Ashwin Sanghi: I love stories in which characters cannot be easily classified as either good or bad. To my mind, the notion of heroes and villains is outdated. All of us have both positive and negative energy within us. The fact that you cannot classify something as black or white and must necessarily view it along a continuum of grey is what appeals to me. My aim was not to portray the modern-day politician as a hero but to drive home the fact that people, places, and props may change with time but political strategies, economic motives and human nature rarely change.

PC: There is a strong sense of balance in your writing. The sacrifices that the characters make and the rewards they get are felt in every Indian classic but not seen so clearly in contemporary Indian literature. Does this come from a personal ideology that you have?

AS: My personal view is that ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ are right here on earth and that the law of karma makes sure that every debit is squared off with a corresponding credit. The double-entry bookkeeping of the universe is perfect and error-free. With our limited field of vision we are often unable to clearly discern how the cause-effect game has played itself out but it has indeed.

PC: The characters of the book of truly amazing. The protagonists define themselves by the goals they strive to achieve. Which character had most of you in it and which one was the most interesting to write?

AS: Even though Chanakya and Gangasagar are mirror images of one another in two different eras, I must admit that it was a great deal of fun to write about a modern-day political godfather. The character of Chanakya was limiting because I had to stay within the bounds of commonly accepted historical facts although I could take some artistic liberties with their interpretation or chronology. Writing about Gangasagar involved no self-imposed boundaries because his was a character that was entirely fictional. I was able to take some of the best Machiavellian tendencies and traits of modern politicians and combine them into one almost omniscient political genius.

PC: I felt that the book had a specific hope or trend that you might be seeing in India now. Is it according to a hope or trend that you would like to change?

AS: In India, our political establishment seems to give all the attention to the political machinations of Chanakya whereas insufficient attention is paid to the fact that his seminal work, the Arthashastra, was mostly about good governance. I was absolutely amazed to find that the Arthashastra even specifies how grain should be stored, how a treasury should be constructed, what the ideal form of taxation should be, how law and order should be maintained, the preferred width of a carriage road, and virtually every aspect of sensible government policy. It is unfortunate to see that what plagues India today is simply a fundamental lack of governance. I think the lesson for all of us is that we need to pay more attention to Chanakya’s lessons in governance rather than his lessons on realpolitik. Chanakya’s realpolitik was a corollary to his bigger purpose—uniting Bharat and giving it good governance. Today’s realpolitik is purely self-serving.

PC: You took the pseudonym ‘Shawn Haigins’ for The Rozabal Line. Any particular reason for the anagram?

AS: As you know, I’m not a writer by profession. I was born and brought up in a business environment. By the time that I completed writing my debut novel, The Rozabal Line, I had already been in business for over 20 years. The decision to use a pen name was nothing more than a desire to compartmentalize my life so that my entrepreneurial dimension would remain distinct and separate from my literary one. The idea struck me: why not use an anagram of my real name as a pseudonym? Hence my first novel was written under the name Shawn Haigins, a perfect anagram of my real name Ashwin Sanghi. When Tata-Westland decided to publish the novel in India they insisted that it had to be published under my real name so as to market the book better.

PC: Personally, I feel that your books can be made into fine movies. Any possibilities of that happening soon?

AS: The movie rights to Chanakya’s Chant have been sold last year to UTV and they are currently in the process of firming up a script and casting. In the meantime, I have finalized a screenplay for The Rozabal Line too and expect this to be polished and floor-ready by March/April this year.

PC: In the Indian literary scene right now, is there anyone’s work that inspires you?

AS: I was brought up on a diet of commercial fiction and thrillers for most of my growing years: Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon, Robert Ludlum, Frederick Forsyth, Irving Wallace, Jack Higgins, Tom Clancy, Ken Follett, Arthur Hailey. In the past decade, Dan Brown, John Grisham, Stieg Larsson, Ian Rankin and countless others were added to my list. Among Indian authors, I enjoyed Salman Rushdie, Ruskin Bond and R. K. Narayan. What I found unfortunate, though, was that I had to depend on foreign authors for my daily dose of chills and thrills. Most Indian authors were busy churning out literary fiction.  Satyajit Ray would not have given us Feluda if such a market did not exist. It’s sad that we allowed ourselves to cede space to foreign authors in the field of mysteries, adventures, thrillers and suspense. In this context, I found that authors such as Vikram Chandra gave us great stories rather than prize-winning writing. I hope that I too will be remembered as a good storyteller rather than a good writer.

PC: Finally, even though this might seem a little opportunistic but can you please give us an idea on what you are working on right now?

