Meet Best Indian Author Award winner, Meena Mishra and Book 2 author Vishwas Vaidya
Meena Mishra Bagged Best Indian Author Award for her novel “ No! I Don’t Love You ! -Book 1.” That was well received by none other than Mr. . Shashi Tharoor.
I decided to contact her and the author of “ No! I Don’t Love You ! – Book 2 ,” Vishwas Vaidya for an interview.
- Why did you choose to gift your book to Mr. Shashi Tharoor, pre-launch?
There are three types of English in this country . British English, American English and Shashi Tharoor English. It’s class apart from any one in this country . Hence we decided to gift our book to him . All thanks to Mr. M.C.jacob, a prominent banker and Impish Lass author for this favour.
- How important is it to have a good editor ?
Last year on 14th Feb Mr. Vishwas Vaidya gifted a book to a famous TV actor Ivan Rodrigues, who had come to attend the Impish Lass book as a chief guest . After reading first two pages of the book , he called him up and the first question he asked was, “ Never before have I read a book as poorly edited as this one. Who’s your editor?”
Trust me, it becomes embarrassing for an author when the editor is casual in her/his approach.
“ No! I Don’t Love You!- Book 1 ,” has been edited by Ms. Samahita Mukherjee and Ms. Madhu Jaiswal. They burned midnight oil curating and editing it. It has been proofread by Ms. Juhi Shah and Ms. Aparna Patwardhan Bhat.
“ No ! I Don’t Love You ! – Book 2,” has been edited by a professional editor Ms. Rashmi Jaiswal.
This time we ensured that the book is thoroughly edited before it goes for printing.
- What does the story of your novel revolve around?
“No! I Don’t Love You! is a pacy thriller about social media, drug peddlers, augmented reality and how an innovation meant for the betterment of society could also be misused.
- Can you elaborate on the plot?
The plot starts with phony love and love bombing on the protagonist to lure her and misuse her for drug peddling.
The protagonist escapes from various life-threatening circumstances due to the soft corner from the one who had lured her to his phony love. However over the next few years, she comes to understand the various past and present mysterious happenings during her meeting with past characters involved in her life, and when she gets to know about how she was lured during her visit to Italy for her conference on human relationships.
The entire plot is based on social media and how easily the privacy of an individual is compromised and misused by many criminals who have easy access to ignorant people.
The story takes us on a rollercoaster ride right from the beginning with twists and turns and surprises as characters become from phony to real to phony. The way the story is written keeps you on the edge and the book being small makes one complete it in one stretch. The real culprits are never caught but only through the understanding of the criminal activities carried out the story educates about ill effects of being unaware of overexposure to unscrupulous characters who watch you and fool you with smooth talks.
The readers also get educated on the latest technology like augmented reality, artificial intelligence and more importantly human relationships in a virtual world can go awry if one is not grounded well.
The book is like a rollercoaster ride filled with exciting twists and turns. Having online friends is so exciting- virtual friendship has its own charm. But, what would you do if you fall in love with a virtual connection and it turns out to be life-threatening? The book, “ No ! I Don’t Love You ! ,” Book 1 penned by Meena Mishra and Book -2 penned by Vishwas Vaidya reflect on different aspects of having an online relationship.
The entire story is woven around the experience of a young girl who falls in love with a boy who is involved in illegal activities.
That is all we would like to reveal at this point of time. It is for you to explore further. The story is exciting and relevant in today’s times when the youth are found online hooked to chat applications, dating applications, and social media.
- What would make your novel a great hit?
With a lot of layers in the novel, the readers can relish reading. It has a lot of twists and turns that you stop predicting what can happen next in the story. You quietly surrender to the writer’s mastery of unfolding the story and completing a plot that is super exciting with all the necessary masala apt to be adapted into a Bollywood story.
“No! I Don’t Love You!” makes us aware of the pitfalls of social media and technologies like artificial intelligence. It reflects on how Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence are misused by criminals to trap innocent people. In fact social media is one of their most preferred tools.
- Do you feel that all online relationships are fake?
No, we don’t believe that but at the same time one needs to be cautious before sharing personal information with virtual friends.
- What is the story behind the name of your book?
Well, Meena Mishra used to write weekly posts for her friend , Ankit Mishraa , to create awareness against virtual relationships. They had conceptualized this title. There is a huge gap between what teenagers take to be love and what love really is .
- What is your message for the youngsters?
Even though the pandemic has thrown you completely into the virtual world, try to take time out to talk to the people who are your true well-wishers. Value the real life people, your family, your friends, your relatives and your neighbors. At least you know who they are.