With his business running into rough weather leaving him almost broke, entrepreneur Vishwas Mudagal was in need of no less than a miracle to start life afresh when a strange idea struck him, that of writing a book on the situation he was in.
And thus "Losing My Religion" was born.
"I decided to make the protagonist (Rishi Rai) of my book go on a journey; I could live that life and that freedom through him, I reasoned. On May 22, 2009, I wrote the first chapter, and, I'd like to believe, my life changed that day," Bangalore-based Mudagal told PTI.
"I literally lived with the characters, created a parallel universe, wrote-rewrote-bled through 14 versions of the story with 150 plus drafts. Storytelling became my passion," he says.
Rishi, the main character in the book published by Fingerprint, draws heavily from the author's life and his experiences.
"The beginning of the story is autobiographical because I made Rishi to be in the same situation that I was when I went bankrupt. But it ends once he decides to quit everything and go with Alex on an uncharted journey across India. Rishi later became a character of his own," says Mudagal, currently CEO and co-founder of technology firm GoodWorkLabs.
"Rest of the story after they reach Malana is pure imagination, but influenced by people I have met, places I have visited, incidents in my life or my known ones, or stories I have heard growing up. Also there were years of research. 'Losing My Religion' involved a lot of research, from Malana to Om Beach to Kumbh to reality shows, and so on," he says.
According to him, "Losing My Religion" is a story of the global youth, written in a perspective never attempted before.
"It cuts across several genres, and has adventure, thrill, romance, bromance, suspense, entrepreneurship, business, reality shows, enmity and revenge all wrapped into a powerful story. And it's a book that inspires people to never give up, never be afraid to fail, and never stop having fun in your life. It's a book of hope," he says.
