A chat with author Kiran Manral on her new book - All Aboard!

Tell us about the book, and how it connects with the youth today in matters of love, betrayal and moving on?

The book is about a girl who is practically ditched at the holy fire by her fiance. She goes on a cruise with her aunt, to get away for a while and clear her head. Being jilted is never a pleasant experience, apart from the uncomfortable practicalities of calling off the wedding and dealing with the financial matters of cancellations and such, there is also the very real trauma of dealing with rejection. This can be quite shattering emotionally--a jolt from which it is terribly difficult to recover for some. What I do find is today's generation is rather practical in the way they deal with emotional betrayals, they move on.

What most fascinates me as a psychologist is how much of your personal value system influences the way you write the books.

I'm rather old fashioned, I believe in romance, in being swept off one's feet, of having a knight in shining armour rescue one and in the happily ever after of love stories. I think somewhere, the stories I write do reflect that. On the flip I am also of the belief that a woman needs to be her own advocate and earn her own living, and that seeps in too, in some ways.

This book has a powerful narrative, is there a message that you have for the audience?

I think what I believe in, that it is never the end of the world, no matter what happens. There could be something that is even better for you waiting just right round the corner. If I distil it down to one word, it would be hope.

Travel, escape and betrayal - what do these themes mean for you or your character?

They're all interconnected in this book, there's betrayal which leads to a need for escape and as a consequence leads to travel. I think love, betrayal and escape are such universal themes that they exist in everyone's lives in some form or the other, and travel is a human need that has existed ever since early man traipsed out of Africa. These theme resonate with everyone, and each one brings to the reading their own individual experiences.

Often in therapy, clients ask me if the only way to heal from a break up is to fall in love again. As an author and someone who has written on gender issues, what is your opinion about it?

Unfortunately, I have not experienced a break up--I married my first long term boyfriend and we celebrate 20 years of being married to each other next January. But having said that, what I do believe and what I think helps the best is allowing yourself to heal completely from a break up--to get closure, to resolve the residual anger, resentment, guilt, self esteem issues that arise from a break up before opening yourself up to love again. Unless of course, love blind sides you completely unannounced. Having said that one is definitely more vulnerable when one hasn't completely healed from a break up. And love on the rebound can be a great thing if it works out well.

Tell us where can the readers order your book from.

The book is available on Amazon India for pre orders right now and this is the link.