Must be teen spirit!

Writing, a journey that started out as being therapeutic, is now helping this Bengaluru-based author build characters and craft relatable stories. Ahead of the launch of his book, Teenage Diaries: The Days That Were, Saurabh Sharma dishes about his new book and how his future writings (already in the works), though fictitious, will always capture the nuances of the Indian society.

The book that is to be launched at Atta Galatta on March 25 is a coming of age story from a teenage boy’s perspective, owing to the societal pressures, is an under-confident nerd. But after his board exams as he makes new friends, they catalyse his transformation into a rather over-confident rule-breaker.

“That, of course, has its own fallouts. It’s about his journey to and from rock bottom, talks about peer pressure and how teenagers fall prey to addictions. It’s a funny take on their upbringing and how they resolve their conflicts in their own unique ways, while trying to capture the nuances of the 80-90s kids’ adolescence,” says Saurabh.

The book also touches upon the philosophies of life through the protagonist’s fight with his inner demons. At 34, he says he’s had a ‘peculiarly eventful life’ and that stirs him on to write stories. Needless to say, this one has an autobiographical element, “As Flanner O’ Connor said, ‘I wrote to discover what I knew,’” he muses.  

An alumnus of NIT, Allahabad and now the associate director at Flipkart, it’s his penchant for telling stories that led him on this journey. The sequel to his debut is already in the works and sits to receive finishing touches.

“My mom gave me this beautiful advice for maintaining any relationship. She said, in any relationship you will, at times, feel that the other person is being unjust and you would want to scream at them. Don’t. Instead, write. Write to them, whatever you are feeling. Two days later, you will laugh your anger off. So, I resorted to this therapeutic writing whenever I was sad or angry or too emotional. That has also helped me in understanding different perspectives and eventually, in building characters,” he tells us.

His other modes of therapy include, “Working out as meditation and playing sports gives me the much-needed adrenaline rush. I also like to strum the guitar and sing, but I’m hardly able to find time to pursue that,” he says, now trying to wrap up reading Tillie Cole’s A Thousand Boy Kisses.

Having spent three years to pen his debut, he confesses that as a newbie writer, he wasn’t confident to put it out or get readers to try out a new book. But his book being ranked among the top 100 books within the romance genre and among the top 10 in humour, on Amazon should offer commentary on how far he’s come.

“Going forward, I’d be content with being able to entertain the readers while touching upon the relevant societal issues and offering alternate perspectives,” he says.