eFiction India eFiction India Vol.02 Issue.09 | Page 54

53

INTERVIEW

messages until the day of the event). I’m acting like a suckerpunch
because hell, I’m suffering from writer’s block. And, ‘why do they
want me to cook dinner when we have a cook?’ Welcome to my
splendid world: I’m a total bedlam at home; so yeah, you can in a
way say they are extremely supportive.
AD: IS PAKISTAN A CONSERVATIVE COUNTRY – OR IS
IT JUST THE WAY WE LOOK AT IT?
HJ: I think it is both. Pakistan does have conservatives, including a large portion of a community that makes everything religiously biased. But, there are a certain number of liberal thinkers
too, striving to bring a change, and working on that. Since the
latter is a small number, mostly people outside don’t know about
these communities (thanks to the media). Hence, the former are
always in the headlines. Our media is growing and maturing, and
very soon we’ll be able to highlight those changes to the world.
It is a long journey, but I’m sure people will change their perception of us in general. I’m one of the examples here, of the change
I’m talking about; I have taken a bold step to break all the barriers of the clichéd writing style of authors from Pakistan. Being
the first Hindu female Pakistani author, I have blatantly gone
against the norms and released Equinox (an adult/young adult
fantasy romance).

AD: TO WHAT OR WHOM DO YOU OWE YOUR
SUCCESS?
HJ: Am I successful? YAY! No, but on a serious note, I don’t think
I’m successful as yet. It’s a long long journey to success…but how
about if I say, I owe my success to lonely hours, the night, the
moon, English songs, crazy thoughts, and chocolates. Yeah, so far
these have been absolutely the drive to my success.
AD: A FEW WORDS FOR BUDDING AUTHORS.
HJ: Write. Even when you find hundred hands stopping you, just
write. The only reason why you are an author is because you and
only you have the ability to reach the farthest corner of people’s
heart, enter into their lives, and become a significant someone
there. Write whatever makes you happy, irrespective of the fact
what others think. Remember, you were successful the first time
a ‘someone’ read the story you wrote. So don’t stop because of a
failure ]