I wonder what kind of imagination Art Spiegelman must possess to come up with something as brilliant as Maus (German for ‘Mouse’). This graphic novel is a depiction of the two phases of the author’s father Vladek Spiegelman – one, of during the Nazi regime and the other, of his experiences as a Holocaust survivor after World War II.

Initially, Spiegelman published this as a 3-page comic strip in 1972 before publishing it as two separate volumes – My Father Bleeds History in 1986 and And Here My Troubles Begin in 1991. It took almost 13 years for the author to complete this book and it was finally published as one single volume after 1991.

In the pursuit to compile his father’s experiences as a concentration-camp survivor, Art Spiegelman has various conversations with his father that he records over a period of years. Based on his research, he compares his father’s present-day attitude with who he was during the Holocaust. He notices that his father has become increasingly stingy and difficult to deal with. His father’s second wife, Mala is another survivor who makes brief appearances throughout the book also.

As a book about historical fiction, Maus is by far the best I have read. It might be one person’s opinion but the situations that the author writes about  make a deep impact on the reader. He also portrays the various changes that the family has gone through – from a period of wealth to a time of utter penury while living in a ghetto. The Wall Street Journal has called this book “the most affecting and successful narrative that has ever been done about the Holocaust”. According to me, while many movies and other books talk about the same topic, the approach that Spiegelman takes is by far the most original and the most creative.

The title a mystery by itself but is solved as soon as the first illustration is seen – the author has brilliantly portrayed American power, German dominance and Jewish suppression by using a simple dog-eats-cat-eats-mouse logic. The Americans are portrayed as dogs, the Germans as cats and the Jewish of course, as mice. The title thus makes more sense now. This allegorical usage of animals has won much praise for the author.

Another interesting aspect of this book is that it is a tale within a tale. Art Spiegelman tells his own story while listening to his father’s. The family is shown to be distant from each other – mainly characterized by small arguments. At the end, the story is of survival – Spiegelman doesn’t know whether his father is guilty that he survived (his first wife committed suicide) since he doesn’t seem to be too grateful about it. While Vladek has survived the Holocaust, Art has survived the negative changes that he has seen in his father.

This year, Pantheon is going to publish a companion to the entire Maus series titles Meta Maus. Be sure to get your hands on both the books for your reading experience will only go up a notch higher. By the way, Maus is also the only graphic novel to have won a Pulitzer Prize – all the more reason for you to read it!

Here’s a list of three books (Indian, mind you!) that follow diverse themes and leave you with images as pleasant as the smell of your evening chai.

Love and Marriage

The Collector’s Wife by Mitra Phukan

Mitra Phukan’s Assamese heritage helps the book immensely as it explores a part of India which has no strong ties with English literature. The protagonist Rukmini is married to the area’s District Collector. Her life is characterized by a routine that is simple and unchanging. Set against the backdrop of the Assam Students’ Agitation of the 1970s and 1980s, the writer writes about the political turmoil, the kidnappings and the insurgencies. Rukmini’s life pervaded by the fear of violence and she feels restriction like she has never felt before. Her life is shaken from the roots as she meets Manoj, someone who shows her a world she is not familiar to as she dangerously and hopelessly falls in love in with him in the middle of a marriage that seems to be falling apart as much as the area she lives in.

Family and Relationships

Silent Raga by Ameen Merchant

Ameen Merchant tells the tale of two Tamilian, Brahmin sisters who live in a small town near Madras. Janaki, the elder one, has a knack for music and years for adventure where her talent can be showcased. Mallika, the younger one, is more tied to the family and is extremely intelligent. After their father’s untimely death, while Janaki chooses to run away and marry a “Muslim fellow”, Mallika is left with the broken pieces of the family that she struggles to bring together. While one stands for passion, the other stands for intellect. Years later, they are destined to meet at a place in their live where they are forced to make up for all the lost time. A famous, successful singer now, Janaki finally meets her office-going, independent sister in a story that is as progressive as an Indian raga.

