The Tale Teller

“The two books that I wrote were born out of scribbling my thoughts randomly and there was no conscious decision to write a novel as such,” he says. Shahi wrote his first novel Just Friends at the age of 17 and currently is pursuing media and business studies at Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts.

Speaking more about his upcoming book he says,”Romantic thrillers are good but this time its going to be different. The story is a road trip that a boy and girl undertake. The story develops as other characters and sub plots progress.” As an afterthought he adds,”Both of them have nothing in common and have everything to learn from each other and no they dont fall in love in the end.”

The sales figures for his previous novel have been impressive. His first novel Just Friends has gone on to sell over one lakh copies and is in the process of a reprint. “They are launching a special ‘Friendship’s Day’ edition. There is a Hindi version of the book too,which has sold more than 10,000 copies. A lot like love.. A lil like chocolate has also sold more than 50,000 copies in the 8 months of its release.

Shahi mentions that he is not used to the adulation or the fan -following. “Most of them are girls. Incidentally there are also some guys,” he adds sheepishly. On his style of writing he says that he prefers sticking to more puns and short sentences. “I am comfortable writing this way. Although I do prefer using a lot of strong wit and comedy. My writing features tales from urban India,” he says.