Author Interview + Giveaway (IN Only)- The Homing Pigeons by Sid Bahri

Welcome to an amazing Author Interview and Giveaway post that we have for you. 
On the blog today, we have with us author of the most beautiful Indian Contemporary I've read until now, Sid Bahri.
Thanks to Sid and Nimi @ The Readers Cosmos, there's also a great IN only giveaway for the Sid's book, The Homing Pigeons.... 

Read my review of The Homing Pigeons... by Sid Bahri

You can check out and read more about The Homing Pigeons... at the following links: 

Official Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Flipkart / HomeShop18 / Infibeam 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

Hello, Sid. Welcome to The Readdicts! We are extremely glad to have you on our blog and we hope you have a great time answering our questions. 

1) Tell us a little bit about yourself. 

 Sid: I am this half bald man who is trying to make a living by writing books. I gave up a corporate career  to follow my passion of writing. I was equally insane when I moved to the hills of Ranikhet, giving up the comforts of a city and a job that paid very well. Yet, that is what I am - eccentric and happy.

2) Tell us a little about your debut novel, The Homing Pigeons... 

 Sid: The Homing Pigeons is a love story but it isn't a mushy romance. It's poignant but also witty and humorous. It's easy to read, yet its deep.  Its everything that I would want to read in a book. 

3) How did the idea to write The Homing Pigeons... come up? 

 Sid: The Homing Pigeons wasn't written to be published. I started writing this book in 2008 but it wasn't the book that its come out to be. It was just Aditya's story then. The book went into cold storage for about four years and the pigeons refused to fly. I revived the book in early 2012 and I knew what I wanted to write by then. For me, writing was a refuge from working a job that I absolutely hated. 

4) Are Radhika and Aditya or any of the characters in your book inspired by anyone you know in real life or are they completely based on your imagination? 

 Sid: I don't think that fiction writing is all imagination. It's a thought, an incident, an overheard conversation or an experience that overgrows in the author's mind. It translates into words to form a book. It's the peripherals that come in from imagination and not the real stories. And to answer your question, the characters are an amalgamation of various people that we may have come across in our lives. I can't pin-point a single person that my characters are inspired by. 

5) Looking back at Radhika and Aditya's past, have you ever wished that life wasn't so difficult with them? Or do you feel it was necessary for them to go through everything they went through to see the strength of their love? 

 Sid: In the perfect world, they would've dated after school, gone to the same college, worked in the same job, married and made babies. But, we don't live in utopia. I think what I've attempted to do is to make the book as real as possible. I might even have overdone the drama but I think it was important to justify the emotion of love.

6) Do you believe in the phrase, "Homing Pigeons always come back to their mate, no matter where you leave them on the face of this earth"? 

 Sid: Of course - Puneet, my wife and I knew each other from school. She was 9 and I was thirteen then. We lost touch but married fifteen years later. Sometimes, you just have to believe in destiny. 

7) If The Homing Pigeons... were to be made into a movie, which Bollywood actress and actor would you like to see being cast as Radhika and Aditya? 

Sid: I would love to see Aamir Khan essay Aditya's role - not because he fits the character but because he's the only actor who can lend depth to that  character. Radhika, then would have to be Kajol or Rani Mukherjee.

Aamir Khan (top), Kajol (bottom left) and Raji Mukherjee (bottom right).

8) What advice would you to give to young aspiring Indian writers? 

 Sid: I am not sure if I can advise anyone yet. I am barely starting out and there's a long way to go. But, yes, I would want to say that don't lose sight of your goal. The journey to seeing your name in print is fraught with hardships. Don't give up.

9) On a more personal level, who are some of your favourite authors and what are some of your favourite books? 

 Sid: I like to read Ken Follett, Jeffrey Archer and John Grisham but my favorite has to be Kathryn Stockett. The Help is one of the most remarkable novels that I have read and its influenced me a lot. 

10) What is next in line for you? Have you thought of writing more books? 

 Sid: I wasn't writing to get published, so even before I had signed my first contract, I had three and a half novels completed. One of them has seen the light of day and one of them will never see the light of day. The other one and half are at various stages of completion. So hopefully, we'll have someone willing to take the rights for them.

Thank you so much for for answering our questions and for you time, Sid. It was a pleasure to have you at The Readdicts and we hope to see you around soon. Wish you all the very best for everything ahead.

GIVEAWAY:

Enter below for you chance to win a copy of The Homing Pigeons...

*The giveaway is INDIA only (Sorry, INT readers!).

*Enter by filling out the Rafflecopter form and if it doesn't load, click here.

*After a winner is picked, they will have 48 hours to respond or else, we'll be compelled to pick another winner.

*The book will be shipped by the author/ publisher. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Once again, I'd like to thank Sid for coming over on our blog today and for having the amazing giveaway. 

Thank you all for stopping by and may the odds be ever in your favour!

Happy reading!