PVLF 2025

Interview with D. Chattanathan , author of 'My Rides with Sahib'

Interview with Chattanathan D, author of 'My Rides with Sahib'
on Jan 11, 2022

D. Chattanathan who has been writing since childhood is a graduate in agriculture with a post-graduate diploma in Public Relations and Journalism. A topper in PGPR &J and the recipient of Gromor Fellowship of Coromandel Fertilizers. He is a career banker and an author of two books ‘TITBITs of Corporate Life’ and ‘Dollops of Life’.

He is currently a co-promoter and the Managing Director of Aryadhan Financial Solutions Pvt Ltd. Prior to this, he was a Group Product head with ICICI Bank Ltd.

Check out his interview:

Frontlist: How did you discover your passion for writing?

D. Chattanathan: As a matter of fact, this is like a reinvention. I started writing at a very early age, but during the last three decades somehow, I stopped writing completely and got engrossed in day-to-day affairs at work. Over the period of last three years, I reignited my spirits, and have already written three books. The third being MY RIDES with SAHIB. I feel story telling and writing was a natural bent and inclination I had right from childhood. I remember to have attempted the first unpublished novel when I was at school.

Frontlist: What kind of relationship do Sahib and Sheetal share in the story? What influence did Sahib have on Sheetal’s life?

D. Chattanathan: While Sheetal and Sahib have a kind of Mentor mentee relationship, Sahib found in Sheetal his long last daughter. Sahib became instrumental in nurturing the skills of Sheetal and fulfilling her desire of becoming a poet while she continued to operate the taxi.

Frontlist: What message you are trying to convey through this story?

D. Chattanathan: This is a story highlighting the basis of human relations and is inevitability. Even when everyone tries to do the right thing, life still forces them to face unexpected trials and tribulations. A lesson that love is the mother of all conflicts, even hatred is rooted in love, perhaps too much love for someone else.

In addition to the story line, there are three strong pillars which are grooved in the story.

1) Getting into literature does not require a formal degree as much as a musician or a sportsperson, provided such training centres are established giving a clear focus on to that.

2) Innovations can happen from customer feedbacks

3) Making people in Orphanages as entrepreneurs instead of putting them to

rigmarole of academic system

Frontlist: How did you come up with the idea of the story?

D. Chattanathan: This is a thought which I had built over a period once I decided what I wanted to write. I wanted to have a lady lead protagonist which I was very sure of, and I wanted to weave the three pillars into the story line. So, I thought through how I can hold the interest of the reader to list all these aspects and continue with the story line. So, this was all imaginative build up which occurred over a period, hence, to say that I had first a story in mind created and then started writing would be a wrong assumption. Yes, the concepts of what needs to build up and the crux were decided to build the story line.

Frontlist: Have you thought of turning this novel into a motion picture? Do you think the movie will do justice to the story?

D. Chattanathan: I want more and more people to read this book. I feel it is an easy read, and while it is a fiction there are various takes as an author what I feel about certain things which have been woven into the storyline quite effectively, that is the beauty of this Novel.

While I have not thought of making this novel into a motion picture, I certainly feel that is will be a good inspirational motion picture as lot of drama suspense emotions are twined in, which can engross the audience thoroughly. If you ask me is it a movie material, I will say 9.9/10