What if your first love walked into your life – after eighteen years? ‘The First Connect: Moment of Magic. Waves of Whisper’, by Pooja Misra Khaitan W, is a stirring new adult romance that explores this very unexpected return of love, the magic of second chances, and the quiet moments that stay with us long after they are gone.
Told with raw honesty and emotional depth, this book follows the journey of rediscovery—of love, identity, and the self. At its core, it asks a timeless question: Does love arrive by chance, or is it something we choose to fight for? With a moving blend of memory and emotion, The First Connect is for anyone who has ever held on to a first love, let go of a great one, or wondered, ‘What if?’
Poetic. Powerful. Unforgettable. This is more than a romance—it is a story of hearts finding their way home.
Pooja Misra Khaitan W, a devoted homemaker, is the former editor-in-chief of The Aware Consumer and led Consumer Online Foundation’s complaints redressal for a decade until 2020, driven by her passion for consumer rights and community service. As chairperson of Ladies Circle 17, she spearheaded philanthropic initiatives, earning national recognition across all award categories.
A deep-thinking romantic with a playful spirit and keen intuition, she holds a degree in economics from Hindu College, Delhi University, yet finds joy in technology, design, and the arts.
To know more about her book, that would hit the stores on May 24, that is tomorrow, Sonakshi Datta of GoaChronicle posed a few questions to her.
‘The First Connect’ Author Pooja Misra Khaitan W
What are your thoughts on the timeless question asked in your book, ‘Does love arrive by chance, or is it something we choose to fight for?’
Most of us have come across Khalil Gibran’s famous quote: ‘If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don’t, they never were.’ It is a call to surrender to destiny. A belief I once held too. But over time, I have seen friends take bold steps to pursue love. Some succeeded; others faced challenges even after winning it. I have come to realize that love is a blend of destiny and decision.
It may begin by chance, but it deepens through choice and thrives with conscious effort. Yet my strong thought is tuning into your intuition, that whispering voice within, and the subtle signs around you. In the end, only you truly know what love means for you, and what’s truly right for you.
How does your book take readers on a journey of rediscovery?
My book traces moments of unexpected magic and emotional upheaval in the lives of characters like Mouni and Kareena. It is not so much the events themselves, but how the characters respond to them, through the lens of family dynamics, love, and heartbreak, that leads to transformation. Mouni embraces each setback with grace and resilience, while Kareena’s journey, in particular, shows how it often takes a severe emotional jolt, a moment of reckoning, to truly begin rediscovering oneself. Through their stories, the readers might reflect on their own lives and think about how they’ve evolved.
What are the aspects associated with love that your book touches upon?
My book explores the many layers of love — its beauty, pain, mystery, and endurance. One central theme is that some souls are deeply connected yet not meant to be together. It explores the surrender of love to love itself, beyond the physicality, resting in emotional and spiritual connection. Ultimately, it suggests that love always finds its way, though not always as expected.
Each of my chapters closes with a quote, reflecting different dimensions of love: True feelings never leave; Attraction can lead to a relationship but love has to take over to keep it going; Most of the time, you know—you just don’t know you know; Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye, and sometimes the heart needs more time to accept what the mind already knows; Take more chances. Dance more dances.
’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all; You can love someone deeply but you can never love them as much as you can miss them; Follow your heart and intuition—they already know what you truly want; Lovers don’t finally meet; they are in each other all along.
The book is a quiet celebration of love—in its presence and absence, in its certainty and its questions.
What, according to you, makes the ‘First Connect’ truly flourish and feel real?
I prefer not to reveal too much here, as the answer is shared in the epilogue of my book. You’ll find my personal take there. But to reframe your question specifically about my book, The First Connect, what makes it truly resonate is its authentic portrayal of romance across different life stages, from the innocence of teenage love in 1989 to the complexities of relationships till 2023. It reflects real emotions and challenges of love and life that readers from their teens to late forties will recognize.
What makes your book ‘The First Connect’ a must-read for all?
The narrative includes twists and turns balanced with moments of calm, reflecting the natural rhythm of relationships while its philosophical tone invites readers to rethink their own understanding of love beyond just a dreamy romance.
