When Ashwin Sanghi charmed the Hyderabad

Best-selling author, Ashwin Sanghi released his latest book, ‘The Sialkot Saga’, at Landmark Bookstore in Somajiguda along with Prof. Vijay Kumar, professor of English at Osmania University and Founder of the Hyderabad Literature Festival. At the event, Sanghi talked about his books and the process of writing. After the launch, he took questions from audience in an interactive session.

About his book, he said, “‘The Sialkot Saga’ is a story of two men, Arbaaz and Arvind, spanning 63 years between 1947 and 2010 in Bombay (now Mumbai) and Calcutta (now Kolkata), respectively. Both these men grew up in very different worlds while Arvind grows up in Kolkata in Marwari aristocracy, Arbaaz fends for himself in the underworld of Dongri.

“They do not realise it but their lives are connected by an ancient secret. Their quest for that secret, unfortunately, will have repercussions for everyone else,” he said. In a candid interactive session, the author spoke about his father’s reaction when he found out Ashwin’s career choice. “I told my father that I want to write a book and after that when I looked at his face, I could make out that he was thinking ‘do you think for this I sent you abroad to do MBA’?” he recalls.

When asked if he was an agnostic or atheist, he said “Deep down, I believe in God. But when you are talking about my books, I am simply trying to entertain, enlighten and educate.” Sharing insight into the position of Indian authors around the world, Sanghi answered to the question – why are Indian authors not on the ‘New York Times’ bestselling list.

“Many Indian readers prefer to read romance and NYT bestsellers are crime thrillers. So, that’s that,” he opined. As the session came to a close, Ashwin shared a few tips for upcoming writers. “One should research more and be clear about the plot, and then only can you finish your book on time,” he advised.