‘Friends are therapists, mirrors and cheerleaders’
Author Swati Kaushal talks about her latest novel, A Few Good Friends: her inspiration from her college days in Delhi University’s Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) and IIM Calcutta
College days are the best days of our life and rightly so as author Swati Kaushal takes us on a refreshing ride of friendship, love and life in her latest — A Few Good Friends.
“My friendships inspired me to write the book. And I think that my friends have helped me grow as a writer. Also, while the characters in the story are all fictitious, the situations and problems they face are very real, and in a way, universal,” says the author.
The narrative follows the journey of Aadi, Srini, Ambi, TD, Miru and Kajo in the 20th anniversary reunion of their batch from IIM Calcutta, which provides the perfect opportunity to set aside their everyday anxieties and relive the heady days of their youth. Things begin to go awry when ex-lovers reunite, old grudges resurface, and long-held secrets come tumbling out.
What was supposed to be a part-time gig turned into a lifelong passion for Kaushal, who switched from her corporate career to become a writer. She recalls, “I started writing my first novel shortly after moving to the US when I was a young mother and between jobs. It was supposed to be a part-time gig, while I looked for a job, but I fell in love with both the process and the product, and decided to pursue it full time.”
An alumna of IIM Calcutta and DU’s Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR), she reminisces her college days as a steady mix of academics and fun. “LSR was amazing. It had a unique vibe, and an excellent balance between academics and fun. I remember long philosophical sessions in the canteen over samosas and chai, and countless winter afternoons sitting on the lawns, eating oranges while cramming for exams. For the first time, like my character Aadi, in the book, A Few Good Friends, I felt like I was an adult [when in IIM-C], totally free to make my own choices.”
How vital are friends in today’s lifestyle where families are nuclear and relatives don’t stay close by? The author says, “Friends are our therapists, mirrors, cheerleaders, and our partners in crime. They make life bearable when times are tough, and they make life sublime when things are good. We need them when we have a bad day at school, when we fall in love, when we get dumped, when we are struggling as partners or parents to make things work. They are the ones who speak truth to reality.”
As for her characters, she says, “All writers eavesdrop a little. I think my core characters usually come from a space within me. They are usually women, strong, proud women in real life situations who I help navigate sometimes with humour, sometimes with grit.”