Navtej Sarna talks about his first novel-Times News Network

The spokesperson for the foreign office in Delhi, Navtej Sarna was in Chandigarh on Saturday to discuss his very first novel, ’We Weren’t Lovers Like That.’ Himmat Singh Gill, chairman of the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi, had organised a small talk for the same at the Central State Library.

Sarna’s novel revolves around a middle-aged executive whose wife leaves with their only child. It is a story of the” intricate, unpredictable nature of human relations, choices we make, regrets we have, how we deal with possible mistakes”, Sarna says.

The diplomat wrote the paperback while working in the Indian embassy in Washington and since taking up his current, high-pressure post as foreign ministry spokesman. He has contributed short stories to the BBC World Service, London Magazine and the anthologies Signals and Signals 2. Sarna also does book reviews for the Times Literary Supplement, Biblio and other journals.