Identity

The Sari Shop by Rupa Bajwa

Rupa Bajwa narrates the story of Ramchand, who works at the Sevak Sari House in Amritsar. This ‘sari shop’ is where the lives of the rich and the poor intersect. At this intersection, sits Ramchand, who often visits the house of the Sachdevas, where the cream of the rich and famous reside. We are introduced to vibrant characters like Rina Kapoor who attempts “a brave love marriage”. After his time and again visits to the Sachdevas’ house, Ramchand starts questioning the increased justice the rich get – the same which is denied to the poor. For a moment, he almost forgets his ‘place in society’ as he becomes increasingly disillusioned about who he really is. While this might not be the perfect debut, the author certainly succeeds in bringing this internal clash of identity in the middle of Amritsar, which again, is a city of contrasts.

After reading books like these, I am sure we often think of similar situations in our own lives – some that we are proud of and some that we would rather not talk about. As much as books have the power to make us establish this enormous connect with them, I feel it isn’t something extraordinary. After all, we all leave a piece of ourselves with someone we love, don’t we?

At the time when I read books like the Harry Potter series or the Inheritance Cycle (remember Eragon?), little did I know that these were actually the most common examples of the Bildungsroman genre for children.

The Bildungsroman (Bil-doongs-rohman) genre refers to novels in which the protagonists “develops” or “matures” consistently till his regrets and disappointments are over. These are called “formation novels” where writers shape their characters in a way that they grow or nurture themselves from the inside during the course of the book. Harry Potter is one of the most well-known examples of a Bildungsroman protagonist. I don’t even have to tell you why!

According to me, one of the most prolific examples here would be The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Huck and Tom both evolve into more responsible and reliable characters by the end of the books. This is also where the theme of liberation comes into picture. The Mississippi River is used as a symbol of liberation when Huck and Jim are sailing downwards. Another important characteristic of a Bildungsroman is the evolution of various themes.

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is now considered as an American classic Bildungsroman. The protagonists, Jem and Scout chart the story of their lives in the form of an experience of living in a town plagued with racial discrimination. Destruction of innocence and the fear of society are other important themes of this book. As they see their father Atticus fighting for a black man in a white country, they grow up quicker than they need to in the pursuit of understanding the society they live in.

However, without a doubt, my favorite Bildungsroman is J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. The protagonist Holden Caulfield’s interactions with the various “phonies” around him, his encounter with Sunny, the prostitute and his later conversations with his sister Phoebe are all indicators of how the protagonist has matured.

Other examples include Eleanor Porter’s Pollyanna (another favorite) and even Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women among others. However, do remember that every dragon-snorting and sword-brandishing novel does not fall in this genre.

For now, try to think of how many Bildungsromans you have read among all your books. You’ll be surprised to know how you never realized this before!

When a friend gifted me J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, all I thought was, ‘Damn! Why didn’t I read this book earlier?’ I liked the book so much that I started reading up on it online. I saw that apart from the content, the book has had various cover designs that have helped it achieve its cult status. I realized that apart from the writer of any book, the other people who contribute to a book matter just as much. Imagine Asterix without the illustrations of Albert Uderzo! I am going to write about two people who have shaped various books in their own way without actually writing them.

First, for all of you who read Roald Dahl (or still do!), I am sure you agree that his books would be incomplete without the various illustrations they have. Roald Dahl’s illustrator, Quentin Blake has contributed profoundly to making his books come to life. He has given us a better picture of Matilda and of course, Charlie from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Blake has been an illustrator for over 300 children’s books out of which his collaborations with Dahl are the most well-known. His illustrations consist mainly of scribbly lines but he sketches his characters out with finesse. He is known to understand the writer’s style first and draw accordingly. While most of his characters may seem a little similar in appearance, he makes sure he adds distinct features to each. Do visit http://www.quentinblake.com/ for a deeper insight into his work.

