Satvik Gupta

What was your favorite book as a child?

As a child, I was smitten with Jules Verne’s “Around the World in Eighty Days.” It was a petite little book which I fortuitously found in my school library. I fell in love with reading only because of that book. Not only that, it also acquainted me with the enormity of our world. Even now when I think about that book, I am filled with a giddy excitement and a thrill for discovering the unknown.

Do you remember the original reason or motivation why you started writing creatively?

I believe it was my love for reading which saturated itself into an infatuation with writing. During my teenage years, I began reading whatever I could get my hands on and slowly I began finding literature which made me yearn for more. Around that time I knew it in my heart of hearts that I wanted to create something similar to that. I am nowhere near to where I thought myself to be, but I do believe that I am taking gentle strides in that direction.

What was the most adventurous or thrilling thing you ever did/experienced?

I am not the adventurous kind. So I’m afraid I don’t have much to say in this regard. However, I will write about an instance from my grandfather’s life which, for me, is the epitome of courage and thrill. After the partition, when India and Pakistan were carved out from the same nation, my grandfather and his family had to leave their land, which happened to lay in the newly formed Pakistan, and head towards India. Here, he made a life for himself and his family from scratch. Upon learning that his sister was still stranded in Pakistan, he ventured back there, risking his life, and brought her with him to India. It has been more than a decade since he passed away but still he continues to be the bravest man I have ever known.

Do you listen to music while reading or writing?

I can only listen to instrumental music when I am reading or writing. Anything with lyrics disturbs me and would not let me think. All kinds of mellow instrumentals work for me but I am especially drawn towards Beethoven and Hans Zimmer.