Interview with Jai Prakash Arora author of the book A Girl of Valour

Title: A Girl of Valour
ISBN: 9789356736320
Page: 575
MRP: 649
Publisher: ‎Evincepub Publishing

In the rich and diverse world of Indian literature, stories often serve as a mirror reflecting societal challenges and personal triumphs. One author making significant waves in this landscape is Jai Prakash Arora. His latest novel, A Girl of Valour, delves deep into themes of resilience, truth, and the indomitable spirit of a young woman facing extraordinary challenges.

Jai Prakash Arora is more than just an author; he is a storyteller with a unique voice and a passion for exploring human emotions and societal issues. Born and raised in India, Jai now resides in London, where his multicultural experiences enrich his writing. His journey as a writer began six years ago, fueled by a desire to express himself creatively and share compelling narratives.

Before venturing into the literary world, Jai worked as an IT engineer for fifteen years. This background provides him with a unique perspective on the intersection of technology and storytelling. His debut novel, A Fortunate Song, released in 2019, showcased his talent for weaving intricate plots within the realms of mystery and adult fiction. Since then, he has been on a steady journey of growth, continuously expanding his literary repertoire.

Jai’s versatility as a writer is evident in the variety of genres he has explored, including drama, thriller, horror, and romance. His passion for storytelling shines through in his poetry and thought-provoking articles on self-awareness, mindfulness, nature, and compassion. With a commitment to inspiring and uplifting readers, Jai’s work resonates with a broad audience.

Let’s talk with Author:

Swapna Peri: What initially inspired you to pursue a career in writing, and how did your passion for storytelling develop over time? Can you share how your life and perspectives have evolved since becoming an author?

Jai Prakash Arora: My first writing was a four-line poem I wrote in May 2018, but it wasn’t a sudden inspiration. I have been developing the seed for my writing for a long time, and various factors have influenced them since childhood.

As an introvert with many unspoken thoughts and ideas, I found it challenging to articulate my stories. The transition from thoughts to words was a hurdle I struggled to overcome, a battle many aspiring writers can relate to. Reluctant to share my inner world with others, I hesitated to put words to paper. In college, I developed the habit of reading. Starting with a self-help book, I later delved into fictional novels. These stories’ immersive characters and plots became my first inspiration. They ignited a passion for the world of imagination and the charm of crafting a tale that readers are eager to believe and live. My interest in creating characters and stories was born. My goal was to write about a life I had never experienced or craft a story about an ordinary individual to something extraordinary that would be difficult to achieve otherwise.

Later, while working as a software engineer, I encountered a colleague who was a writer for a local newspaper. I drew some inspiration from him and thought, “Why not me if he could write?” My only shortcoming was the courage to pick up a pen and write it. I started writing minor posts and articles on social media and other platforms here and there, but that wasn’t the start of my writing. It took me another four to five years to write my first-ever poem in 2018, which was the beginning of my writing journey. I remember reading those four lines almost fifty times. Since then, I have been eager to write many stories and have had ideas to share, and I have never stopped. I started writing regularly but needed direction, so I joined a two-month creative writing course in Mumbai. I learned a lot about the writing process. The same year, I self-published my first novel.

If I had known that writing is such a classic and beautiful way of expressing yourself to the world, I would have begun much earlier. Writing changed the world for me. It allowed me to delve deep into my thoughts and ideas and learn more about myself, life, and the surrounding people. It helped me expand my horizon of knowledge, inspiration, and understanding of the values of life. Writing has been a means of self-expression and a powerful tool for personal growth, helping me become more reflective, empathetic, and understanding of the human experience.

I have written two fictional novels and dozens of short stories. Writing has allowed me to learn and share my stories and ideas with others. It has also allowed me to live life again and again in different ways and develop it in bolder, more aware, and happier manners, both rationally and emotionally. The joy of sharing my stories with the world is unparalleled.