Another person who has made a great impact on me is Spanish writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez who shot to fame during the literary boom in Latin America. His Nobel-prize winning book One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien Años de Soledad) was translated by Gregory Rabassa who has translated various Spanish and Portuguese books. Generally, Rabassa translates without reading the book beforehand but does it as he reads the book. In 2006, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts for Translation and till date, he remains one of the world’s most prolific translators. Marquez himself proclaimed Rabass’a translated version of his book superior to the original one. He has enumerated his experiences as a translator in If This Be Treason: Translation and its Dyscontents: A Memoir.

Next time, you pick up a book, do notice the various ‘other things’ rather than just the writing.

At first glance, Rikin Khamar’s The Lotus Queen seems like a cross between William Dalrymple’s The Last Mughal and Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee’s Palace of Illusions. However, it manages to isolate itself from these comparisons because it explores an almost-untouched subject buried deep in the hearts of Indian history and does so with finesse. Unlike Divakaruni’s retelling of the Mahabharata from Draupadi’s point of view, Khamar writes from an objective, third-person perspective as he recounts the spoils and glories of Chittor during the reign of the Rawal Rattan Singh and his beautiful wife, Padmini.

What is most interesting about this book is that the author has employed a non-linear writing technique. He writes in a fluid, poetic style that mirror the dynamic state that Chittor is in – with its vibrant colours and architecture. While his writing may seem too descriptive at times, Khamar has rightly understood the need of describing his characters as much as the palaces they live in.

The setting is of a 14^th century Chittor when the city is under siege by Ala’uddin Khilji. Six different characters ranging from the Queen’s favoured maid, Deepakshi to the Rawal’s trusted Udham Singh recall their experiences of Chittor after meeting and being with their Queen Padmini, one whose beauty has almost become synonymous to the beauty of their state.

Khamar juggles brilliantly with the exploration of six different perspectives on the same subject. Reading it from someone else’s perspective gives one a new angle to the story. However, this concept might saturate the amateur reader to an extent because these stories have a similar undercurrent running through them.

This book is an example of an almost-perfect mixture of fact and fiction. While the various conversations and inner feelings of the characters are completely the author’s creation, the setting and the way that the story advances is completely factual (yes – sometimes we do our research!). In just 150 pages, the author recreates Chittor for us as with his pages that are boldly sprayed with the ‘Death before dishonour’ slogans of the Rajputs as they try to save their beloved homeland from the Sultan.

In just 150 pages, Khamar makes an impressive debut. The book cover looks like the back of a truck and the artwork is inspired from Chittor itself. The characters are vivid and one can relate to their traits almost instantly. In the end, Padmini is forced to evoke an ancient custom and decide the fate of her land and people as the Rawal leaves for war. Just as the Queen is about to make the brave decision she has taken for her people and her land, one can almost imagine the Rawal asking her as he does earlier in the book, “In thy next life wilt thou come again to me?”

The book does justice to the theme but at times, falls flat because all the stories are not consistently ‘as good as the last one’. Naturally, it would take many such attempts for all the stories to be equally good. However, the book does do quite well when it comes to creating larger-than-life, vivid characters in most of its stories. A noteworthy aspect here is that some of the contributors are first-time writers who have found a way of expressing themselves through this book.

The stories range from bullying school teachers to failed college romances. Some of them do manage to even take you back to that time at school when you had a ‘thing’ for someone. That ‘someone’ could have been anyone – including your chemistry teacher! There are few serious stories and few stories about independent living in college. The stories are diverse and not at a single point of time would the reader feel that they are repetitive in nature. Basically, they have been shaken really well but thankfully not been stirred. Thanks to that, a dentist shares her experience as a fresher just out of dental college.

The book plays well with space and time and are grouped into four sections: Attendance Is Compulsory, Festivals, Elections and Placements, Lights Out and Looking Back.

