Slice of life with dollops of humour
During the course of an hour- long interview, it is hard to miss Rachna Singh’s incredible sense of humour. She is inclined towards being funny and with her latest book Dogs, Digs & Drama, she promises to be funnier than ever before.
A small town girl who moved to Bengaluru from Allahabad, she remembers winning annual competitions for literature but affirms that there has never been a conscious attempt towards writing. Being from a family of creative talents, she attributes everything to her genes. How else would you explain someone who graduated with a psychology degree and had a career in human resources to finally turn writer? Tracing her journey, she says, “Initially, I used to mail my friends about any event and they loved my style of narration. They kept asking me to write a blog and record these events. Even as a kid I found joy in making other people laugh, I would crack up during any social evening; I took after my dad that way.”
With her blog, she connected to readers all over the country, and the responses she received were overwhelming. “I had people writing to me saying that my blog de- stressed their day; this gave me confidence to go ahead with a book,” she says. Since then there has been no looking back for her. Dating, Diapers and Denial , Nuptial Knots and That Autumn in Awadh — all her books are funny and fast- paced.
What sets her apart from other writers is the way she structures her books. They are all anecdotal humour stories and are inspired from daily life. She explains, “Short form of literature is soon catching up. It is a genre which is slowly making an impact and is the best way to grab the attention of today’s generation.” Digs, Dogs and Drama too is in the anecdotal format and in the form of multiple choice questions, diary entries, open letters and comical situations. “It is a packet of hilarity and a thematic sequel to the Dating, Diapers and Denial,” she elucidates.
Rachna still works as an HR and juggles effortlessly between her job as a writer and a mother of two. She reveals that she is looking forward to writing long novels and also writing about the HR industry for Indian markets. “It’s still a mildly explored topic, people do not know how well the industry functions. I want to break the barrier and make people understand all about it,” she says.