Interview with Khushboo Gulrajani - By Nainika Gautam

Khushboo Gulrajani is a lecturer of English, a research scholar and a Ph. D student. She comes from the small town of Nadiad, Gujarat. Her areas of interest are postmodern studies and marginalized subjects. She is pursuing her Ph. D research on Select Indian Canadian Playwrights: a Diaspora Study. Khushboo writes fiction, articles, research papers, reviews and is a movie buff. Being a student of literature, she loves reading books that subvert the accepted notions set so far. She loves watching low-budget, off-beat movies. She desires to acquire a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature in the future and achieve her doctorate at the earliest.  She debuted in the field of writing as a contributing author in the anthology ‘Secrets of Soul’. Many of her research papers in the field of English Literature have also been published in books and online. 

Buy her book here: Flipkart (and don't forget to drop your reviews)

Here we get to know her a little more closely: 

Please tell us something about yourself.

I am Khushboo Gulrajani and I am a student of literature. I have done my M.A and M.Phil in English Literature. I am an M.A – English Gold Medalist from Sardar Patel University. At present I am pursuing my Ph.D. research on Select Indian Canadian Playwrights: A Diaspora Study. I come from Nadiad, a small town in Gujarat, where writing has not utterly matured but few greenhorns like me are striving to change the perspective. Apart from being a research scholar,I am also a lecturer of English and my students are the source behind my smile and zeal. I have written quite a few research papers published in various books, e-journals and research journals. My first story to publish was “I Turned Twenty-five” in an anthology Secrets of Soul – 12 best feelings ever. I am a movie buff watching each and every movie that comes to me but adore only off-beat and low budget movies. I like reading books and watching movies that explore the absurd.

Coming from research background, what attracted you towards literary field?

My area of research itself is literature. As I said I am a student of literature, I have grown up reading books from all the ages of English literature and few of American Literature. This field of literature is an enormous with innumerable theories emerging these days. So an amalgamation of research and literature appropriately defines my interest.

Writing fiction, articles, research papers, reviews, what is that you enjoy most and why?

This is something tricky to answer. Let me define what all means to me one by one. Fiction is my world where I can do what I wish to. Article writing for me is highlighting or bringing change towards what is happening around me. Research papers are my way of preparing a dish of few pages with the ingredients of what a writer has written and what theories I could apply to it. While reviews for me is doing inquest (sorry to use this word) of books and movies the way I like as a reader and spectator respectively. All of these fulfill different purpose and being diplomatically straightforward you will find it difficult to get an answer from me.

What seems to be the best part of being a writer according to you?

Freedom- the only word I could say. Whatever you feel, you wish, you love; you can just pen it down. Once the censorship enters this field, it will lose its charm. You spread your thoughts on paper and fill yourself with lightness of being.

Life of a research scholar or life as an author, which one is your favorite?

One more googly question! Research scholar works from mind and author from heart. We, in life, too follow either heart or mind to take significant decisions of future. Same is the role of both for me.

There are many anthologies coming into the market, what made you chose Moonlit Matine 3 amongst them?

Moonlit Matinee is a series of anthology and its previous two anthologies have been a great success. Some of its past contributing authors have now published their own novels. On the other hand it also gives an opportunity to debutant writers, which others usually don’t. Who won’t like to be the part of it? 

What is your story, “How I fell in love” about in Moonlit Matinee? 

My story “How I fell in Love” is entirely a fictive one. It is in the form of a diary entry which is read in the present time by the girl who has written it after her marriage. She chose to read the best pages of her diary which are depicted to the readers in the form of this story. Mahi, the center character of the story, is a very simple girl, who goes on a trekking camp with her girlfriends. She falls in love with the most happening guy over there. The romantic scenes between both of them will surely pass a chill in the reader’s body. It is a romantic story with a climax where readers may find themselves in a dilemma while predicting it. Does her love sustain or gets done with the camp is a question which will be answered when you read the story.

Which characters are the lead characters?

Mahi is the lead character in this story followed by VJ. Mahi as I said is a simple girl. Though from a city, she remains untouched by the culture of city life. She remains in the company of her female friends; never talk about and to boys and don’t even party or wear fashionable clothes. VJ is exactly opposite to her. He is the heart throb of entire camp. Girls are fond of him; he parties hard and is full of life. Both of them get infatuated towards each other.

Which feature of your story do you feel will be the most loved one for the readers?

Of course the romantic feature. The romance portrayed over here is a slowly evolved one; romance in its pure form. As title shows, it’s about falling in love. Most of the readers are youth and they love this ‘love thing.’ They will love ‘the love’ shown here.

Is your story inspired by real life incidents or its purely fiction?

Oh! It’s a fiction. But I sincerely wish this turns out to be someone’s real story and if not readers relate to it in some or the other way.

How was the experience working with Gargi Publishers?

It was phenomenal. The one word I can say about the Gargi Publisher team is Industrious. They are really quick in providing you the best. Whether it’s the founder, the editorial team or the media, they are always on the toes to serve you. I wish to work again with Gargi Publishers in future and will surely recommend it to the budding and renowned authors. They also give good quality books at reasonable prices.

What would be your message for our readers?

As it is known that if you want to get knowledge and education altogether either travel the world or read books. Especially young India must. You can live many lives in one life if you read books. And don’t forget to buy Moonlit Matinee 3- The Notebook of Romance. You can send me reviews and suggestions regarding my story and also about the anthology on khushboo.gulrajani09@gmail.com. Happy Reading.

(This interview was taken by Nainika Gautam under the internship program by Gargi Publishers)