Here are our personal favourites

Aniket’s Top Five

Down The Road, Ahmed Faiyaz (Simply because it reminded me of my time at Bishop Cotton Boys’, Bangalore)

Knock Out, Ahmed Faiyaz (The characters were so relatable)

The Music Room, Ira Trivedi (The beautiful language)

One Bump Does No Harm, Naman Saraiya (The story itself is impressive and it is written well)

An Accidental Start, Kunal Dhabalia (The idea is beautiful apart from the way it is written of course)

Lipi’s Top Five

Just A Moment, Nikhil Rajagopalan (Subtle and realistic)

Knockout, Ahmed Faiyaz (Again, relatable characters)

The Music Room, Ira Trivedi (Beautiful plot)

One Bump Does No Harm, Naman Saraiya (Nice concept, better ending)

Bellow Yellow, Chinmayi Bali (Very different concept, beautifully thought)

[Jhumpa Lahiri: The Interpreter of Maladies, Unaccustomed Earth]

Chinmayi Bali, whose short story recently got published in Grey Oak Publication’s Down The Road says, “Today, our lives are so fast-paced that taking time out to read a full-length novel is nothing short of luxury.” She believes that people like reading short stories more because these stories are easier to identify with. Chinmayi is just one among the many people who feel this way. Personally, short-story writers like Sudha Murthy especially make it very easy for the reader to find a common thread with her stories. What makes them even more interesting is that all of them are real-life incidents.

[Sudha Murthy: Wise and Otherwise, The Old Man and his God]

Kunal Dhabalia, an active blogger who has been published in two short-story books, Urban Shots and Down The Road, feels that short stories are a success as they don’t leave the reader hanging. A reader can choose to finish a story from start to end in a period of 20 minutes or so. This is true with most amateur readers who are not used to reading books beyond a particular stretch of time. Maybe this is also the reason why lesser-known writers like Lavanya Sankaran have become more popular with their books of short stories.

[Lavanya Sankaran: The Red Carpet – Bangalore Stories]

Naman Saraiya, the Editor of The Tossed Salad and a published short-story writer (Urban Shots, Down The Road) thinks that initially, short stories did not come across as very viable in India. However, he feels that after the success of Urban Shots, publishing something like Down The Road is like adding the cherry on the cake since the stories are all special in their own way.

[Grey Oak Publications: Urban Shots, Down The Road]

Abhijit Bhaduri, celebrated writer of Married But Available and Mediocre But Arrogant has also written short stories in spite of his own books topping most bestseller charts. He believes that we all like to read a story where we can discover a piece of ourselves. Most short stories bring that familiar feeling along. Whether it be tales set in college campuses or in any households, imagining these stories does not prove to be difficult.

Short stories are obviously easier to write compared to full-length novels. Most writers experiment with the same before they write a whole novel themselves. (Maybe this is why someone like Nandita Puri had the strength to pull off something as ridiculous as Nine On Nine!)

However, the next time you go to a bookstore, try to read something that promises offer something new. A book of Pakistani or Afghani short stories could transport you to a land that you probably will never know but will easily be able to imagine. Try the various Indian authors who have forayed into writing short stories… for this genre has just become larger than it ever was.

Faiyaz’s writing style is effective and he portrays a strong love for college life in both of his books. However, in the pursuit of sticking to simple subjects that revolve around friendship, relationships and marriage, he fits his characters into a bubble and shuts himself out of experimenting with the themes in his book. Therefore, his stories tend to become a tad too predictable towards the end.

Faiyaz does strike an impression that makes the reader remember him long after his books have been put down. Still, one wonders why he doesn’t seem to write brashly at times when the book requires it. His characters are a myriad of opposites. On one level, they read Zadie Smith and appreciate Rembrandt and on the other, they call each other names like ‘Peaches’ and ‘sweet loser’. The books are surely set in an urban background but the author writes in a rather ‘safe’ way. Probably, crazier characters running riot in the book would have done the trick – instead, they stick to wearing shades of peach and grey and are as morally rooted as they can be.

