Harimohan Paruvu is a cricketer, motivational speaker, and an author whose first published book, "The Men Within", is now a feature film in Telugu titled "Golconda High School",
releasing January 12, 2011. I had the chance to interview him recently, and thought the interview would be a good way to restart posting something on my own blog.
Harimohan completed his BE in Civil Engineering from Osmania University in 1988, played Ranji Trophy cricket for Hyderabad along the way, and then earned an MBA from the same university in 1991. This was followed by corporate jobs in Bharat Petroleum, ITW Signode, and IDBI, in areas of sales, investment banking, and project financing. He then quit his highly paid job in 2004 to take up writing full time.
Me: What made you leave your job and start writing?
Hari: I thought I was getting too comfortable, not growing as a person. I realized there were only two things that I could do all day everyday and not get tired of it - play cricket and write. I experimented with writing magazine articles while at IDBI.
Me: Were you afraid of failing at the new venture?
Hari: Not really. My qualifications were always good enough to get a job again if I needed to. Also, I was not only writing novels. I was willing to do other more commercial forms of writing. What sustained me financially early on were things like ad copy, web content, technical writing, short stories, ghost writing, etc.
Me: What was the first novel you wrote?
Hari: It is called The Misfit. It is about being influenced by external circumstances, ignoring one's own instincts, trying to fit in, to please others. It gave me a lot of clarity about my own fears, ambitions, and thoughts about love, honesty, transparency.
Me: Did writing a novel come easily to you? What was easy/difficult about it?
Hari: The Misfit was hard to write. It was based on one single idea - discontent. I was not able to put a good structure on that story. I am still revising it for the umpteenth time, and hope to get it published soon. The Men Within, on the other hand, was very easy to write, since the structure was much clearer. I wanted to apply my knowledge of cricket and management principles to the overall improvement of one's life.
I think that in general, the clearer the idea you wish to convey, the easier it is to write it. Of course, a lot of research is needed, but the writing style just emerges from knowing what you want to say.
Me: What kind of research did you do for The Men Within?
Hari: I wanted to use the metaphor of combat for the cricket matches, and read the Mahabharat, Art of War, the Bhagavad Gita, and other such books. I also read biographies of cricketers and books by cricket coaches. I think breadth of reading is vital to enhance writing.
Me: You also interview a lot of people and write about it on your blog. Why?
Hari: To understand how each person looks at the world. I find it fascinating. My first inerviewee was Jayant Dharmadhikari, the screenplay writer.
Me: What led to The Men Within being turned into a movie?
Hari: I was planning a visit to the US and needed the money! I was thinking about selling the rights to the book for a movie. As it turns out, my brother Ram, a movie producer, showed interest in it and decided to buy the rights.
Me: What are your future plans regarding novel writing?
Hari: I have six or seven projects already in mind, including two or three cricket based story lines, and some other ideas, including comedies.
Me: You have also added motivational workshops to your repertoire. What is the primary idea you try to convey through the workshops?
Hari: That people can do much more than they think possible. Everyone has doubts, fears, lack of focus. I use my personal experience to make the point. In my cricketing career, I gave up too early upon being dropped from the team. In hindsight, I realize that I lacked the mental strength at that time to fight for a comeback. I want people to learn to aspire for something bigger, and to put in more focused effort, to persevere. I am ensuring that I do the same in my writing career.
Me: Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts, and wish you success with the movie and your writing in the future.
Hari: Thank you!
releasing January 12, 2011. I had the chance to interview him recently, and thought the interview would be a good way to restart posting something on my own blog.Harimohan completed his BE in Civil Engineering from Osmania University in 1988, played Ranji Trophy cricket for Hyderabad along the way, and then earned an MBA from the same university in 1991. This was followed by corporate jobs in Bharat Petroleum, ITW Signode, and IDBI, in areas of sales, investment banking, and project financing. He then quit his highly paid job in 2004 to take up writing full time.
Me: What made you leave your job and start writing?
Hari: I thought I was getting too comfortable, not growing as a person. I realized there were only two things that I could do all day everyday and not get tired of it - play cricket and write. I experimented with writing magazine articles while at IDBI.
Me: Were you afraid of failing at the new venture?
Hari: Not really. My qualifications were always good enough to get a job again if I needed to. Also, I was not only writing novels. I was willing to do other more commercial forms of writing. What sustained me financially early on were things like ad copy, web content, technical writing, short stories, ghost writing, etc.
Me: What was the first novel you wrote?
Hari: It is called The Misfit. It is about being influenced by external circumstances, ignoring one's own instincts, trying to fit in, to please others. It gave me a lot of clarity about my own fears, ambitions, and thoughts about love, honesty, transparency.
Me: Did writing a novel come easily to you? What was easy/difficult about it?
Hari: The Misfit was hard to write. It was based on one single idea - discontent. I was not able to put a good structure on that story. I am still revising it for the umpteenth time, and hope to get it published soon. The Men Within, on the other hand, was very easy to write, since the structure was much clearer. I wanted to apply my knowledge of cricket and management principles to the overall improvement of one's life.
I think that in general, the clearer the idea you wish to convey, the easier it is to write it. Of course, a lot of research is needed, but the writing style just emerges from knowing what you want to say.
Me: What kind of research did you do for The Men Within?
Hari: I wanted to use the metaphor of combat for the cricket matches, and read the Mahabharat, Art of War, the Bhagavad Gita, and other such books. I also read biographies of cricketers and books by cricket coaches. I think breadth of reading is vital to enhance writing.
Me: You also interview a lot of people and write about it on your blog. Why?
Hari: To understand how each person looks at the world. I find it fascinating. My first inerviewee was Jayant Dharmadhikari, the screenplay writer.
Me: What led to The Men Within being turned into a movie?
Hari: I was planning a visit to the US and needed the money! I was thinking about selling the rights to the book for a movie. As it turns out, my brother Ram, a movie producer, showed interest in it and decided to buy the rights.
Me: What are your future plans regarding novel writing?
Hari: I have six or seven projects already in mind, including two or three cricket based story lines, and some other ideas, including comedies.
Me: You have also added motivational workshops to your repertoire. What is the primary idea you try to convey through the workshops?
Hari: That people can do much more than they think possible. Everyone has doubts, fears, lack of focus. I use my personal experience to make the point. In my cricketing career, I gave up too early upon being dropped from the team. In hindsight, I realize that I lacked the mental strength at that time to fight for a comeback. I want people to learn to aspire for something bigger, and to put in more focused effort, to persevere. I am ensuring that I do the same in my writing career.
Me: Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts, and wish you success with the movie and your writing in the future.
Hari: Thank you!
