Five-Thirty AM - Chat with EA

The Evil Authoress Says 

Thank you....

To all of you, my darling readers - who patiently and sometimes not so patiently sat through this story. It was a labour of love and I am so glad you came on this journey of love with Noel and Mitul and me.

To Ritzy - my eagle-eyed editor/proof reader and my Slave Driver, who kept me on track with timelines and bloopers, and my English. Never mind the constant reminders about TRPs! It is she who provided some of the whackiest ideas that I’ve included in the story. And also one of the best ideas - the spoof on Aman Mathur. What would I do without you?

To Ruby - for her invaluable input as to the workings of the film/TV industry. She provided me terminology that I never knew existed, and which made this story so much more real.

To my GG - Payal - for your continuous support during the writing process and for giving me some of the best one-liners ever! But mostly, every time I wrote a line of seduction/love making, I wanted to make it perfect for my GG - so that she would love it. So all those HOT scenes are dedicated to you! (Really can’t tell you what GG stands for, you’ll have to ask her!)

To my friend who made it possible for me to speak with a person that I’m a huge fan of, and who ultimately inspired this story. I’m not taking her name here, or she would be inundated with requests to arrange to meet/talk with him - but you know who you are, gal!

To Mr. Barun Sobti - were it not for this man, this story would never have happened. Why, you ask? Read my Post-it Notes below and you will know.

Post-it Notes of the Evil Authoress

The Five-Thirty AM Call

The call that starts the story, is based on a true incident. 

A friend of mine was visiting Mumbai, and had an appointment with Barun Sobti. She asked Barun (aka Arnav SIngh Raizada in Iss Pyaar ko Kyaa Naam Doon?) to call me, as I’m a fan. I was woken up at 5:30 am, only to hear him say ‘Good Morning, Madhu’ in that husky voice of his. It was one of the most surreal moments in my life; and the germ of an idea for this story sparked in my mind. Evidently, he’d expressed concern to my friend, when he’d heard that I was in Canada, knowing it would be too early for me! How sweet is that? He chuckled and said he understood why I was gasping for breath, while I was still trying to get my addled brain together, and apologized for being completely incoherent. Believe me, if I could do it over again, I’d have a lot of other things to say to him.

Rishik/Mitzy

Rishik and Mitzy’s love story is documented in Walk the Line. A story that started out as fanfic based on IPKKND, but stands on its own as a story. It is the first story in the trilogy, of which Five-Thirty AM is the second. I had to change the names to make WTL a stand alone story.

Naval/Pakhi

Naval and Pakhi’s story forms the third story in this trilogy, which is called Shadows and Ripples. I will be starting on that soon, and hope that you, my dear readers, will join me there as well. 

MG Films

A completely fictional Production House. It’s name is a tribute to my band of gals - The Mental Gurlz. You know who you are!

Adventure Sports

I’ve taken a little creative license here. Typically, an actor under contract for a movie or series cannot participate in any activity that might endanger his life - and that includes adventure sports. However, some of the fun in this story is because of their love for adventure, and how it builds their growing trust in each other. So a little creative license has been taken here.

Noel’s body of work.

The names of these series/Films is based on the names of Beatles songs, as I am a die-hard Beatles fan. For me, they’re the ultimate band! Bas, bol diya!

Noel has four films/series that he has worked on. Noel’s life has also four distinct phases. Each of the series/films that he does has been given a name that is associated with a particular phase in Noel’s life. These are as follows:

His life phases (His Body of Work)

• Army - (Serial) A Day in the Life - Ek Din Zindagi Ka
• Addiction & Overdose - (Serial) Long and Winding Road - Woh Meelon ki Doori ... Woh Lamba Raasta
• Casting Couch - (Movie) - Words of Love - Mohabbat ki Baatein
• Mitul - (Movie - ongoing) - It’s only Love - Sirf Mohabbat Hai

Aman Mathur

A character from the TV series Iss Pyaar ko Kya Naam doon? who was always heard but never seen. He was omnipresent and the source of frustration for many fans as he broke up Arnav/Khushi’s romantic moments with unfailing regularity. I had to kill him off - just to satisfy my ire against him. Yes, his best role was as the Invisible Man.

Skyrim

Its a video game that my nephew had been playing when I started this story. The incredible graphics - especially of dragons, inspired some of the scenery here - those of the Canadian North. Skyrim is the story of a one-man dragon slayer. Another mythological creature that only exists in imagination and mythology. Dev is the dragon slayer. He has been with Noel from the start and helped him ‘slay’ his ‘Dragons’ - the dark incidents of his past. And helped Noel win his princess as well.

Cryptids:

The cryptids in the story offer a layer of symbolism that I never intentionally started out with, but ended up with anyway.

A cryptid is an animal that supposedly exists but people have never found evidence of. Yet people have recounted experiences with these alleged beings. You can look up the information about each one of them on the web.

Each one makes its presence felt at a very special moment in their journey to love. Noel is the believer, therefore he feels it first. But soon, Mitul joins him. She starts believing in it. The cryptids become the milestones in their journey together. The Pogayen is the catalyst to Noel’s proposal, in case you didn’t get it.

The cryptids are like love. Every person who says they have fallen in love, experiences it differently. It’s never the same for two people. Yet people believe in it, swear by it, will give their lives for it and will live their lives for it. Some search for it all their lives and never find it. Some never go looking for it, and it hits them in the face.

It’s a question of belief.

OYE!! Where are you going? I still have more up my sleeve. 

Five-Thirty AM is not over!!