Love, life and all that jazz… covers the lives of four twenty-somethings in a world where they love, lose and finally learn from their mistakes. Sameer, Vicky, Tania and Tanveer are four best friends whose lives are surely like a roller-coaster ride (a really long one!) where their strength and faith in each other is tested throughout the book. Faiyaz plays with his characters rather well as they fall in love, fall out of love and finally realize that the latter never happened at all – tried-and-tested indeed but strung together quite well. The book poses a challenge for the author to tie any loose strings at the end since the books charters the lives of four people. He manages to do that perfectly but in the process, does not go beyond the predictable. Interestingly, every chapter starts with a quote taken from people ranging from Confucius to Kurt Cobain to Aldous Huxley.

On the other hand, Another Chance is focussed on the oh-so-‘depressingly gorgeous’ Ruheen who finds her true love amidst a series of mistakes that she commits herself. As if having the mad son of a politician stalk her wasn’t enough, she enters into an abusive marriage, tries dating her best friend and finally ends up where she started from – into the always-open arms of Aditya, “the super intelligent MBA dude”. Faiyaz again displays a keen sense of time and place as his characters travel intensely throughout the book. He keeps track of the dates he mentions and manages to avoid any goof-ups. He does not conform to writing about a bunch of I-don’t-care-teenagers who grow up to be responsible. Instead, he makes sure that his protagonist is aware of how mature and responsible she is and the reader finds her making independent decisions. Do pick this one up if you’re in the mood for some light reading and trust me, this book has a lot more to it than just having Bruna Abdalah (very impressive, by the way) on the cover!

Overall verdict: impressive debut, good follow-up – definitely worth a read.

Lipi Mehta: Before we talk about you or your books, tell us a little bit about how the idea of starting Grey Oak came about.

Ahmed Faiyaz: The idea of Grey Oak grew out of my first publishing experience. Love, life & all that jazz… was published by a small Delhi based firm that had very little market reach and limited capabilities in sales and distribution as well as editing and creative design. After the first run I took back the rights and brought the book out myself with support from trade partners. This helped build and foster relationships. I got to know printers, distributors, leading bookstores and online retailers. A few like-minded people and I got talking, and after some hesitance, we decided to take the plunge and set up a publishing house that supports and nurtures credible talent, preferably within India.

LM:  Is it true that Grey Oak focuses on books written only by young authors who write on modern-day issues?

AF: This, I would say isn’t true. Among what we publish, we do have books and stories by young authors who write on modern-day issues but we also have a lot of other writers – experienced novelists and journalists such as Bishwanath Ghosh, Malathi Jaikumar, Oswald Periera and Jhangir Kerawala. You’ll see more from these writers in 2011. Oswald’s crime drama on the media – Politicians Nexus and Jhangir’s racy thriller, JFK, are among our next releases. We are also supporting newer voices that were previously unrepresented. The first among these is Smile Please, Dr Ranjani Iyer’s journey of a young dentist, drawn from her own life and experiences. We see dozens of books on the IIT experience on bookshelves. What about dentists? Accountants? They also have interesting stories to tell…

LM: Grey Oak has done exceedingly well with its venture of Urban Shots. Next in line is Down the Road which seems like a very interesting read. What is your take on books like these that bring out various contemporary issues in light using simple, short stories?

AF: Urban Shots came about when Paritosh (editor of Urban Shots) and I got talking. We had both written short stories and we spoke about the lack of a medium to publish an interesting collection of stories. We pooled a few in from people we happened to know and Urban Shots took shape. The idea here was also to bring new talent to the world of publishing, and 7 of the 13 writers made their publishing debut with Urban Shots. With Down the Road, again we have the same intention. We want to bring fresh, contemporary stories, but we also want to support young voices. So you have 5 young writers making their debut with this one, and stories by many of those featured in Urban Shots. We believe these stories cut across genres and will appeal to the young and old alike. In India, off late, there’s been a perception that short stories don’t sell and publishers don’t encourage these titles, even by popular writers. We want to change that perception and believe that there is room for both. If people are reading Roald Dahl and Chekov’s stories and when Ford County by John Grisham is a bestseller, who says that people don’t read short stories?

LM: How has the transition from being a writer-publisher from being a writer been for you?

