–
Talk about a diverse profile, and we introduce you to our author – Mubarak Sandhu. Mubarak is the writer of three books. He completed his graduation in Mechanical Engineering, after which he worked for a few years as an engineer before establishing his own business, music record label and event management company. He is a member of reputed literary forums like Chandigarh Literary Society and Novel Bunch. From engineer to entrepreneur and then to a writer, his journey is an encouragement for the masses. Mubarak is actively involved in social activities, is a motivational speaker, and is also a guest speaker at various literature festivals and educational institutions. He is known for his entrepreneurial skills, business management experience and his innate strength to write. Boris and the Stealth of Almus come as the sequel to ‘Boris-The Last Qahn Alive’.His journey in chase of Almus takes him to the Kingdom of Xiasha, makes him counter new people and hear unheard stories, eventually connecting the dots and collecting the clues about the whereabouts of Almus. In an interview with us, the author talks about writing, their passions, and more. Excerpts:
1. How did you make that leap of faith, if there was a transition, and how was the journey? Alternatively, if it’s about juggling multiple tasks, how did you find the time?
Writing a book was definitely a leap of faith as I had been writing professionally in various genres for a very long time, and I had all the faith in Almighty and myself that I could pen down the story in my mind.
It was a transition from my event management business and music record label. Still, again, my efforts to write and publish the book were consistent and could not be brought down in any circumstances. I slept less and worked more; I worked on my ongoing projects during the day and wrote during the night. The sleepless nights ended up providing me with the biggest achievement of my life.
2. What inspired your literary curiosity?
My curiosity to write was ignited when I was young, around 10-11 years of age. An interview with a writer was being shown on television, and I asked my parents how to become a writer. That was the first time when I thought of becoming a writer. Who knew the inspiration would take me to a time when I would be interviewed as a writer.
3. While writing, do you make more of an effort to be original or to offer the audience what they want?
I prefer being original. If I focused only on the expectations of the audience, it would lead to losing my originality, making me write like someone I am not. My productivity and writing style will be lost somewhere in this attempt to please the readers with plagiarized thoughts. Being original gives me the satisfaction of writing what I truly want to write and not what I want to write just for the sake of it.
4. What are some of your life’s passions?
I have always been very passionate about sports. Since childhood, I have been a sportsperson, qualifying at the national level in swimming and basketball. Along with both these games, I also participated in and won positions in marathons, triple jump, football, chess, volleyball and cricket.
Apart from sports, my passions include helping people, doing social work and reading books.
5. Tell us about the first book you read that made you cry.
The first book that made me cry was ‘I Too Had A Love Story by Ravinder Singh’. As a young and emotional individual, I felt quite connected to the story and couldn’t control my tears when I read the book.
6. Describe a lesser-known aspect of Mubarak for us.
Mubarak is a very strong person for the world, who always carries a smile, does a lot of social work and tries to keep everyone happy. But a lesser-known aspect is that Mubarak is a very emotional person who gets pained by even the smallest of issues in society and even cries quite often.
Being sensitive and emotional is an integral part of my personality. My close ones know it and how often I let my tears drain, but this remains a lesser-known aspect to most people.
7. Any advice for our aspiring writers?
The first piece of advice is to start writing. We can never do anything until we take the first step towards it. The biggest block for writers is when they keep thinking instead of putting down their thoughts in words.
The next piece of advice is to do a lot of research. Even when we write fiction, we have to study a lot about our characters to bring them to perfection.
8. What is your writing KRYPTONITE?
My writing Kryptonite or food for thought is positivity. As long as I am positive, I can think and write on diverse topics about which I hardly know anything. However, just one negative thought can lead to a block of weeks in my writing. That’s how dangerous negativity is. I consume my Kryptonite of positive thoughts and live with a smile, achieving my targets and fulfilling all my dreams one after another.
9. What would it be if you could tell your younger writing self anything?
My younger writing self was a more energetic and aggressive writer with more curiosity for things, but of course, he was less mature and less polished. I would just ask my younger self to bring those intriguing traits back to my current self, which I feel have gone missing with time as I have become more stable and settled.
10. Which animal, and why, best embodies your writing style?
An eagle best embodies my writing style. I am a keen observer, far-sighted and calm, with eyes on my target as far as it might be, but focused on catching it no matter how fast I might need to fly. Alphabets give me wings, sentences reveal my vision, the formation of paragraphs provides me with the flight to the target, and finishing the story makes me feel that the target has been achieved, just like the eagle catches its prey and flies off.
