The Zoya Factor (58 page)

The conversation in this book is fully inspired by the moronic one-liners
(who will know?!)
and idiotic what-if scenarios (what if you had to sleep with a really ugly gross person of the opposite gender or a really hot person of the same gender or the Nazis would shoot you dead? Which would you pick?
Whaaaat?
You
pevert
) continually debated by the entire (past and present) gang at JWT, Delhi.

My friend Ritu Khoda, whose surname I borrowed, my friend Swati, whose hair I borrowed, my friend Jo, whose life experiences I borrowed. And Torun, who believed in Zoya, all the way.

Rohit Ohri, who humoured me and gave me leave to write. Puneeta Roy who put me on to Tarun Tejpal and Tarun, who very sweetly recommended me to HarperCollins. Nandita, Karthika and Sunaina, who were kind but firm and
actually took me seriously!

All the clients whose brands I've worked on, thank you for giving me brilliant opportunities (which I mess up more often than not) every single day.

My little creative team in Delhi:
We're the best!

Special thanks to Khurram, Manish, Gurdish and Saurabh whose shapely posteriors may or may not grace the cover page, Rohit Chawla and Saurabh Das, long-suffering photographers, Anu Ramaswamy, who designed the rocking cover, and Harjeet 'Bob' Singh, the rock on which JWT is built.

The motley crew-that-grew at 18, RR and has now settled all over the world - I love you all -
East or West, Barbarians are the best!

Margaret and Niranjan Alva - Mamma, always loving and always worrying. And Dadda - constantly trumpeting my crummy achievements, introducing me to clueless gora VVIPs with,
My daughter-in-law, she wrote Yeh-Dil-Maange-More you know!

Nicky-Pria, Manu-Jo and Babu-Meera, who are always there for Choku-Anuja.

Revti and Pushpa Raman - Papa, whom I grow to be more like, everyday. And Mummy, who was horrified by the language in the book but loyally said, 'It's nice, beta.'

My favourite Usha mausi in whose beautiful home I wrote a major chunk.

Panki, Juicy and Chandra -
Eat dhool, you guys, Choku sabse cool hai!

Mini, Ruhi and Nandu -
Hum Chauhan sisters hain hi itni beautiful aur talented!

All my nephews and nieces, especially 'Nikhil' and 'Zoya'.

The Lord Jesus Christ, in whose peace we dwell.

And of course Choku and Nik-Tar-Da, who are everything to me.

***

About the Author

Anuja Chauhan was born in Meerut, the youngest of four sisters, and went to school in Meerut, Delhi and Melbourne. She has worked in advertising for over fourteen years and has unleashed lines like
Yeh Dil Maange More
,
Mera Number Kab Aayega
,
Nothing Official About It
and
Oye Bubbly
upon the unsuspecting public. She lives in Gurgaon with her husband, Niret Alva, and their three children, Niharika, Nayantara and Daivik John.

This is her first attempt at writing anything longer than sixty seconds.

***

First published in India in 2008 by
HarperCollins
Publishers
India
a joint venture with
The India Today Group

Copyright (c) Anuja Chauhan 2008

ISBN: 978-81-7223-748-6

Epub Edition (c) JULY 2012 ISBN: 9789350294543

4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3

Anuja Chauhan asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

This is a work of fiction and all characters and incidents described in this book are the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under The Copyright Act, 1957. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins
Publishers
India.

Cover design: Anupama Ramaswamy

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***