Swapna Peri: A Girl of Valour is a compelling crime fiction thriller with a strong emotional core. What drew you to the crime fiction genre, and how do you ensure that your stories stand out in a genre known for its suspense and intrigue?

Jai Prakash Arora: A Girl of Valour is more than crime fiction; it is more of a mystery. It depicts the events that led to many situations in the life of a protagonist and her family, who had taken a long ride to bring their lives into a pool of still water rather than a flowing river. The suspense of the episodes in the protagonist’s life makes it stand out, leading her to uncover hidden facts about life and past events.

The story creates a series of circumstances where a web of affairs, a vulnerability hits the life of people around the protagonist, and that produces the revelation of suspense, which could be both a jittery ride with the life of the protagonist while she surviving the affliction in her life and around. Even as the reader follows the story’s narration and is deeply connected with the characters, it gives them a thrilling phenomenon. It intrigues their core belief, and the story reveals the truth as it concludes.

Swapna Peri: Saadgi Aryan is portrayed as both a fierce journalist and a vulnerable individual struggling with PTSD. What inspired you to create such a complex protagonist, and how did you approach balancing her strengths with her vulnerabilities?

Jai Prakash Arora: Saadgi is a soulful character, as it had portrayed. Creating such a character is necessary to show the vulnerability at its critical place in her life. Every character has had some vulnerability, here showing the protagonist brings the character’s ability to shine out of circumstances that happened in her life, which brings agony. It seems such a complex character, as it is vulnerable and, ‌as a journalist, she realises her true nature, her weaknesses, and how she overcomes the chaos around her life.

If only she possessed those vulnerabilities that amend her to do her job wilfully and courageously and bring truth to people, as susceptibility is part of a person’s life, and how to overcome those is what the proper disposition could be. How the events turn out, where she unravels the facts, balances her strength of bravery by which she fulfilled her purpose and duty, and fights her weakness in defenselessness. Her vulnerable and brave journalist role has given her character and protagonist full justice.

Swapna Peri: A Girl of Valour delves deeply into the effects of trauma and the journey of overcoming it. How did you research and develop the theme of PTSD in your novel, and what message do you hope readers take away from Saadgi’s struggle?

Jai Prakash Arora: The story depicts Saadgi as courageous and susceptible to difficulties. Showing a character who is liable is required to provoke an event. Life is predictable, but we are unsure what’s coming next. What circumstances or decisions led you to unforeseen situations? As it occurred, Saadgi faced an unbearable event: the death of his father. It seems just another incident or cause in Saadgi’s life, but losing her father wasn’t a typical event in her life that led to trauma and affected the child’s sensitive nature to her core.

I want to show how that character’s life affects her mental behaviours, where I research how trauma brings a dark patch in a person’s life and how stressful that event sways the child’s health and mentally disturbed. Usually, something happens in our lives and it affects us mentally, but we can’t figure it out or avoid talking about those mental disorders. It could happen to anybody. There are a lot of traumas and stress in a person’s life. Showing that PTSD was, in reality, showing her struggling with these events and their impact on anyone. It also shows how vulnerability is not the ultimate fact of a person. Saadgi’s character manifests as a fighter of her trauma, a PTSD disease she suffered from, and how she came out of it.

Swapna Peri: Saadgi’s career as an investigative journalist is central to the plot, highlighting the role of journalism in exposing corruption. How do you view the importance of journalism in today’s world, and what motivated you to weave this theme into your story?

Jai Prakash Arora: Yes, Saadgi, as a journalist, played a crucial role in portraying that character. The character of the journalist has been close to my heart since I watched the movie ‘No One Killed Jessica’. I remember the story displays how wrong reporting covering the crime leads and affects not only the victim but also it brings a dark, ignorant representation of the entire society. If journalists do not do their work judiciously, it will bring adverse changes in the social context. However, when journalists uncover the crime, society will benefit from the crucial social change. It underscores the vital role of journalists in uncovering crime, making us feel protected.