AF: At Grey Oak, I’m more involved in the marketing and creative side of the business. The publishing side is managed by Jaya Nair, our Publishing Director. Her team evaluates manuscripts, edit books and manages author relationships. For me, the roles are very different, being a writer is a lonely process and it takes isolation and self – introspection. While marketing keeps you grounded and connected to readers. It’s an interesting combination…

LM:  What is your take on the fact that people’s interest in ‘literary fiction’ is dying away as more and more readers are taking a strong liking to books that are more ‘informally written’?

AF: I don’t believe this is true. People who read literary fiction haven’t stopped reading this genre. In fact it has grown with the size of the market and growing affluence. See, the market for literary fiction has always been limited to serious readers. In the past, publishers allocated disproportionate resources to literary fiction, and often the focus here was the readers outside India looking to understand our life and times. Today, post – liberalization and the mushrooming of chain bookstores across the country, reading habits and tastes have developed among those who never read. They do today, as they are aspirational and want to see themselves as modern and no different from the West. Writers and a few publishers have done their bit by bringing stories that are relatable and that young readers can identify with. Having said that, there’s considerable garbage being brought out in the name of popular fiction. This is priced at Rs 95, printed on cheap paper, and is often unedited and is filled with grammatical errors. Readers would do well by staying away from such books…

LM: Having said that, which is your favourite book and why?

AF: The one book that stands above everything else is – Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I have read it over ten times and it has moved me and inspired me like nothing else has. It was in fact a novel we studied in school in class XI. I remember sitting in class captivated by the story as it was read out and discussed chapter by chapter. Norweigian Wood by Haruki Murakami and Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones come close. I’m also inspired by Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and the works of Mitch Albom.

LM: Your books, Love, life and all that jazz… and Another Chance both are simple, light reads and have appealed to almost every reader who has read them. What is next in store for your readers?

AF: Thanks for the kind words. I’m glad Love, life and all that jazz… is successful. Its success was surprising. I thought we’d sell a few hundred books, and never imagined that this would become a popular bestseller. Post its success, I believed I could do a lot better as a writer, and Another Chance happened in quick succession. Another Chance‘s success has made a place for me in the minds of the reader. I’m delighted by the response and it couldn’t be better. My next is a satire called Bestseller in Jan 2012. After the emotional drama in Another Chance it’s time to make people laugh. I’m yet to start writing this one and have been busy with Down the Road. I also have a novella called Lost Souls in the works, but this will wait till after the release of Bestseller. You’ll also see a few stories in Urban Shots – Reloaded, the next edition of Urban Shots that comes out in Nov ’11. Love, life and all that jazz… is also going through the next phase of development and you’ll see a new and improved edition on bookshelves soon.

LM: The books that you’ve written or published seem to portray a special affection for college life. What do you have to say about that?

AF: This is a nice observation. For many of us, we meet our best friends and life partners in school / college. Although Love, life and all that jazz… begins in college, the story actually is about the 7 years after college in the lives of the four protagonists. The four of them share a special bond that goes back to their friendship in college. In Another Chance, Ruheen has a connection with Aditya from college where she was his junior. Both the books had a flashback from college life, while many of the stories in Down the Road, are essentially ones set on campus. ‘Setting’, is about a chance meeting with your soul mate on campus, ‘Well Placed’, is a hilarious take on the politics behind campus placements in a business school, ‘Down the Road’, is about a young boy’s first crush and a chance meeting the woman many years later. There’s also ‘Reason’, ‘Time’ and ‘Remember Me?’ that should make you smile and look back at the wonder years.

LM: Finally, what advice would you give young authors who feel that their writing isn’t read as much they would want?

AF: I feel many people are capable of becoming writers; everyone has a story to tell. But, in my opinion writing is not for everyone. It takes a lot of dedication, patience and sacrifice. It absorbs you in ways that an office job cannot. I also believe that reading is important, one can learn a lot from the works of other writers in terms of how characters are developed, the flow of the narrative, dialogues etc. But I do believe that everyone develops a style and voice of their own while writing. To sum up, I would request them to write from the reader’s perspective. And read voraciously.

