Amritsar, December 31
Like it or not, coming-of-age stories have always been a favourite genre to binge on for readers. Whether it is films or books, coming-of-age stories have managed to find a connection with readers, relatable in the evolution of the characters and struggle to find their standing in life is quite celebrated. Presenting one such story in one of the most popular genres of Literature, is author Gurpratap Khairah, an educator and poet, who makes his debut as a novelist with his book, ‘How Dinkar Lost His Job and Found A Life’. The book is a light, humorous and witty story of a not-so-young guy, Dinkar, whose pursuit for ‘self’ makes for some interesting details in the story.
Wanted to keep it real
I based my protagonist in Amritsar, who moves to Noida to work for an IT company. It’s a story that every generation can relate to. The story is lighthearted, though it has elements of satire, critique and inner dialogue in context to the protagonist — Author, Gurpratap Khairah
Gurpratap, who has previously been pursuing poetry, has featured in several literary festivals, including Bangalore literary festival 2022, shares that Dinkar personifies an average, small town guy, who wants to make it big. “I based my protagonist in Amritsar, who moves to Noida to work for an IT company. It’s a story that every generation can relate to, despite some modern day-to-day references, as the struggle to find one’s footing in professional and personal life remains a subject that everyone has experienced, at least once in life. The story is lighthearted, though it has elements of satire, critique and inner dialogue in context to the protagonist. For my first book, I wanted to keep it real,” he said.
Gurpratap, who teaches at Hindu College, had written the first draft of the story in 2016. “I had wished to get it published then and met a lot of editors in business at the time, who liked the story. But due to some reasons, it got delayed. Last year, I picked the story up again and made some changes to it,” he said. The book has been published by Speaking Tiger and its introduction has a praise written by Gulzar for Gurpratap, who attributes his creative writing skills to G-force in life, Gulzar and Graham Greene, as per his own confession. Gulzar calls Gurpratap an entertaining and responsible writer of the future. Another noted writer-turned-screenwriter from Amritsar, Kanika Dhillon, too praises the story, which Gurpratap says is an encouraging push towards writing more stories.
In the book, Gurpratap has used a lot of Amritsari terms, thereby introducing his readers to the Amritsari way of life. So, a lot of geris, bar-in-the-car and love for food are a part of the narrative. The book will be officially launched on January 15.
