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Ahmed Bukhatir: From singing to writing

The renowned nasheed singer tells City Times about his transition from singing to writing and the inspiration behind his debut novel, Dragon Boy

Renowned Emirati singer Ahmed Bukhatir is in the news for more than his vocal talents these days. The 43-year-old, who often topped the Virgin Top 10 Chart across the Middle East with his best -selling albums, including Hasanat, is now focusing on a new pursuit - writing. Having recently scored a major book deal with UK publishers Matthew James, he is all set to release his first book, Dragon Boy.
When we caught up with Ahmed for a literary chat, he revealed the inspiration behind his passion to become a writer.
"When I was eight years old, I watched The Never Ending Story; I've always been a fantasy movie lover and since childhood I've had one dream-  to be able to take readers on a magical journey through the power of my imagination that would leave them fascinated and mesmerized. In 2010, I was inspired by the children's movie How To Train Your Dragon and came to know that it was actually inspired by a book. But something was missing. The stories lacked emotions, feelings, values and beliefs. So, I decided to create stories from my own childhood and journey in life and I saw myself in my main character called Dragon Boy."
Like Ahmed's music, which he wishes to use to spread peace across the world, his writing too carries a message. On whether there were any particular stories from his own childhood that struck a chord in him he says, "There are tons of stories that I tried my best to incorporate in the novel, about feelings of disappointment, anger, fear, discouragement, loneliness and how I faced them as a child. I have one goal and that is to help kids realise their problems and find solutions to them before it's too late."

A soft spot for dragons
Intrigued by the title of his debut novel, we asked Ahmed for a glimpse into the storyline of Dragon Boy.
"Dragon Boy is about a teenager who finds himself growing up in a village oblivious to the fact that in reality he's a dragon. When his true suppressed nature forces him to transform before all the villagers, he is shunned from the village and forced to look for his real family and finding out why he's cursed and who did this to him.
"In the process of finding his true identity, he deals with many issues, fights his inner demons and tries to make peace with his fears and emotions until he faces the true evil villain whose sole purpose is to destroy his world and the people he loves. Saving his people, the villagers, despite the fact that he's different from them teaches us how a person could be selfless putting his own life before everyone else's. And that can only be achieved when you are at peace with yourself."

Inspired by fantasy writing
Ahmed lists J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, George R.R. Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, and C.S. Lewis as being among the "great authors who inspired me in my journey."
"The Lord Of The Rings gave me a great sense of how a big world is built and how you could go into tiny details to share with the reader about what you see and feel. The Harry Potter books gave me hope that magic still exists; you could create anything even if it was silly and as long as you believe in it, it'll become amazing. Game of Thrones always gave me the sense of deep drama and how you should always surprise your reader. I've been taught about how to create deep characters and feel their feelings and be able to express them in my novel, now this was creepy and wonderful at the same time. The Name Of The Wind was a wonderful book which inspired me as far as writing dialogues is concerned. I felt so connected with this book and it was so real. I felt as if I was part of every scene in the story, and this is not an easy job on the part of the writer, to make one feel this way. The Lion and the Witch and the Wardrobe was a fantastic read as it showed me how you could create tons of creatures, give them names and lives and you could just imagine anything and create it. That was the beauty of it."
Ahmed believes Tolkien played a major part in popularising the genre of fantasy literature.
"Thousands of people became entranced at one point of time, thanks to that one book. It was the 1970s, and the second coming of Tolkien via a new paperback edition of The Lord of the Rings by Allen and Unwin, which sold through nine print runs in less than three years. That phenomenal success kick-started the fantasy genre. Editors sought out new visionaries who could fill Tolkien's shoes and brought in an entire generation of young readers. The genre went from strength to strength, but today we're in the middle of an unprecedented fantasy boom. Sales continue to rise year after year and it is now the biggest genre in publishing.
"In these modern times, where most of us sit at computers or face a bland commute, fantasy books offer a chance to break out of mundane moments. People like to explore greater themes - themes that go beyond the limited palette that literary fiction claims to offer. Anything is possible in fantasy, and the genre can exercise our ability to think, and to wonder."

Creating a reading habit
Reading books as a hobby for children (and even adults) has seen a decline with the advent of the Internet, mobile phones and other gadgets. Does he feel this trend will change?
"Yes of course. I've read articles about how people are now returning slowly to reading rather than surfing the Internet, checking messages on phones or playing games on other gadgets. There's a sense of nonfulfillment you experience when you don't read for a day, when you don't enhance your knowledge or just learn something new. People are clever now unlike in the past when they used to get sucked into whatever new thing is coming up. I know that there are many who are still following the herd but I know that many are suffering from 'mobile syndrome' and 'wasting time' problems so self-discipline is happening and people are realising way faster than before and this is a good thing.
What according to him can be done to get more kids to take up a book?
"Let the child read something he's watched. Nowadays all children watch kids' movies. So when you give him a book of a movie he's watched recently and loved, he'll appreciate that even more and he would see how a book has tons of enjoyment as compared to a movie and more hours of amazing experience as we all know a book would take ten hours to finish when a movie will only take two.
"And the book goes so deep into each scene rather than a movie which will give you a two to three-minute scene. Besides, the child can create his own imagination while he or she is reading the book and that's an amazing thing. Give your child a way to broaden his mind and imagine to infinity as this is what we need now in our life - creative people."
Ahmed's advice for budding writers
Ahmed has some sound advice for aspiring authors and those who, like him, are switching from one passion to another. "My advice is to switch to another passion only when it's really a PASSION. Many of us mistake passion for a need or a want or what's happening at the moment and run after it. And when we start doing it, we realise after some time that we never wanted to do this. It was just a fever and passed on. Passion is a feeling that stays with you day and night. You think about this thing you love before you go to sleep, and when you wake up in the morning. You keep talking about it to your family and friends until they ask you to SHUT UP and you still don't feel bad about it. Passion never dies, and no matter what happens it just runs in your blood. If you don't experience these traits then it's not your passion, don't waste your time. Try new things and enjoy life as it comes, trust me it'll come. I would love to excel in one thing only rather than wasting my time trying to work on everything."
On our reading wish list!
Ahmed's first book Dragon Boy will be launched simultaneously in the UK and Dubai in early 2020.
enid@khaleejtimes.com