Q&A in FEMINA |
Written by Administrator |
Monday, 16 May 2011 07:04 |
FEMINA Q&A in 2010 Your journey as a writer My journey as a writer over six books and ten years has been rather unconventional, travelling a strange arc from trying-to-be-literary to full-blown commercial fiction. This has been less out of choice and more from circumstance but it’s been quite a joyride, nonetheless. Essentially, when my agent submitted the manuscript of ‘Secrets & Lies’ to UK publishers, the commercial fiction imprint of Harper Collins came forward with a three-book deal which would have been silly to turn down in this current risk-averse climate shrouding publishing in the west. Hence a sort of compulsory journey/roller-coaster ride! Why a trilogy? It’s, as mentioned earlier, a three-book series rather than a trilogy, which means that the books are not sequels, have entirely different sets of characters and story-lines. Only the titles are similar to each other, all having the word ‘Secrets’ in them, which is more to do with branding and a marketing exercise etc. What/who inspires your writing? Stories come from all over the place - chance conversations very often. If I find myself particularly moved or amused by an anecdote, then that can metamorphose into a book. Other writers can be inspirational too, in quite a different way. They can sometimes panic me by turning out Very Good Books that get Very Good Reviews and that sends me running for my computer faster than anything else can. Three essential tools for writers. Self-belief, persistence and a skin thick enough to cope with rejections (in the early years) and bad reviews (later on) to simply carry on. Characters etched from real people? They are an amalgam mostly, cobbled together from real people, imagination and my own self. I must say that, with every book I write, they are increasingly fictional as I’m running out of people to copy. The ‘Rani’ controversy? This was politically motivated with a couple of opposition party MPs agitating in the UP Assembly to get the book banned. I felt that, rather than genuinely aggrieving them, my book provided them with handy fodder to deflect attention away from their own responsibilities to their constituents who were suffering under severe drought conditions at the time. ‘Rani’, in fact, presents a very respectful view of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, whom I grew to admire hugely during the course of my research. My fault seemed to be that I chose the fiction genre to tell her story which gave me the freedom to humanize her and give her feelings. There’s an unspoken, unfulfilled love story at the heart of the book which arose from the fact that the real-life political agent of Jhansi, an Englishman called Major Ellis, laid his career on the line to help Lakshmibai. History is never going to tell us why he did this and, of course, it could well have been out of a genuine sense of right and wrong but, as a novelist, I had the freedom to take the view that his actions could have been prompted by love. This was what got completely hijacked and misunderstood. Children with special needs – the challenges faced by their parents .. As a parent myself, I can say in all honesty that these are, of course, numerous, and change character over the different phases. The early years go past in a general blur of coping with such a life-changing event and some people cope better than others, depending on their own circumstances and support systems. But, over time, these special needs acquire a kind of normalcy and parents grow more pragmatic in getting on and dealing with whatever needs to be done. Later on, new fears creep in as parents start thinking about the care of their children once they’re gone as, chances are, our children will outlive us. This is the gap that we plan to plug with our project in Delhi that aims to provide long-term lifetime care to mentally challenged adults. Staple food for Mallus? As a Mallu, let me say it’s anything that can be eaten with fingers. This fork-and-spoon business is really not intended for us. Two tourist places in Bangalore? Is this a test? Well, I did live in Bangalore for three years when I was in my lower teens so I guess I should know this but I don’t! Two gardens in Bangalore? I know this! Cubbon Park and Lalbagh. Favourite memory of London? Oh, walking along the south bank of the river, without a doubt. This was part of my daily walk to work and, invariably, I’d slow down to enjoy the view from Waterloo Bridge which is now even better than when Wordsworth wrote his poem about it. Favourite Indian author? Vikram Seth. Best shopping in the south of India? Silk saris in Chennai, diamonds in Bangalore, pearls in Hyderabad, kasavu dhotis in Trivandrum – that makes it sound like I have loads of all those things which I don’t, alas! |
Last Updated on Friday, 08 December 2017 03:47 |