I don’t like to preach: Anand Raghav

Striking a perfect balance between work and his passion, Anand Raghav has successfully established himself as a writer of Indian short stories.

The 35-year-old has 60 short stories and four full-length plays to his credit. He has also been awarded the best short story of the year award by a prestigious literary association thrice. Having lived in Thailand for a while, Anand has also written a book on the comparative study of the Ramayana and its other versions, existing in the South East Asian nations.

His play Doosra, which depicts the story of cricket through the life of a 20-year-old-sportsman, has been staged in the city more than once, on popular demand.

Anand shares stories from his writing experiences and what it takes to make the written word count.How did you decide to pursue writing as a career?I have always been passionate about writing and began writing poems and essays during my free time. I also wrote short plays for inter-college competitions and over time writing became more than just a passion. It became a part of my life. My parents were were quite supportive too. However, I knew that my career could not entirely depend on writing. So, I also have an alternate job and I am very fortunate that the  company I work for, supports my writing endeavours and helps me strike a balance between work and my passion for words.You’ve been writing actively for 15 years. How difficult was it to establish yourself?The journey definitely has not been a bed of roses, but I just consider myself lucky to have found a publisher. The reason for this is because India is a country where a large part of the population is still illiterate. Except Kerala and West Bengal, states like Tamil Nadu, where I spent considerable time, do not offer a good platform for writers. But in all of this, I realised that I have a unique writing style and sticking to it was my main motive, which helped me survive this endeavour. Do you try to send a message to  readers, through your works?People already know what to do, and they don’t need me to tell them. Besides, all of my works have a debatable ending, which enables the reader to design his/her own perception. The primary motive of my work is to engage people and I am not worried about influencing them. My works are based on societal construct and therefore there is usually no message to be preached.Who has been your main source of influence?I believe that for any passion, the influence primarily comes from within. It is the inner drive that helps us go forth and achieve. Although, externally, my maternal uncle has been a slight influence on me, because he was an active stage artiste and my father was a meticulous reader, which pitched in sufficient encouragement for me to start writing. The time I stayed outside India also helped me and regulated my thinking drastically. My experiences abroad helped to achieve a higher level of intellectual thinking.