Rajdip Ray: So, this is your first time in Kolkata. What do you find most intriguing about the city?

Jeffrey Archer: It is actually my second time. I had stopped over in Kolkata for 24 hours on my way to Hong Kong more than 30 years back. But yes, this is my first proper visit. I’m bound to say, without meaning to be offensive, that Kolkata is not moving at the same pace as other cities. The contrast in this city really hits you in the face. On one hand, there are bookstores which are like the best in Europe, and yet the minute you step out, there is so much poverty all around.

RR: Any plans of writing a novel about Kolkata?

JA: No. To write a novel about the place, you have to stay over there and understand the nuances, culture and religion. I can do that in England and somewhat in the USA, since I’ve been there so many times, but if I write a novel about Kolkata, a reader will immediately be able to point out that I was just visiting the city as a tourist for a couple of weeks.

RR: Do you still use a pen to write?

JA: Yes. I do about 14 drafts for every book and I hand write each and every single word. My wife uses all these new devices. She presses buttons to make a fridge turn and recently bought an Apple. But I do not use any of these devices to write. I like the feeling of writing with a pen. And I get a different sort of satisfaction when I have finished a book and there are 120,000 words and I know I’ve written every one of them.

RR: Why 14 drafts?

JA: By the end of the 1^st draft, I’m halfway there. By the end of the 2^nd, another one-third is done. In this way, by the time I’m done with all 14 drafts, it ensures that the book is a smooth read and the audience does not feel disconnected at any point of time. And that my friend is the secret to why 50,000 women take me to bed every week.

RR: I heard you use an hour glass….

JA: It’s a two- hour glass actually which my wife got made for me as I write in slots of 2 hours. It’s got silver at the top and bottom with glass in the middle. Now I’ll tell you why I use it. You see, most of us are lazy, me included. But if you have an hourglass it tells you how lazy you are being in case you stop your work before the last grain is through. Writing is a great discipline. The hourglass reminds me of the discipline which I have to maintain.

RR: You love cricket….

JA: Yes, I absolutely love it. And the World Cup final is going to be between England and Ireland, and this time we are going to win. I was quite surprised with the Indian fans actually. I expected all of them to always go on about India being the best and winning this time. Not a bit. On the contrary, all the Indian fans I have come across are criticizing the Indian bowling and fielding and think that their chances of winning are quite slim. And I’ll tell you why their chances slim. A team which leaves out Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid are just plain mad. If they had been in the side, India would have won the cup for sure. If Ganguly and Dravid want to play for England, we will be more than happy to have them.

RR: Any plans of writing a novel based on cricket?

JA: No, because the Americans who constitute the majority of my audience don’t understand the game. Oh by the way, I saw Lagaan, and I liked the movie. I hated the dances though. And the only reason the Indian team managed to win that game was because the English umpires never cheated.

RR: What made you take to writing?

JA: Well, I was out of a job when I wrote ‘Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less’. And I’m amazed at the number of Indians who say that it’s their favourite book. And I’m like “Wait a minute. That’s the first thing I ever wrote.” And I never expected it to be a bestseller. Now the book has sold more than 27 million copies, but it was much later that I discovered that the real breakthrough was ‘Kane And Abel’. But now, I’m an author by love and freedom and choice. I love it. And I feel I’m very privileged to be one.

RR: How do you manage to write one bestseller after another?

JA- I don’t know how I do it. I don’t consider myself to be a writer. I believe I’m a story teller. I don’t write about vampires or wizards. I tell a simple story. And I hope and pray that people will read it. And so far, I’ve been very lucky.

RR:  Most writers write about their own times. A lot of your stories on the other hand are based in the late 19^th century or the early 20^th century.
What makes you write about a time which you haven’t experienced?

