JOIN USRavi Subramanian, the author of nine bestselling titles, is a banker by profession. An alumnus of IIM Bangalore, he has spent two decades in the financial services industry.
His debut novel, If God Was a Banker, won the Golden Quill Readers’ Choice Award in 2008. His subsequent books, including the trilogy The Incredible Banker, The Bankster, and Bankerupt, have also won several awards. His latest, In The Name Of God, has just hit the stands. He lives in Mumbai with wife Dharini and daughter Anusha.
Excerpts from an interview:
What book do you wish you had written?
Five Point Someone... Just Kidding... Kane and Abel.
Who are your literary icons?
Jeffrey Archer, R K Narayan, Arthur Hailey, (John) Grisham.
Do you have a writing routine?
When writing a book, I write almost everyday from 9 pm to 1 am.
What’s on your writing desk?
I don’t have a writing desk. I sit on the couch in the living room and write.
Your current read...
Penance by Kanae Minato
— a psychological thriller.
What are you scared of?
Rejection.
How do you relax?
Writing. And when I am not
writing, reading.
What would you change about yourself?
Lose some weight.
Your most marked characteristic...
As a writer — multiple intertwined plots coming together in the climax.
Where is your favourite place in the world?
Home — would you believe if I tell you I struggle to sleep on a hotel bed?
Your worst habit?
Leaving the lunch box in office everyday.
Your greatest achievement...
Being a good father
(as per my daughter).
Five favourite things...
Home, writing, filter coffee, reading, vegetating.
If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
Undoubtedly Ravi Subramanian.
I am very happy with the way life has shaped up.
Your heroes in real life...
The ones I considered modern-day heroes are all proving fallible.
Let’s pass.
Your favourite occupation...
Writing.
Your idea of happiness...
Three C’s of happiness — Calm mind, Coffee & Conversations.
You’d never leave home without...
My iPhone.
What is your present state of mind?
Agitatedly contended. That’s because a ‘contented’ mind never achieved much.
Your favourite motto...
Sometimes truth can only be told through fiction.
Life, according to you...
...is to be lived in the present.
Unfortunately, as a nation, we brood too much over the past.