PVLF 2025

Interview with Vishal Anand Author of "Bid Goodbye But Remember Hello"

A military officer's childhood passion for storytelling culminates in a novel written during Operation Parakram, exploring love, destiny, and the emotional depth of soldiers.
on Jul 11, 2024

Frontlist: Your background lies in the field of aerospace and defense. What inspired you to take the leap into writing fiction?

Vishal: I have been interested in writing stories since childhood. I used to write a lot of skits and small stories while I was in school and even when I was undergoing training in the Air Force. When I was in class XII, I won a national-level prize for my short story. So, I had a flair for writing, and it gave me immense pleasure and personal satisfaction. As professional life consumed more time, the writing took a back seat, but the urge to write a novel started getting stronger.

Finally the opportunity came. When the parliament was attacked in Dec 2021, India launched the Operation Parakaram. I was deployed with my unit at the border in J&K. After finishing the day’s task, when I used to retire to my tent, I didn’t had much to do. I realized that this was the best time to pen down something. So every night, I used to write few pages and that’s how BID GOODBYE BUT REMEMBER HELLO was created.

Frontlist: Your novel, "Bid Goodbye But Remember Hello," explores complex human emotions. How did your experiences in the military, where discipline and composure are paramount, influence your portrayal of emotions in your characters?

Vishal: We have always read or seen in movies, the stories of courage and valour of the military heroes. They are projected as larger than life. However we must remember that the military people are also made of flesh and blood. They, too, have emotions just like any other human being. They too have a heart which beats. I wanted to bring out the humane side of a military person.
So, the emotions and reactions of the Protagonist have come from my experiences, knowingly or unknowingly. In the first half of the book when he is in college, he is carefree, casual, fun loving and indecisive. After he joins the military, his personality goes through massive transformation. He is more polished, mature, confident and decisive. He becomes ‘An Officer and a Gentleman.’

Frontlist: Could you walk us through your writing process for this book? Did you follow a strict outline, or did the story develop organically as you wrote? What challenges did you encounter along the way?

Vishal: I had the basic story in my mind. It was a love story of two ordinary college students who grow into responsible adults. The girl joins the corporate and the boy chooses military as career for obvious reason. To make it believable and more relatable, I have used the events of that period like millennium hype and kargil war. Then I structured the story and broke them into chapters.
Thereafter the finer points kept on evolving as the story progressed. The biggest challenge for me was how to end the story. I thought over many plots and then finally took a decision to go with the ending as it is now in the book.

Frontlist: The novel grapples with the concept of destiny and missed opportunities. What are your personal beliefs on these themes?

Vishal: Let me tell you an interesting fact. I am an aeronautical engineer by profession but as a hobby and of curiosity, I have studied and practiced Astrology for many years. I think that stars do define our lives.
Yes, I am a very firm believer in destiny. As I have created the journey of my characters and their destinies, there is a divine power that has created my story and your story as well. I have seen people sitting in bedroom and dying as their building collapsed. On the other hand, we also know how people come out unscathed from major car accidents. There is no explanation as to why that happens. We can call it by any term – luck, fate, fortune or destiny.

Frontlist: The narrative spans past and present, focusing on how the characters' histories shape their current lives. How did you structure the story to ensure a coherent and engaging progression across different timelines?

Vishal: As you find out, the story juggles between past and present. It was a deliberate approach adopted to narrate the story in this way. I felt it would keep the reader engrossed.
To take this approach, the timelines had to be very clear. So that was the first thing I did. I selected the time span in which the story was set. It took some effort to place all the actual events in timeline and freeze it.

Then when I started writing each chapter, first thing I did was to check if it fits correctly in the given timeline. Further, I wrote this book in one go penning down few pages each day. So the continuity was there in my mind. If I would have taken a break, then I could have lost the coherence of my story and the emotions of my characters.

Reading and re-reading after each chapter also helped add/subtract/modify something to achieve seamless continuity.

Frontlist: What are your future plans as an author? Are there any new projects or genres you are excited to explore?

Vishal: I think it is a very big decision for anyone to become an author. You know your work will be scrutinized and will be commented upon. You are very apprehensive if your writing style will be liked or not. Fortunately, I am getting very good reviews from the readers for my book. This has infused fresh energy in me to pursue other projects. I have penned down many plots of various stories in the last twenty years after I wrote this book. I will now convert them into books in the next few years. My next immediate project will be a military fiction story. I also wish to write a non-fictional and motivational book based on my experiences.