Ashish Khetarpal

Sagittarius

I dance alone in my apartment, I have very long dramatic discussions with myself about life in general, I have a strange obsession with Beethoven.

My greatest fear is to not be able to make it as an author.

Nothing out of the ordinary as of now.

None as of now. It has been a rather low-lying affair so far.

2015 because 'things fall apart'.

Jordan Peterson

Don Quixote of La Mancha.

Rodion Raskolnikov (Crime and Punishment).

Seneca, Khalil Gibran, Rohinton Mistry, Amitav Ghosh, Arundhati Roy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, V.S. Naipaul, George Orwell, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

A House for Mr Biswas (V.S. Naipaul), A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry), The Book Thief (Markus Zusak), Man’s Search for Meaning (Victor E. Frankl), Don Quixote (Cervantes)

On the Shortness of Life (Seneca)

Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Aarzoo (1965), Casablanca, The Pianist, La Grande Vadrouille

If I could step out of the space-time dimension and observe the process of human evolution in fast-forward speed as it happened.

He hated that 'prose' rhymes with 'decompose'.

I wouldn't choose any other time period to be born. I would keep India for my childhood (in the 90s); maybe England for my adolescence, keeping a moving itinerary during my adult life, and finally spend my silver years in a village in the south of France.

A concert pianist.

A House for Mr Biswas (V.S. Naipaul)

I used to write in my kitchen, and I would start soon after breakfast and continue till evening before writing for another while later in the night. Now, I write in my study.

Music

"It doesn't matter, does it?"

I can only write in absolute silence, and I write better in the chair I have for six years, with a pot of coffee, and nothing on the calender.

Sadly, I don't read much for pleasure.

The sooner you accept the sacrifices demanded by writing, the simpler your path will be--not easier, but slightly simpler.