I have always maintained that most of the good writers do not come from a journalism background – and in fact, one finds better writers from people from different walks of life. And perhaps this has its strong reasoning in the fact that most journalists are forced to write – to eke out a living – but writers belonging to different professions do it as their hobby, passion or something that they love and do not depend on for their bread and butter.
Jayaraj V Thoppil sure belongs to the category of a writer who does not depend on stringing words for a living – as being a senior management professional at a leading automobile company has given him a fair life, and lifestyle in the Millennium City Gurugram in the vicinity of the Union Capital of India.
Hailing from the God’s Own Country – Jayaraj, Jay to his friends, completed his schooling, college and professional education in Kerala and launched himself into a professional quality control role in the automobile sector, and has reached a position that many only aspire to.
Married to Sumini, a proactive health professional in the Ayurvedic stream of medicine and an aspiring singer, the couple lead a happy life immersing self in creative pursuits – she into singing and Jay writing out his imaginative works – fiction – that brings together all his experience, experiences in life so far, and more.
Work-life balance for him is more or less guaranteed purely because of the interests outside of profession that he has developed over the years, since childhood in fact like reading, sketching, music and sports – actively playing badminton in the spare time which he can squeeze out of his busy daily schedule.
Riding the popularity chart among writers, Jay considers himself a king in disguise, still lucky enough to lead the life of freedom enjoyed by the commoner (unrecognised in the streets) and being able to walk alone freely in crowded streets.
In his debut work, ‘Alcohol’, published by Frog Books, Jay tried to uncover the unknown dimensions of every alcoholic, and when launching its second edition consented to its name to be changed to ‘One Pint of Cheers’ brought out by Tate Publishers, USA. Notion Books launched its third edition in India.
His literary offering ‘Bluebook of Transitory Souls’, a mystery fiction, was published by Leadstart Publishing in 2020 and continues to mesmerize readers across the globe.
His brand new offering – just released – book, titled ‘Mask-Gen Chronicles’, published by Leadstart Publishing (One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd) is doing well in stores and he is getting encouraging feedback on his fictional mystery novel. It is a heartbreaking story of a generation that is destined to wear masks forever – revolving around the life of two individuals in love whom the Coronavirus and the sudden lockdown separated.
If one were to take a negative meaning out of the reference to masks, the author is trying to caution the readers about the future possibilities of similar but man-made viruses emerging through human designs. When doing so, Jay also does not rule out the possibility that Coronavirus Pandemic itself could have been an artificially engineered public medical health emergency.
Well, if viewed from a positive prism, the mask-wearing supposition of the author refers to the need of protecting the self with the help of a mask-like device from the contaminations that dominate our life and our life surroundings and environment.
One can perhaps see shades of an autobiography of the author in the Mask-Gen Chronicles, as the main character, Ratna, is a flamboyant software executive and an aspiring creative writer who is trapped in an uncomfortable zone in a sudden twist of fate.
Jay also tries to expose a few unethical business practices he has come across in his personal life experience so far when penning this fictional diary based on events in his real life. This is why references can be found to man-animal conflict, turbulent political dramas, disruption in businesses, of death, destruction and losses of men and material. Now for the technologically minded readers, this book has an additional appeal, with microbe featuring in the lead role along with the smartphone in a supporting role.
What about the future?
“Maybe, more focus on creative writing,” Jayaraj told Tricity Scoop and said he was hoping to develop on the theme “Any phone call at an odd time, maybe a bad omen……”
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