Gayatri Chandrasekharan, an alumna of IIM, Lucknow, also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. She has worked in corporate sales for more than 20 years and is currently a scholar of corporate governance. Gayatri is a certified Independent Director as recognized by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. She also serves on the board of directors of a payment security company.
In her professional sphere, she also acts as an advisor for various start-ups and growth-stage businesses. Her last full-time role was in the capacity of Vice President and Chief Sales Officer at HCL Services.
Gayatri is a voracious reader herself and has a penchant for classic literature and romance novels. A self-proclaimed Jane Austen fan, she names Mr. Darcy as her favourite fictional hero and is quite influenced by Jane Austen’s way of writing.
While she did choose a contemporary romance fiction for her debut novel, one day she wants to pen works on the lines of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, and Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. Gayatri also likes to indulge in other forms of writing, and her articles have been published in the Deccan Herald newspaper.
When not indulging her literary and creative side, she loves to engage the dog-lover in her.
Her debut novel Bangalored narrates the story of a handsome English gentleman James Rutherford who comes to India on a short work visit but ends up being bowled over by a feisty Indian woman called Radha Iyer. Set in Bangalore, in a city whose love is quite evident in the author’s writing, the book is a breezy romantic fiction that combines romance, drama, and humour in a near-perfect combination.
We at bookGeeks had a lucky chance at a tete-e-tete with the talented writer. Here’s what she has to say about her debut work, her writing, and her love for books.
| Tell us something about yourself. Who is Gayatri as a person? What are her likes and dislikes? |
| I’m generally contrary by nature. But easy going and not difficult to get along with. I like the mountains and the oceans and can sit for hours watching them. I like long, slow walks and time with family. I love dogs! I dislike any sort of cruelty in people – of words, action, or thought. |
| When were you first bitten by the writer’s bug? Who or what inspired you to take up writing? |
| I’ve always liked to write – from the time I was a little girl. But in the last decade or so, I’ve been meaning to write a book and that took form and gathered momentum in the last couple of years. I’ve been inspired to write by the many authors I enjoy reading. I would love to give a fraction of that joy to readers of my book. |
| Take us through your corporate experience. Has it influenced your writing? If yes, how? |
| Yes, certainly. I’ve had a very varied experience across industries and domains and that rich tapestry has exposed me to different scenarios and different kinds of people. The writing in my debut book ‘Bangalored’ has, of course, borrowed heavily from my corporate experience. The familiarity with the corporate context helped me add nuances of interacting with foreigners, unconscious biases against women in the workplace, relationships with colleagues, etc and helped me build a meaningful context and background to the main plot. |
| As an author, where do you see yourself five years from now? |
| I hope to see myself published by a large publishing house. 😊 And write a work that might be noticed by the Booker Committee 😉 |
| Can you describe the thought process behind the title ‘Bangalored’? What makes the city so special to you? |
| The origin is from the term used in the IT world where if a Westerner lost his/her job to someone in India (specifically to someone in Bangalore which is India’s Silicon Valley) due to it being cheaper for companies to hire people in India, he/she would say they have been ‘Bangalored’. Of course, the connotation in the book is very positive with the hero having lost his heart to Bangalore, not his job. Bengaluru is very special to me as it is the city I have lived in now for almost four decades. The people are laid back, it’s a melting pot where you can find people from all over the country and even from Africa and Iran so the culture is very cosmopolitan, the food is amazing and diverse and the weather is beautiful. What’s not to love about it?! |
| Who, according to you, are your target readers? |
| I would say anyone living in urban India whose workplace involves interacting with the Western world but more specifically the IT hubs in Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai. Gurgaon and Chennai. It will also appeal to Bangaloreans of all ages! But, if I were to use a broader brush to pain the target reader, it would appeal to any graduates above thirty in the top 8-10 cities of the country. |
| James Rutherford and Radha Iyer are an incredibly sweet but eccentric couple. How much of them have been shaped by the people and events around you? |
| Certainly, a lot of the character sketching in the book, not just for James and Radha but all characters in the book, is heavily inspired by people I know – family, friends, and colleagues. Especially my own family which is highly eccentric! |
| Describe your writing process. Are you a disciplined writer or a spontaneous one? Do you have a writing regime that you like to follow? |
| I think I am more spontaneous than disciplined. I like to take long walks to think about things/events/people that will be part of the book and make notes on my phone and then write whenever the mood takes me. Which is when I pull out the notes on my phone and use the stuff I have jotted down. I do not have a writing regime but I do not like to write when people are around me so I usually write early in the morning or late at night. I prefer peace and quiet when I am writing as I am easily distracted. |
| The book ends on a very unexpected note. What made you write it the way you did? |
| The end turned out to be very different from what I had initially intended it to be. It kind of sprung a surprise on me! As I wrote, the end just emerged on its own. |
| Are you a reader yourself? What are some of your favourite books? |
| Yes, I love to read though I do it lesser now than earlier as the phone is a big distraction! Some of my favourite books are Animal Farm, Of Human Bondage, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel, 1984, Wuthering Heights, all of James Herriot’s books, Fahrenheit 451, Remains of the Day, All the Light We Cannot See, Chronicles of a Death Foretold, Of Mice and Men, Daddy Long Legs, Alice in Wonderland, A Tale of Two Cities, Game of Thrones… there are just too many to list!! |
| Reading in the mountains or reading on the beach? |
| Mountains |
| A quote that never fails to motivate you. |
| You will miss 100% of the shots you do not take |
| Coffee or tea? |
| My special brew of tea |
| A literary figure you would love to meet. |
| P G Wodehouse |
| Any new projects that you are currently working on? |
| A ghost of an idea has emerged for a new book. It needs a lot of work to take shape! |
Buy your copy of Gayatri Chandrasekharan’s Bangalored using the link below.
