A year later, yet another Indian Mills & Boon author has emerged as the winner of Passions — Aspiring Authors Auditions organised by Harlequin Mills & Boon, India. In a delightful evening at Tote-on the Turf, Mahalaxmi Race course, Clarke Somerville, General Manager, UK and Export Sales announced Journalist Aastha Atray as the second winner of Passions – Aspiring Authors Auditions that was held recently to unearth yet another Indian talent that qualifies as a good Mills & Boon read.
Felicitated by Milan Vohra, the first Indian M&B author, the three finalists share their short story, which impressed the jury.
Aastha Atray
Journalist, winners
A journalist for the last nine years and presently working for ‘Tehelka’, Aastha writes regularly about communities, people and relationships; three genres that have beautifully figured into a 2,000 word short story that won the first prize this year.
An excited Aastha shares, “I wanted to write about an issue which affects most of us today. Girls, both thin and fat, never fail to complain about their weight. My protagonist is one such girl. Though she belongs to a very rich family and has everything at her beck and call, she continues to be unhappy about her weight until a new employee at her dad’s organisation makes her feel special and more confident about herself. And they fall in love!”
In town with her husband, Kishore Banan, an audio engineer, Aastha says she is now hoping to see her short story titled, ‘The Poor Rich Girl and the Man with a Menacing Grin’, transformed into a book by the end of the year. An M&B fan herself, Aastha was working with a newspaper, when she wrote about the first Indian author of M&B, Milan Vohra, winning the contest last year. Interestingly, this year she gave it a shot, and emerged as the winner herself!
Poonam Dabas
English teacher, 1st runner up
Poonam grew up reading M&B in school, which according to her, was more ‘soft’ than the present day M&B books, which are quite explicit. Her masterpiece that made her one of the three finalists of the competition is obviously a reminder of that very style of writing.
“A US-based Indian businessman, on the lookout for Indian models, finds himself sharing a hotel room with a stunning beautiful lady. The story ultimately culminates into love,” says the prospective M&B writer with a smile. Based in Delhi, Poonam was the headmistress in a popular school in the capital before she decided to go beyond academic writing. After learning about Milan last year, Poonam decided to send her entry this year.
Shoma Narayanan
Banking Professional, 2nd runner up
Head, Marketing at HSBC, Mumbai, Shoma, a mother of two kids aged eight and three-and-a-half, started reading M&B when she was nine, and found her love when she was in XLRI. Shoma submitted a 2,000 word short story about a college couple who part ways after college gets over only to meet at a friend’s wedding to realise that they are still very much in love.
Happy to have been acknowledged as a prospective M&B writer, Shoma says with a smile, “The story is not a reflection of my own love story, but the emotions are.” Shoma wrote short stories when her kids were fast asleep, but went a step more to register for the competition when she read about the contest at a bookstore last month. Within a few hours, Shoma wrote the story that made her one of the three entries that were selected from a total of 1,000 sent to the competition this year.
Milan Vohra
India’s first M&B author, on the new talent
Working on a ‘chiclet’ now that might appear on stands by the end of this year, Vohra was seen enjoying the evening, which a year ago had been hers. Admiring the new talent, Vohra says, “The good thing about the M&B contest is that it is going to be conducted every year, which will help a lot of Indian authors realise their talent for this genre of writing.”
Recollecting the ‘winning moment’ last year, the first Indian M&B author shares, “Belief! I can assure that one’s belief can turn into reality. It was just my whim to write for M&B, and it turned into a reality!” Vohra is now aiming to explore more genres of writing.