CHENNAI : Not all love stories are perfect. What happens when you come to know that the person you are in love with is suffering from a psychotic disorder? Life turns topsyturvy. Ashwath Sezhian’s debut novel An Affliction of Orchids delves into the lives of two doctors, of which one suffers from schizophrenia. The unending struggle to make the relationship work despite several voices and dangerous actions is what keeps the book engaging. 

Sezhian is pursuing his final year in medicine from Saveetha Medical College and is currently a house surgeon.“When I first started writing, I was in the third year of medical school. I was vastly inexperienced in both writing and the medical knowledge described in the books. Every couple of months, I would learn something new and try to implement that into the story I was writing.

I guess that is one of the challenges I still face. After a couple of years, when I look back at this novel, I am sure I will find more inaccuracies and more ways to implement ideas into this story. It took me two and a half years to get to the final draft,” he said. His passion for writing keeps him going even on rough days, despite a tedious schedule.

It was not a deliberate choice to take up the topic of mental illness. He does not intend to preach but feels that a healthy physical condition and psychological state of mind are also crucial. “The entire concept of schizophrenia came to me when I was in classes 11 and 12, and that was far before I ever knew about the heartache and heart melt in love stories. I wanted the novel to be about schizophrenia so it does justice to the dreams I had when I was younger.

The research is based on my observations from surgical formalities to textbook procedures and individuals suffering from schizophrenia. It took me a while to come up with the title, and I feel the darkness of the cover, the ECG leads and the orchids together create the haunting touch I envisioned,” said Sezhian who recently launched his book. He runs an Instagram handle called Brokenballads. It was started one year back. The page that has short poems has garnered around 16,000 followers.

“I want to write a more realistic, gripping tale of love and its demons. The next plan is post-graduation. When it comes to medicine, I’ve always been fascinated by oncology and have taken a recent interest in the field of paediatrics,” he said. An Affliction of Orchids is available on Amazon and priced at `350.