Rohit Sai Chetla is a Computer Science graduate and the founder of the start-up WarrantyME (Oakmont RSM Info Solutions). At the age of 19, he leads a team of ten and works closely with the CEOs and CIOs of companies like TATA Croma, Reliance, and many other top leaders. He was featured in the business section of “The Times of India” for his start-up and has won multiple start-up competitions and awards. He has also received a fellowship grant from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India for his start-up.
‘You Are a Zero’ is his first book published by Leadstart.
TBE: Tell us a little about your book, ‘You Are a Zero’, What inspired you to write this story?
Rohit Sai Chetla: Just like millions of youngsters, even I grew up through the teenage turmoil. Some youngsters fall prey to these missteps and it leaves a huge impact on their life and career. Everyone experiences tough situations in their life but no one likes to take about them, but I felt sharing these experiences could help people who are just getting started. The book is an amalgamation of experiences which I heard from friends, colleagues, classmates.
TBE: Where did the idea for this book come from? Did you have the idea fleshed out before you began writing, or did you improvise?
Rohit Sai Chetla: I had a vague idea of what the book needed to be but when I started writing I had to improvise a lot of things because when imaginations are being written the synergy doesn’t add up sometimes.
TBE: For your central character, you’ve crafted the young, complex and introspective Arjun. In the face of all his struggles and harsh realities, what is it that enables him to retain—and evolve—his humanity?
Rohit Sai Chetla: I believe the first thing that makes someone transform are their dreams and ambitions, when you fail to get something you wanted in life the immediate thought that comes into our mind is “Am I not good enough”? It then makes us rethink what we want to be.
TBE: Your characters all have unique and relatable personas, and entices readers to learn more about them. What is your process of creating a character, and going deeper and deeper into that character’s psyche?
Rohit Sai Chetla: First, the characters have to be relatable as you said. They have to feel like someone we know, that’s what draws the attention of the reader. Lot of times characters are created by an inspiration from real life but there is a risk of the character being boring, so to give it an extra spice we have to add some amount of extremities to the character.
TBE: To what extent are any scenes in your novels inspired by real life experiences?
Rohit Sai Chetla: I would say about 60%, fiction is good but when you mix fiction with real life experience it gets better.
TBE: Ultimately, what would you like for the readers to take from ‘You Are a Zero’?
Rohit Sai Chetla: Unexpected things happen in life. But when we are young we aren’t prepared to face them, I don’t intend to give any message to my readers, just read it with your heart, who knows some of you might end up in similar situation in your lifetime and l hope this book acts as your guide to navigate through them.
TBE: Deciding on an idea to pursue writing about can be the most challenging aspect for a writer. How do you come to find the stories and lives that become the subjects of your books?
Rohit Sai Chetla: I prefer to address the general topics like education, life, career, love in general. We often feel we are prepared to handle situations that arise but when it actually becomes a reality many people fail to have the same confidence they had earlier.
TBE: How was your publishing journey with Leadstart?
Rohit Sai Chetla: It was great, I really like the follow up protocols of Leadstart. Even after publishing the book they often come to me with opportunities to market the book.
TBE: Is there anything you are currently working on that may intrigue the interest of your readers?
Rohit Sai Chetla: I’m writing a formal “Case study” of my professional life, highlighting my startup experience.
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