JA: I’m fascinated by history. I enjoy mixing story telling with facts. When I’m doing my research, I’m constantly looking for stuff which will help others learn historical facts without it being taught like a boring text book and forced down the person’s throat. For example, while writing ‘Only Time Will Tell’ I discovered that people who were poor during and before the war in the 1930s smoked a cigarette called Woodbine. Now I knew of their existence because I was born in 1940, but what I didn’t know was that they were also called “coffin nails”. So when I get a fact like that, I try to mingle in into the book without rubbing it down your throat. It also gets you thinking when you are reading it. So the fun in research is that you are getting all of this across without being monotonous.

RR:  Have you ever tried writing poetry?

JA: Ah. No. And that’s because writing poetry is very difficult indeed. And it is completely different altogether. Plus, poets never make any money. They die hungry and are remembered after several years as great poets who died hungry. But that being said, poets are absolutely wonderful, and they deserve more support.

RR:  ‘Kane And Abel’ is considered to be one of your most successful novels. Why then did you decide to rewrite it?

JA: ‘Kane And Abel’ had its 30^th anniversary 2 years ago or so, and it had 84 editions printed by then. Now it has 91. And I thought this book has lasted 30 years, it has sold 33 million copies. And I thought if it’s lasted for 30 years, why will it not last another 30. The average age of my reader is 25 and last night I was attacked by a 12 year old girl who has read all my novels and was complaining about me not writing fast enough. So I decided to write for the next generation, and hence I altered and re-wrote ‘Kane And Abel’.

RR: What was the inspiration behind ‘Only Time Will Tell’?

JA: I’m nearing 71 and I wanted a new challenge which would make me work harder. There are a lot of authors who keep on releasing new books with the same story with a few changes here and there. Actually, the public is not that stupid, because their sales drop. So, I desperately try to come up with something new every time. And I thought that this time I’m going to write the biggest thing of my life and I’m going to call it the Clifton Chronicles and it will cover Harry Clifton’s journey for 100 years of his life, right from 1920 to 2020. And this is the first part of the 5 series book.

RR:  Is Jeffrey Archer’s life as unpredictable as the last page of his new novel?

JA- Yes. Absolutely.

RR- Do you plan to write an autobiography?

JA- No. But Harry Clifton’s life in the Clifton Chronicles is similar to that of mine. That is why I write about his life for 100 years, which is by the way, the age to which I intend to live. In Book 2, Harry will become a writer, as I want to let the world know what it feels like to be a writer. So, in a sense, the Clifton Chronicles are fairly autobiographical.

RR- Any Indian authors that you like to read?

JA- R.K. Narayan. I think he is a fabulous story teller. It is a shame that he hasn’t got worldwide recognition, which I believe he should.

RR- You have achieved almost everything that there is to achieve…

JA- Oh no. My latest ambition is to become the Transport Minister of India. This is the 4^th consecutive year that I’ve come to India and I’ve noticed that the driving instructors are not teaching the people how to drive properly. And the other stupid thing which must be looked into is that no lorries should be allowed into the outside lane. I go down the road and there are 3 lorries on the outside lane on a motorway doing 20 miles an hour, with a rickshaw overtaking them. And I’m in my BMW on the inside lane trying to make my way to the airport. If this is done in England, then the license is confiscated. And it must be done in India as well.

RR: What have you learned from India?

JA: I was chatting with this very middle class, well educated friend of mine a couple of days back and he explained to me the concept of arranged marriage. It took me some time to understand it, but I think it makes more sense than the way we are doing it in Europe which is a complete mess.

RR: What do you consider to be your greatest success?

JA:  In 35 years I have never received a letter saying “Jeffrey, I knew what was going to happen at the end of your book.” And the only reason that has not happened is because I, myself, don’t know what’s going to happen at the end of my book while writing it. That’s what I’d consider to be my greatest success as a story teller.

RR: and finally, any advice for budding authors?

JA: It is only in India that I come across so many people who aspire to be writers. In England, 3 out of 300 people want to write a novel. In India, 150 of them want to write a novel. See, the truth is, that when it comes to writing, very few are successful and can make a living out of it. But if you believe that you have got it in you and that you are one of them, you must give it a shot. You must do it and succeed or fail. But you must never turn back at a point of time in your life and regret the fact that you didn’t even give it a try.