#AuthorInterview
#WildWorld has been written by Deepak Arora . In his interview, we’ll get to know a little more about the extremely talented Deepak Arora.
1. Introduce yourself for your readers.
I am an Electronic Media professional by profession and writer by passion.
2. What/Who inspired you to write this book ?
I used to visit various wildlife national parks just to get one glimpse of a tiger. Though I was lucky just once, but experiences from these trips gave me a number of ideas for stories on life of animals.
3. Your book very tastefully handles the environmental issues and cruelty towards animals. Why did you choose to write a children’s book instead of writing a book directly stating these issues ?
Well, I am a writer and not an activist. And as a responsible writer my job is to write stories that are entertaining yet meaningful.
4. How important do you think it is to teach the future generation about preserving the environment, the habitat of all the living beings ?
Since the time we have won the evolutionary race and have made our away to the top of the food chain, we humans have been trying to control the nature and its inhabitants. If a wild animal enters our territory we consider it as an intrusion but we humans have build our civilisations cutting into their territories.
If our future generations could understand this fact that, when we say ‘our planet’, ‘Our’ not only includes humans but animals too. So we have to to live on it responsibly.
5. What expectations do you have from your book ?
Appreciation and encouragement to continue my journey as an author.
6. How has been your journey as a writer ?
(it will be a long answer)
Being a film maker, my first instinct was to write screenplays. My first screenplay was Queen of the Jungle. I sent it to various screenplay writing competitions around the world and it got me my first Moondance Film Festival award (USA) in 2006. The screenplay was also an official entry of KIDS BEST AWARDS held in LA on 5th of October 2007. It received 2½ out of 3 stars ratings by the Jury with comments like “Entertaining and touching”, “It has the potential of being an All Star Film, possibly even a big hit on the big screen”. I tried to bring that screenplay to the attention of producers in the USA and India. But then, that was it. Hollywood didn’t need it and Bollywood wasn’t ready for it. So I chucked it in my table drawer and forgot about it.
Then I wrote Wild World and sent it to various competitions again. It again impressed the jury of Moondance Film Festival and in 2014, I received my second Moondance Award. I also wrote a hindi version of the screenplay and sent it to Dada Saheb Phalke film festival – 2015. It won the Best Screenplay-Jury award.
And then, the story of market demand for an animated or live/animated screenplay was the same. But before I could chuck it in a drawer and forget about it again, I thought, that if my stories are winning awards then there must be something good in them. And I know Wild World is engaging as well as entertaining, I know the message is good. I wanted Wild World to reach to the kids so they could learn and value our Wildlife.
So I decided to turn it into a book which was a challenge for me as I had never considered myself capable of writing a book. It took around 6 months to complete Wild World: The Adventures of Bali & Bhola. These 6 months were a learning curve for me as it gave my writing a whole new perspective.
7. Any message for your readers ?
When you watch a movie, you watch it in present as everything is happening in front of you. But most of the books are written in past tense as it has already happened and you are reading about it. Since Wild World was initially a screenplay, I decided to write this book in present tense as I wanted my readers to feel that what they are reading is happening while they are reading about it, as if they are watching a movie. And after they have read it, they should learn to bring some empathy towards the Wildlife in them. As once we start understanding things from their perspective, we will be able to accept that we don’t rule the earth but are a part of this world just like the other wild animals. And next time when they visit a wildlife national park, they should not take it as a picnic trip but enjoy the whole experience of being in the Wild World.
_biblio.bing_ 