It stimulates me to show by my writing a character who is a journalist who goes against all odds, brings truth to society, and uncovers the crime, the illegal things happening, and how journalism is an essential part of today’s world. The current situation is truly different. Journalists today work for money; they bring fake news, do distorted reporting, and hide crimes for prominent politicians and people in business. Through my story, I wanted to convey that it’s difficult to fight against crime; the corrupt people in the game are always behind to destroy you, whereas the characters, or souls like Saadgi, despite many challenges, bring change to go against those criminals and have that nerve to uncover the truth to people, and wanted to get a change in society, where all live together peacefully and without violence of any kind.

Swapna Peri: The revelation of a medical conspiracy tied to Saadgi’s past adds a layer of suspense to the novel. What challenges did you face in crafting this intricate plot, and how did you ensure that the conspiracy felt both realistic and engaging for readers?

Jai Prakash Arora: Creating this intricate narrative with rich characterisation centred around Saadgi and her fellow characters was daunting. The medical conspiracy unveiled by Saadgi would not have been as gripping without the weight of her past, a past that is a critical element of the narrative, intriguing the readers and making them eager to uncover her history. I aimed to convey this sense of anticipation to heighten the reader’s suspense and underscore Saadgi’s unwavering commitment to her profession. Had the conspiracy been solely driven by her personal agenda, devoid of her past? It would not have made for a compelling or suspenseful story.

Saadgi’s character shines because it shows her sincerity toward her work. It sweeps into the world with many challenges, but she regressed from the situation and fought back. The suspense comes to feel realistic when she uncovers her past is also associated with this medical conspiracy, her father’s discovery of medicine, and how it affects the life of her father and her own life turns of events, from losing her father developed the stiff disease of PTSD, which her whole life make her dread. The revelation of the suspense brings a sense of new purpose to her life and strengthens her resolve to bring the truth to light. This revelation adds weight to her mission so that the readers can feel it, and it brings a thrill to the readers and rides them in the wow, groovy narrative.

Swapna Peri: The novel masterfully intertwines Saadgi’s personal battles with her professional mission. How did you strike the right balance between the internal and external conflicts in the story, and what impact do you think this balance has on the overall narrative?

Jai Prakash Arora: The conflict that began in her life when Saadgi’s father died was the starting point of her battle. It wasn’t just a personal battle involving people around. The story displays her life events as she was growing how that incident brought trauma in her life, changed her life, and how difficult it was for her to live everyday life, first without her parents, and second the pressure – the way people perceived her PTSD condition, and which has led her to lose many battles against the politicians, and people involved in crime again and again.

The external conflicts strike her internal conflict; that’s where I bring the story to balance. It will bring Saadgi’s character to the position where she would choose to fight the external conflict or be fully vigilant toward the internal and external conflict in her life and fight it courageously. Saadgi’s journey of overcoming her internal conflict involved specific actions or plans she used, which was Saadgi’s courage, which pays in the end. She cannot win only the struggle of inner conflict but also the external conflicts, along with the woven and interlinked events that brought both conflicts, made her triumph and come as a warrior in the long battle of chaos deep inside herself and seemingly with people around who want her to lose the fight.

Swapna Peri: As an author, what advice would you give aspiring writers looking to break into the crime fiction genre or tackle complex themes in their storytelling?

Answer: I advise aspiring writers that tackling the complex subjects in the story, such as the psychological motivations of a serial killer or the intricate web of a political conspiracy, requires the utmost attention to the events and how to bring them to life. For example, in crime fiction or thriller stories, the events revolve around the character, your main character, or any supporting character, which will lead the story and bring the theme to shine. If your character, especially the protagonist, is a weak read, it never makes you roll into the aisle.

Characters should be so robust that they propel your story forward; the twists and turns in their lives shape the entire narrative. The crime or thrill itself stands out with solid characterisation. Then, you wouldn’t have to focus solely on the crime. Instead, the well-crafted character, the meticulously structured narrative, and the sequence of events all work together to make a complex theme skilfully presentable to readers, creating a seamless reading experience.