He possesses a sensitive heart that is open to all kinds of influences and lets him move around in the wide open world of his imagination and reality. A keen observer with right choices of diction to articulate every unusual situation he encounters, Anam Arasalan is textbook material for a story-teller.
You want to taste some of that and grab a copy of Doha! Diary of a Delhi-O-holic, Arsalan’s memoir that is a satirical account of his life, intertwined between the two capital cities, with all its myriad characters.
A Doha-based first-time author with a prolific one-and-a-half decade long career in journalism, Arsalan has had a stint with a slew of top media houses including India Today, Hindustan Times, The Asian Age, and Delhi Mid-Day among others.
The memoir summarises his journey in a melting pot of cultures with oil, sports, cyberspace, and exchange rate thrown in. It is a must read for those, seeking that elusive adrenaline rush off the shelves.
Soon to be launched here in town, Doha! Diary of a Delhi-O-holic is an honest portrayal of an expatriate’s lifestyle in the Middle East. The 16 short stories, written in an engaging and satirical style, are bound to captivate the heart and mind of the readers.
Community meets the man himself to know more about his inspiration for the book in a short span of two years or so in Doha, and his writing influences.
“My father is a literary person. He is a poet and writer in Urdu and English languages. My mother also used to do painting and art. So I think the writing and creative side has come from my parents. I have a brother who is not into it at all, so I guess all the creativity has come to me,” Arsalan tells Community, laughing.
He first started writing in Mumbai (India) when he was working at Hindustan Times Mumbai. It all began with writing about the city and his experience of it back then. But then something happened: he was writing it in a friend’s computer and its hard drive crashed.
“I lost almost five chapters and then disheartened, I couldn’t lift my pen again for a very long time. And then I settled down in life, got busy with it and writing receded into the background,” Arsalan recalls.
Fast forward a few years and he arrives in Doha to work as a Sports Administrator at Qatar Olympic Committee. The new place and people gave him a fresh stimulus to restart writing and actually start working on the book.
“Moving to a different city with different people and different settings puts you through such an experience that makes ideas start flowing,” says the writer.
He began with encounters he had with different people in his daily interaction, including his boss. These are interesting anecdotes detailed in different chapters of the book; in all, 16 tales spread across different time spans, in Doha.
These stories would also show his own observations of behaviour of people who have come here from India and other countries.
“A generic idea about NRIs back in India is that they are minting easy money sitting abroad. However, they do not know how much of hard work goes into it. They do not get that real picture. These stories will also tell people about that reality as well through people’s experiences in their own words,” says Arsalan, explaining his satirical take on the issue in one of the chapters.
The best story that he likes the most in his book is the chapter where he talks about his father, The Incredible Man Who Held My Hand.
“My father got one of his hands crooked in an accident in his childhood. When I was covering the Paralymics here in Doha, it made me emotional and rekindled all the memories of my communication with my father on the subject,” says the author. 
You would find the fun element mostly in the initial chapters. And he has talked a lot about how internet helped him in his lonely days here. “I have literally lived in cyber space for a very long time,” says Arsalan, as he did not have a driver’s licence and could not move around much. And then, his work schedule was such that he was mostly limited to work and home.
“Internet is (an) amazing thing here. You remain in touch with your family and friends and you have a lot of things to do,” says the man who considers himself a world citizen and loves to travel. It gives him ideas to write and the opportunity to meet new people and listen to their stories.
Arsalan has also been a part time artist and into music as well. His first book is also about his ups and downs, the mood swings and his quest for love and solace in cyberspace which adds spice to those 16 fascinating tales.
Arsalan’s first international exposure came with the Dutch global sports agency, Infostrada Sports (now Gracenote) in 2010, when he joined their editorial team for the Singapore Youth Olympics, and later got involved with India’s showpiece, the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
A drive to think out of the box and passion for Olympic sports eventually landed him at the Qatar Olympic Committee.
The book would tell you stories of people such as a famous model from Sri Lanka, who, driven by penury, ended up as a gym instructor or that Kenyan, who would have been better off back home as an actress, before “she let the lure of the stronger currency get to her.”
Or it would tell you the story of an office boy from Kerala (India), who would venture out each night trying to satisfy his dream, one which made him hit the football pitch. In the morning, he would be just a regular person wearing the trademark white shirt and black trousers, but in the evening, he would transform into a football star.
The book is available on Amazon and Barnes&Nobles. Arsalan recently launched it in the Indian capital with a follow-up slated for Doha. The price is affordable, he quips.