Q .Why do you write?
Stories, ideas, incidents, thoughts keep dropping in my head, and writing is the only medium through which I can bring them out. I write because I have no choice.
Q .Describe your favourite writing space.
If I have my earphones on and can space out, I can write anywhere. I’ve written in dining rooms, bedrooms, balconies, cafes, while babysitting dogs, and in trains and airplanes.
Q .Your favourite word?
Usually nonsensical exclamations or words I concoct to suit a particular situation. Like “woohoo”, “woot” for exclamation. I like to say “goobe” a lot (it means owl in Kannada). Recently, I’ve also used “Letter Box Drongo” with a sense of thrill. I like the texture of that phrase.
Q .Do you have a writing schedule?
When I’m writing fiction, I usually do it in the first half of the day and then break for lunch. Post-lunch, it’s what I call meta-work — checking emails, social media, prepping for next day, research, reading, etc. But this is a fluid schedule and reshapes itself depending on what I’m writing. Weekends are mostly off unless I have a writing portion I’ve procrastinated about.
Q .Ever struggled with writer’s block?
Writer’s block is just a bad day, when you don’t know what sentence or word comes next. It is invariably followed by stormy nights, in which you flow with creativity and write beautiful stuff. Perseverance and patience bring these stories out. Remain there.
Q .Do you keep a diary?
Yes, two actually. One in which I throw all kinds of personal things I am feeling on a particular day, something that I’ve been doing since years. No one’s allowed to look into that. The other is a messy scribblepad in which I jot down all thoughts, streams and story concepts that strike me. No one can understand that.
Q .What inspires you to write? Do you have a secret trick, or a book/author that helps?
It’s the story or the character that pushes me to tell it. When Anantya, the tantric detective of my latest novel came into my head, I knew years will go into the blackhole of writing books about her and her world. Once the idea is there, the hard work of writing comes through constant research and reading — sheer stubbornness to reach the finish line. That’s the secret.
Q .Best piece of advice you’ve ever got?
“Close the door on everything and start writing. Don’t let the world intrude when you create.” This came from a quiet artist Paul Fernandes. I had approached him for help, just a couple of years into my writing, when I felt like I was drowning and leaving my writing behind. The image he created, of a close creative space with no intrusion, still saves me.
Q .Coffee/tea/cigarettes – numbers please – while you are writing…
One morning cup of filter coffee, followed by at least 3-4 cups of green tea. No cigarettes. Never liked the smell.
Q .Which books are you reading at present?
The Three-body Problem by Cixin Liu, Slavery by Jotirao Phuley, The Blind Lady’s Descendants by Anees Salim, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Rigg and Bhimayana by Durgabai Vyam.
Q .Who are your favourite authors?
Ursula Le Guin, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman and Appupen, Samit Basu and William Dalrymple.
Q .Which book/author should be banned on grounds of bad taste?
I would refrain from banning any kind of writing, even things I don’t like personally. Freedom of choice and expression are paramount.
Q .Which are your favourite children’s books?
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, Swami and Friends by R.K. Narayan.
Q .Which classics do you want to read?
I would like to read more of Franz Kafka and Saadat Hasan Manto. And may be, someday when I’m feeling brave, I will pick up War and Peace again.
Q .Who is your favourite literary character?
Sherlock Holmes. I’ve read all the stores by Arthur Conan Doyle, seen all the TV and film adaptations of his stories and remain fascinated by how the detective has been interpreted and still remains so fresh. It’s difficult to create a detective in fiction today, who doesn’t have a shadow of Holmes.
Q .Which is the funniest book you have read?
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I mean who would have thought that a towel is the most essential thing to take when you’re space-hopping and that it’s the number 42 that is the answer to all questions of the universe. These have me in fits every time I think about it.
Q .Which is the most erotic book you have read?
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It’s a love story of two magicians who have been cursed to compete with each other in a circus. They don’t even meet, don’t even touch hands, but the fantasy is so beautifully written that it’s able to achieve a lot more magic than a mere touch.
Q .Which book do you wish you had written?
Every time I read a good story, specially in the fantasy/science fiction genre, I wish I had the skill to retell stories that are so well expressed.
I continuously strive towards that goal.
