5 things about Subin Bhattarai

His first novel 'Summer Love' was hugely popular when it was published in 2012. The sequel came two years later and 'Saaya' did not disappoint fans, either. Subin Bhattarai is now busy with his third novel—'Monsoon'—which he hopes to release by the middle of this year.

While 'Monsoon' is not the latest from the popular two installments, it is definitely a love story. Until the book releases, here are five interesting things about your favorite author to hold on to.

He has dabbled in acting and mimicry

We're sure that not many people would know of his acting days. He started off as a young boy by reciting his own poems in Radio Nepal. "There was this segment where we were all encouraged to send our poems and those whose poems were selected were invited to recite it on Friday. My poems often got selected. I was in class one. Then I started being part of radio plays but the only one I remember is 'Mamatako ghadima.' I was also in 'Twakka Tukka' the popular TV show," he says. He even received offers for some tele-films but then he gave up acting entirely. It was quite close to SLC exams and by then he had developed a shy nature.

He needs to listen to music or watch TV before falling asleep

"I'm quite the opposite of other people in this regard. While others need to have peace and quiet, I can't fall asleep without listening to music or watching a TV show," he says. So he often finds himself sleeping with the TV or music on. Sometimes, he settles down to watching lighthearted films to ready himself for bedtime. He says, "I leave intense films for the daytime because watching these at night will make me lose my sleep. I will end up thinking about what I watched. So I prefer watching South Indian films."

He is uncomfortable in formal wear

The day of his wedding was the second and the last time he ever wore a suit. "The first time was for TU's convocation ceremony. They didn't let us enter without a coat so I had to borrow a coat from my brother which didn't fit me properly," he reminisces. Well, his wedding day suit is gathering dust as he hasn't worn it again. One can find him attending wedding events and other formal programs in a pair of jeans.

He is not excited about festivals

The writer says he is not excited about any of the festivals, whether it's Dashain, Tihar, Holi, or Shivaratri. "It's probably because most of my close friends are abroad and I don't have anyone to have fun with," he says. In fact, what he does is set off for a trip when Dashain or any other long holiday comes around. He enjoys traveling and has spent many of his Dashain holidays traveling around Nepal or India. He does make a point of staying home to receive tika and blessings from his elders every now and then. Incidentally, he returned home from his honeymoon to Europe right on time for Dashain last year.

He is very lazy

His laziness has led him to develop a habit of procrastination which is so bad that he finds himself sitting down to complete his newspaper columns barely two hours before they are due. He leaves most tasks for the 11th hour. Once he even had to pay extra to fill a Lok Sewa exam form as he had missed the deadline. His lazy habits have also made him a slow reader as he finds himself stuck at 20 pages of a book. "I could also pay more attention to my personal hygiene," he says, sheepishly.