Outsider is one of the finest political thrillers to have come out of India with one of the gutsiest endings in Indian literature. Coming to the author, Fawaz Jaleel is one of those rare non-IIT non-IIM authors whose marketing techniques need to be emulated if you are an upcoming author in India. Born in Vilakudy, Mr. Jaleel is an alumnus of Madras Christian College and Azim Premji University

Fawaz Jaleel was unavailable to comment on our take. His next book is a political investigative thriller set between 1950's to 2022 in Calcutta, India.

Published by KALAMOS, Nobody Likes An Outsider is available on Amazon, Flipkart and bookstores in India.