ÂYou are my moon, Meera. Now and always.Â

These lines from Ashwath Sezhian’s bestseller, “When Varun Met Meera” struck a chord with all the readers.

The simplicity of comparing a beloved to the moon, and the promise of a forever stirs even the cold-hearted realist.

The man who penned this line is Ashwath Sezhian. Sezhian is a doctor from Chennai, India. He regularly writes short stories which he posts on his Instagram account and has authored two books – “An Affliction of Orchids” and “When Varun Met Meera”. The latter of which went on to become a bestseller on Amazon.

He is as busy as a bee but luckily he set some time apart for us and gave us some insight into his writing process.

Q: Print Media has been around for a long time, it’s tried and tested. But, putting out works of art through the internet is pretty new. It would be really great if someone like you could tell us more about it!
Print media – books, magazines and all have their own charm. But I’ve found Instagram to be pretty liberating. You work on your schedule, you get direct feedback and foster a community of readers. IÂve been writing a lot of stories on Instagram for the past year. Most of my stories are horror, and thrillers, although the most well-received ones are romance. I have a very engaging audience, who read all of my ten slide stories. They leave a lot of comments and give me the freedom to try a lot of genres.

Q: It’s great to hear that you are able to try your hand at several genres. Which series would you say caused the most conversation?
I think that my most well-received stories have been the time-traveller trilogy. The babysitter trilogy did great as well. Most of my stories are mature, and they involve a fair degree of violence and darkness. But fortunately, my readers and I align here, I like to write it and they like to read it.

Q: Coming back to print, how did you feel when you saw the reception to your bestseller?
Honestly, more than the title, it felt really weird knowing so many others could relate to the feelings of Varun and Meera. I was so overwhelmed with the praise. It feels very gratifying when the audience is able to understand your art for what it is, and appreciate it accordingly.

Q: Everyone has different opinions as to what made “When Varun Met Meera”, so great. As the creator of that universe and its characters, what do you feel? What made it such a success?
I feel romantic art does really well. I think the reason for that is – people love Love. The book is about young love, and focuses on its immaturity yet emphasises its heartache will last forever. It is a campus story, set in South India – it evokes nostalgia for the simpler times. Love is a wonderful emotion and when someone sees it reflected in the art they are able to appreciate it from within.