AS: I do believe that every writer has a unique DNA. The question then is to consider what are the specific nucleotides that my DNA is composed of: history, mythology, theology, politics, business, suspense, mystery, crime and conspiracy. Change any of these, and you would be altering my DNA. I’d be a fish out of water if you asked me to write a story without one or more of these elements present. My next novel has one or more of these elements present but also draws on my background as a businessman and entrepreneur. My first novel was primarily theological and the second primarily political. The third shall be mostly about business.

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There are moments when Western sensibilities meet horrifically with oriental inscrutability. The West would have you believe it happened during times of conflict, with oriental forces met and flattened on the field by the superior technology and individualism of the Western soldier. The orient would smile their small, enigmatic smiles and remember various anecdotes of the boorish westerners swinging blindly into any social situation forgoing all subtle processes in favour of the end result. Very rarely does a combination happen of chemistry and power, bringing with it the potential and raw energy of a new dynamic that could shake the earth to its very core.

David Wingrove’s Chung Kuo speaks of such a dynamic, imagined in a world where China, due to economic skill and superiority gradually took over the world in the latter part of the 21st century. Set 200 years in the future, the population of the Earth has reached 40 billion and each continent is ruled over by T’angs making 7 T’angs in all, a council being the highest ruling authority on Earth. The continents themselves consist of nothing but cities, meaning layers of houses built like tenemens. The cities consist of 500+ levels of floors, containing markets, housing etc. with the bottom layers existing in the pits of penury and progressing up the levels towards luxury and rarefied styles and taste. In Chung Kuo, only power or money can raise you up the levels. The world exists in peace with variations of ruling ideologies being practised in different parts of the world, all ultimately coming under the authority of their respective T’ang.

The main point of the plot is this – Chung Kuo has lived in relative harmony and peace for the last 200 years. However, in this cycle, the political front is threatened by ‘dispersionists’, a European cartel wanting technological research constraints removed so as to escape the authority of the T’angs. One individual is silently pulling the strings in a plan set years back to completely destabilize the entire world and return it to a state of anarchy. A young prince must learn to manipulate power under the watchful eye of his father, a T’ang.

Nevertheless, the real meat of Chung Kuo lies in its characters. Through the course of the series, over several hundred characters will be presented to you with every single one involved in the great plot. There are over 16 plots intertwined in the first book alone, all ending in a common convergence. Every page will turn onto a new possibility with no single situation or reaction of a character being boring.

Explaining the motives behind the actions of characters in this book is too complex to even attempt. At times, it would seem that Wingrove carries around a miniature universe in his head, peopled with characters of utter dignity, power, avarice, rage and purity. The only way to even introduce the immense scope of the book is through the character sketches of a few people in the book.

The dutiful son, who always assumed he would be second best to his brother thrust into a seat of power and risk because of events past his control.

A low level hit man, a Kwai, known as a ‘knife’ first searching for status, and then redemption up through the levels.

A general, tasked with protecting a T’ang who serves with dutifulness that never once blunts his efficacy or his pride.

A nihilist, an utter enemy of the world, who can break the world and make it burn with just his manipulation of the political environment.

A brothel owner, a princess, a child and many more are characters within Chung Kuo, never living in isolation, each affecting the others lives knowingly and unknowingly but with terrific narrative impact.

Within all this chaos, what emerges is a masterpiece of a book, an evolution of Tolkien. Writing has always been about exploring new ideas, concepts and potential. This is a book that is nothing but.

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1. Kingkiller Chronicle 1 – The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

“I have known her longer, my smile said. True, you have been inside the circle of her arms, tasted her mouth, felt the warmth of her and that is something I have never had. But there is a part of her that is only for me. You cannot touch it, no matter how hard you might try. And after she has left you I will still be here, making her laugh. My light shining in her. I will still be here long after she has forgotten your name.”

2. The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

“We harbour a crippling dislike for the abstract.”

3. Red Earth and Pouring Rain by Vikram Chandra

“Listen. I am about to tell a story. I will tell you about wives, and good doctors, soldiers, poets, tribesmen, loafers and goondas, untrustworthy characters, loan-takers, dashing pilots, fast horses, card-players, socialites, actresses, politicians, I will tell you about underground deals, black money, great loves, cross country runs, farmers and their crops, fisheries and city councils, religious leaders and ,of course, cavalrymen. I will tell you a story that will grow like a lotus vine, that will twist in on itself and expand ceaselessly, till all of you are a part of it, and the gods come to listen, till we are all talking in a musical hubbub that contains the past, every moment of the present, and all the future.”

4. Chanakya’s Chant by Ashwin Sanghi

“A man on the first date wonders if he’s getting lucky at night, the woman already knows”

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