Love, Loss, and Legacy: Pramod Rajput shares the heart-wrenching tale of “Love is a Verb” in an exclusive interview with BB News
Pramod Rajput, a remarkable poet and software engineer, transcends boundaries with his evocative writing. Hailing from a humble village in Bihar, Pramod’s journey to becoming a renowned poet and shaayar in Hindi/Urdu is as inspiring as it is captivating. He has published 5 books so far. His first book “Aa Jee Lein Zara” is a collection of his 50 ghazals and 50 nazms. Pramod first novel “Seven Colors of Love” was published in 2019 with hindi version by name “Saat Rang Pyaar ke”. His recent book, “Love is a Verb ” which is also available in Hindi by name “Ishq ek Ibaadat hai ”. This recent romance novel delves into the poignant love story of Manav and Madhu, spanning continents and decades, weaving a narrative of love, sacrifice, and the human condition. Pramod Rajput’s ability to intertwine emotion with eloquence has garnered acclaim, with his verses even resonating in the Indian Parliament. Now, as he navigates life in the United States, Pramod continues to enchant readers with his profound insights and lyrical prowess.
- What inspired you to write “Love is a Verb,” and how did you approach capturing the essence of Manav and Madhu’s love story?
In 2018, my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s stage 2. I used to take care of him. Gradually his memory was fading and that was very painful for me to see him in that state as he was an Ex-Army man and quite healthy. During taking care of him, I got the idea of writing this novel, “Love is a Verb”. He finally died on 25th Jan 2023. This book is in a way my homage to him. I generally publish my novels in Hindi too. So “Love is a Verb” is also available in Hindi by name “Ishq ek Ibaadat Hai”.
I love to write Romance. My first novel “Seven Colors of Love” (“Saat Rang Pyaar Ke” in Hindi) is also a romance novel but it is very different than “Love is a Verb”. Since childhood, I’ve been drawn to timeless tales of love, such as Laila-Majnu, Shirin-Farhad, Romeo-Juliet, Sohni-Mahiwal. But I did not like the sad ending of these eternal love stories. The story of my protagonist Manav and Madhu are inspired by these beautiful tales with a kind of happy ending. I always wanted by readers to feel motivated after finishing the novel and want to fall in love with their life partners once again. And after seeing the reviews of this book, I can say with confidence that I could achieve it.
- As a software engineer by profession, how do you balance your technical work with your passion for writing Urdu/Hindi Ghazals?
The beauty of passion is that you always find time for it. You will never feel tired or exhausted for your passion. Passion is something which keeps us motivated. Although my profession of Software Engineer pays my bills and runs my family but my passion for Hindi/Urdu ghazals and my interest of writing my romance novels keeps me recharged and motivated towards my works. I do not write books or do poetries to earn money because that is taken care of by my profession. I do it to recharge my emotions. So, I can say with confidence that the poet and author inside me compliment my profession. I find myself happier since people started knowing me as a Shaayar and an author.
- Can you share some insights into your writing process? How do you find inspiration for your poetry?
There was a poet (Shaayar) inside me since my childhood. It took me sometime to realize there was also an author hidden somewhere in me. Ghazals have some technicalities like radeef, qafia, matla, maqta ,bahr etc. I love these rules. That makes writing ghazals more exciting. You have to write your emotions within those rules just like mathematics which was always my favorite subject from my school days. So, I love it. I am not a very learned person of language. I read Hindi only up to my High School, but I have read and listened big poets of Urdu shayari like Mirza Ghalib, Meer, Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Faraz, Amjad Islam Amjad, Abbas Tabish are just the few names. Infact ! I appreciate any good sher written by anyone. It teaches me a lot. So, my writing is very simple and has all my soul in it. I don’t have any writing schedule. Whenever I get time and mood, I write.
- The theme of love and loss is central to your book. How do you believe readers can relate to and find solace in such universal themes?
It is true that Love is a central theme of “Love is a Verb” but I don’t think there is any loss in it. It is depiction of pure love. It is an ideal love story of protagonists Madhu and Manav. Not only love but this book shows ideal relationships. It even shows that just with love anyone can face any challenges thrown by life. As I said above, I write with my heart and soul that is why my readers connect to my emotions. They can relate their own life journey with Madhu and Manav. Although they are fictional characters, but they have been developed from us. I always believe that in all human beings the emotion of love is there. We want to love and being loved. So, this universal theme of love will always appeal readers.
- “Love is a Verb” beautifully portrays the challenges faced by Manav and Madhu as they navigate life’s complexities. How did you ensure authenticity and empathy in depicting their struggles?
Although Manav and Madhu are characters, but their struggles are very real. While taking care of my father suffering from Alzheimer’s, I have faced these struggles by myself.
These life struggles are not just an imagination of a writer but they are real. So, I am sure my readers will feel that authenticity and relate to it.
- What do you hope readers will take away from “Love is a Verb” after reading it?
Love is a Verb” is a feel good novel with lots of love and positivity. There is no real antagonist in this novel except Alzheimer’s. While reading this novel people will go through a range of all human emotions like happy, sadness, excitement, thrill, positive, negative, romance, heart breaks etc but at the end they will feel happy and positive. It will make them a little better as a human being.
- Your poetry has resonated with audiences globally. How do you see the role of poetry in today’s world, especially in bridging cultural divides and fostering understanding?
In my opinion, not only poems and novels but any literary creations are very important in our lives. Science has its own importance, and it will keep ruling the world with their new inventions but after all we are human beings. We have different kind of emotions. To connect from people, we need these emotions. Science can create a medium to connect people but whether I want to connect with someone or not depends upon our emotional quotient with each other. These literatures help people to understand each other better. Like “Love is a verb” is being read by people from the US too although my protagonists are Indian. They can understand our Indian family values and culture from my book. In my first novel “Seven Colors of Love ” I tried to show seven different shades of love. My protagonist was a good person with some grey shades. But grey shades are also part of human emotions. I want people to connect with my books. They should see themselves while reading my books.
