Catching The Departed – Kulpreet Yadav

Catching The Departed – Kulpreet Yadav

“Thriller is the next big thing, it has to be and it should be. Otherwise, I have to fetch a job”

It was about twelve years ago when Kulpreet Yadav first discovered the writer in him and wrote his first short-story. It was during the same time that he found his first reader and fan, his wife. “Until 2002, I was only into reading, so when I took the story to my wife, she was shocked to know that it was written by me. She went to her room and read the story. Meanwhile, I was so tensed that even fifteen minutes felt like hours to me. Finally, she came out and said “It’s a good story!”

Catching the Departed’s Cover page

And it was then that his journey as a writer began. His first book ‘The Bet’ didn’t yield him a great rapport with the publisher, “I was clueless about how this whole thing works. The publishers of the book were not holding their responsibilities properly and certain things about them weren’t transparent at all. That is the time when I realised that I needed a professional publisher but that required me to have either a creative writing background or good contacts or a journalist or a professor but I didn’t have any of these.”

On the advice of his brother, Kulpreet started writing a lot of short stories and sent them to multiple international magazines. He also read 25-30 literary magazines through which he got the hang of writing short-stories. Finally in 2013, he got an agent who helped him to publish “Catching the Departed”.

“People had mix responses towards my crime-thriller ‘Catching the Departed’. The book is a reader friendly book and not one in which I am trying to showcase my language skills. I am a story teller and have stuck to the basics of writing.”

In his first novel, The Bet, he explained a lot of things in details without realising that people might get bored. “I like literature and this novel (The Bet) had many sequences which were verbose so it didn’t do well. But ‘Catching the Departure’ is a lean book in which things are to the point and aptly worded.

Kulpreet Yadav’s public interaction at Singapore

Kulpreet says that he has a split personality where one part of him is a story teller and other part is satisfying his own creative appetite. “I would like to write stuff which is meaningful to people. I believe readers are much more intelligent, so I would like to entertain them because then only would I be able to pay my bills (followed by laughs)”

Kulpreet was very comprehensive to take up writing as a career but looking at his dedication to literature his family encouraged him to follow his passion. For him, his wife and his brother are critics to everything that he writes.

He follows the foot step of Stephen King who says that to be a writer one has to write every day. “My wife is an avid reader. Apart from taking interest in reading all my work, she is able to read other works more than me. I write on a daily basis and whenever I go to her, I am not able to say anything because her desk is already full of my stories.”

Further answering some questions, Kulpreet said:

How did you name this novel?

I was at a bus stop and was thinking of the title. I thought there should be a connecting thread to the three novels that I am planning to write- Catching the departed, Drowning the Pirate and Eating the Dragon. In the beginning, I was sceptical about keeping the novel’s name as ‘Catching the Departed’ as it didn’t give a clear picture but many people encouraged it.

Kulpreet Yadav

The novel, Catching the Departed, is pure imagination as far as the plot and the story is concerned but the setting is relatable to the readers.

Are the books connected?

All three novels have a common connecting character called Andy Karan. He is a 29 year old investigative journalist at a leading weekly in Connaught Place, Delhi. He has served for five years in the army and was an undercover agent for the Government. He has a troubled past and has strived to have a clear future.

What would you say about Indian Thrillers?

I am not qualified to make a comparison between the Indian and western thriller writing style, although I would say that the usage of technology and advanced forensic science in western writings is the main difference. That also might be emerging from the fact that these developments in the area of crime are not yet to be adopted in India. However, I believe that using technology and advanced forensic science would add in a good flavour to the story and attract readers, especially young readers.

What has been the WOW moment of your life?

A WOW moment in my professional life would be the day when my wife woke me up at 6 am to tell me that my book stands at first position in Amazon best sellers. I was so happy and excited that I wanted to freeze the moment because it could go away any day or any hour.

Tell me something about the ‘Hunt for the next Best seller’?

Hachette India along with DNA in October last year launched its first initiative to engage readers and writers of India. Called ‘Hunt for the Next Best Seller’, the idea was to present stories of aspiring authors and to give an opportunity to exhibit their creativity and art of storytelling. I sent my entry through an agent and was competing with 299 other entries in the competition. When they came out with the shortlist in February this year, the list had my name. Although, I didn’t win the prize but when such credible organization shortlists your name then it gives altogether another feeling and it was a validation of my work being reader-friendly.

Kulpreet Yadav at Kunzum Travel Cafe

Ending the conversation, Kulpreet sent a message to our readers “Well, I would like to say that please do not think Indian writers cannot write good thrillers and good steamy scenes like westerners. Have faith in their writing capability and their art of storytelling, pick up their book and give it a chance, if you don’t like it then throw in the dustbin but don’t just stick to western writers.”