HOW THIS RESEARCH SCIENTIST WENT ABOUT WRITING A ROMANTIC FICTION

Author Interview: Piyush Baindara

Dr. Piyush Baindara is an emerging research scientist at the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia. He pursued his Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture at GBPUAT, Pantnagar, which is known as “The Harbinger of the Green Revolution in India”. He later started his research career at the School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and then earned his doctorate from the CSIR–Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh. He has recently come out with the book “Ranikhet Express: The Love Track”. In a candid chat with Chirdeep Malhotra, he talks about his debut book, his writing journey, and much more. Read on!



Please tell us more about Piyush Baindara as a person.

I am a person with my own rules and lifestyle. I always explore everything around me and that is the spirit that forces me to be creative in my usual life too. I love travelling, nature photography, and writing my thoughts in my mother tongue Hindi. Being a foodie, I also spend much time cooking and believe that I can cook almost anything.



Has writing always been a part of your life? Or did you chance upon it later on and then instantly fell in love with it?

Not writing, but thoughts about life experiences have been my sole inspiration, and these have always been an important part of my life. While doing my doctorate, I have been writing reviews and examining scientific articles, but never thought about writing a non-science book. At the same time, the journey of my career took me to different places with new life experiences. Somehow those experiences were unique and always put me in the mix of feelings of being both happy and sad at the same time.
One day in my research lab, I just started typing on my laptop about those experiences and found that it was easy and much satisfying for me to write about my own experiences. Later I read my own written non-scientific pages and realized that it might be a book if I continue writing it. This is how it all started and finally, I published my first book “Ranikhet Express: The Love Track”.



Please tell us more about your book “Ranikhet Express”.

Ranikhet Express’s love tracks are like an over-flooding river of emotions, however, this book is not just a love story as it looks at the first instance. The book’s truthful story carries a real-life family drama and struggles, and depicts the conflict of thoughts between the young generation and their parents, which forces them to take some tough life decisions.
The story draws attention to the relationship between parents and their young children, especially when they are for the first time away from home and getting exposed to a completely different world with new life experiences. In reality, this is the time when our young generation develops its core values for their future, and this also gets obvious reflection in their societal face.
The story narrates very well about how one should take rational decisions in their life and how one should be determined and loyal to their own decisions. Of course, our own decisions are the ones which gives us ultimate satisfaction and decide the happiness of the coming moments in our life. With the blended flavours of family, college life, and love, the book’s story nicely highlights the real importance of loyal friends in life.
The innocent and realistic love story of “Ranikhet Express” also highlights another cruel face of our society that is covered with the mask of casteism. Our society has come so much ahead but still, there is one part of the society that wears this mask of casteism and considers the caste system above humanity. Such social circumstances become a major hurdle for the development of young minds.
In total, the book “Ranikhet Express” describes different realistic flavours of our society in a few pages that will make readers feel nostalgic when they read the story, and will also force them to think more. This is the story of every routine youngster which will make readers energetic and more determined to accomplish their future goals and life decisions.



How did the idea of writing this book originate? When did you start writing this book and how long did it take you to finish it?

In the journey from a small city of Rajasthan to Pantnagar, to the national capital New Delhi, to the beautiful city of Chandigarh, and then to the USA, I witnessed the different shades of life and experienced them at different life stages. Along with my own life experiences and surrounding societal issues, my thoughts became mature and forced me to think more about all this. I figured out that life is full of sweet and sour experiences, and this itself can be a book that will also teach young minds about life experiences and make them ready for their future challenges.
With all these thoughts, I started writing this book. Along with a busy research/laboratory schedule, it took about three years to complete my first book “Ranikhet Express: The Love Track”.



Why the title “Ranikhet Express”? What does it convey to the readers?

This is real and interesting as Ranikhet Express was the only train between Pantnagar (Haldiroad station) and Delhi at that time. This train becomes the only way for this love story to happen. The male protagonist of the story, Palash boards Ranikhet Express whenever he goes to Delhi to meet Jigna. Also, this was the train by which he first came to join his graduate school at Pantnagar University. The title “Ranikhet Express: The Love Track” is directly relevant to the story and would make readers to join the journey of love on Ranikhet Express in a real sense.



Tell us more about the protagonists Jigna and Palash. How did the characters come to you and how much did they change in the process of writing the novel?

The love story of Palash and Jigna is very realistic. Jigna is from Delhi NCR and Palash was doing his bachelor's in Agriculture from Pantnagar University when they first meet in Delhi. Jigna is a simple and straightforward girl who believes in God while Palash is completely a logical guy who believes in himself, however, they both are determined for their own decisions.
As I told earlier, the story of “Ranikhet Express” is influenced by some real-life experiences and so are the characters. I tried to make minimum disturbance to the real-life characters for the story to remain fresh and realistic as it was in real life.



What challenges did you face while writing this book?

I am a researcher and also a prolific scientific writer but writing a non-scientific book was a real challenge for me. However, I enjoyed a lot during this writing journey and also got my prime self-satisfaction, as I spent hundreds of my night hours writing and completing this love journey. It was like living another life along with my routine research/lab work.



What are you working on next?

The journey is going on. Nowadays, I am working on a couple of stories and producing an audiobook for “Ranikhet Express”. Because of my all-time cooking fever, I am also writing a cookbook based on my learnings and experiences in the kitchen.



There are many new writers and poets who are aspiring to get their work published. What would you say to them?

Writing is not a one-day job but consistent effort will make you succeed. Also, if you have already written or have started writing your book, you are one out of those few persons who have felt the joy of writing. Indeed, publishing is not easy in the present scenario but today’s pain and efforts will make you gain someday for sure. Keep reading, keep writing.



How can our readers connect with you?

The readers can connect with me via any social media network. Here is the link to the website https://piyushbaindara.com where I am available for academic advice and to share my experiences.



Can you share with our readers a motivational quote that keeps you going?

There is no shortcut to success. Just “Do the best and be the best.”