Slumdog Millionaire: A Novel (38 page)

Above all, I wanted to ensure an organic connection between the stories and the questions – they needed to appear natural rather than gimmicky and forced.

4. Have you ever visited Dharavi or come in prolonged contact with a resident to be able to
paint such a vivid picture of the (in)famous slum, its inhabitants and their lifestyle?

I have never lived in Mumbai for any sustained period of time, and I have never visited Dharavi.

But then India is a country where no one leads the life of an island. The lives of the rich and the poor, the high and the low, intersect every day. And if one observes, and learns, then one can also project. One may not have seen Dharavi but one has seen slums. You just have to magnify the slums you have seen ten times, or maybe a hundred times, to visualize the scenario in Dharavi.

5. How much effect, if any, do you think your own exposure to Mumbai's film industry has
had in directly or indirectly shaping the overall theme and pace of this novel?

I admit there is an undercurrent of Bollywood running through the novel. That is because Hindi films are an inescapable part of popular Indian culture. You cannot conceptualize an Indian matrix without bringing in Bollywood. The potboiler Hindi films have traditionally been

considered escapist entertainment, perhaps highlighting their appeal to the masses. They almost become an alternate reality for the poor. So, throughout the novel, you have my protagonist contrasting 'reel' life with 'real' life. But the real treat for me, personally, is that
Q & A
itself is likely to become a plot for a Bollywood film! Though Film Four have optioned the film rights, several top Indian directors have approached me for the Hindi remake.

6. For viewers
of KBC,
or for the general Indian audience for that matter, most of the
characters of the novel might seem thinly disguised. Did the possibility of celebrity

recognition ever become an issue while writing
Q & A?

A few reviewers have commented that they found some of my characters – the action film hero, the famous cricketer, and even Neelima, the tragedy queen – to be tongue-in-cheek caricatures of real people. All I can say is that the characters I have drawn are entirely fictional but I wouldn't be surprised if some people find familiar echoes in them.

7. What were some of the research methods you used while writing the book?

The book required considerable research. The maximum investigation was undoubtedly needed for 'A Soldier's Tale' in which I had to document the India-Pakistan War of 1971. I read a number of books on the famous battles of that war, delved into actual soldier accounts of the course of the war in Chhamb and received some excellent feedback from my colleague, the

Military Attache in the High Commission in London. I undertook similar painstaking research to get fully acquainted with life in juvenile homes, betting on cricket matches, the practice of selling tribal girls into prostitution, the modus operandi of contract killers, voodoo, the Taj Mahal, and even Australianisms. My neighbourhood library in Golders Green gave me access to a number of useful books and the Internet also proved to be a mine of information.

8. Throughout the novel one of the major themes that arises repeatedly is the rampant

apathy in India – the slum dwellers, the game show authorities, the cinema industry, for
example. Do you think this feeling somehow characterizes modern India itself?

There is a quote in the book. When Ram Mohammad Thomas approaches the administrator of

his chawl, asking him to intervene before Shantaram does something terrible to his wife and daughter, he is told:

'We Indians have this sublime ability to see the pain and misery around around us, and yet
remain unaffected by it. So, like a proper Mumbaikar, close your eyes, close your ears, close
your mouth, and you will be happy like me.'
So apathy does exist in the nation of a billion people, but one also sees evidence of tremendous compassion and solidarity, such as during the recent tsunami disaster.

9. You have tackled difficult issues – incest, rape, torture – in almost every chapter of the
novel. What was your experience writing these passages?

The novel opens somewhat bleakly and then continues in the same vein for the first few chapters.

This bothered me a bit when I had finished the novel, but the structure of the novel was such that if I changed even one story or altered the timeline, the whole edifice would have collapsed. In the end I just trusted the reader to find light at the end of the tunnel. By the same token, I had to find my own illumination in writing some of the darker chapters. The writing of 'A Brother's Promise' and the section in the Agra chapter relating to the death of Shankar were the toughest.

Even finding the right words to describe those emotions was gut wrenching. But the fact that I myself had tears in my eyes when I re-read the Shankar episode convinced me that it had been written with heart and soul.

10. Any interesting anecdotes behind writing/ researching
Q & A
that you'd like to share?

I wrote
Q & A
in complete secrecy. No one, not even my closest friends, knew that I was working on a novel! For two years I kept my professional world as a diplomat and my private world as an author completely apart. But now everyone knows.

11. We know that you were born in Allahabad and were a champion debater and an avid

quizzer at school. Tell us some more about your formative years and your family's

influence on your literary aspirations.

I come from a family of lawyers. My grandfather had a magnificent library full of leather bound, gold embossed volumes of legal books. But he was a man of eclectic tastes and his interests embraced history, philosophy and art as well. Thus a first edition of Hitler's
Mein Kampf
would be nestling next to Tolstoy's
War and Peace.
I learnt a lot from him, most importantly, a love of books. Since I grew up in an era without cable TV and the Internet, my favourite pastime was to read, and I devoured everything, from
Aesops Fables
to Albert Camus, from Enid Blyton to Irving Wallace. And, I believe, a good writer is first and foremost a good reader.

12. What are some of your favourite books (fiction or non-fiction) of all time?

Till I joined the Indian Foreign Service, I used to be a very big reader. I have read many authors and many books over the years. I have been a big fan of the thriller genre, but I have enjoyed contemporary literary works as well such as Coetzee's
Disgrace,
Alan Hollinghurst's
A Line of
Beauty,
David Mitchell's
Cloud Atlas
and the novels of Haruki Murakami. Some of my all-time favourite works are:

Of Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck

The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway

The Trial
by Franz Kafka

Animal Farm
by George Orwell

Dracula
by Bram Stoker

The Story of Philosophy
by Will Durrant

13. Which faction of creative thinkers might you belong to: One that thinks that good

writing is one that pleases the reader? Or another for which writing is a personal process
unhindered by audience pressure?

As they say, 'Any fool can write a book; it takes a genius to sell it'. So readers remain critical to the writing process. Writing is, indeed, a personal process, but I feel that what a writer writes must, in the final analysis, be accessible to the reader. If the writer cracks a joke which the reader doesn't get, then what's the point? The key to a good novel is to ensure a degree of congruence between the subjective vision of the writer and the objective reaction of the reader.

14. How has your experience been with the worldwide publishing industry?

When I set out to write this book I had no idea it would appeal to readers in Brazil and

Barcelona, in Seattle and Sydney. The book is now being translated into 25 languages so it has enabled me to interact with publishers and readers in five continents. The experience has been uniformly positive. The reason for the novel's global appeal, I imagine, is that though it is set in India, the themes and the emotions evoked are universal and the underlying message is one which applies to every community and culture – of creating your own luck, of the underdog beating the odds and winning!

15. Is there a follow-up novel to Q
& A
in the works? If not, might there be one in the
future?

I have a number of ideas, so, yes, there will be another book. Perhaps in a year or two.

SECTION 2: ABOUT THE BOOK

Facts behind the Fiction

In September 2000, when Harshvardhan Vinayak Nawathe answered the 15th question correctly on
Kaun Banega Crorepati
(the Indian version of
Millionaire),
little did he realize that he had changed history – not only television history but also his own. An unknown youth hailing from a middle class family residing in one of Mumbai's middle class neighbourhoods, he suddenly

became a media sensation. Overnight, a person for whom traveling incognito in public buses was no big deal had to temporarily change residences for fear of being hounded by paparazzi. Harsh Nawathe, the new face of the teeming Mumbai millions, had arrived.

24 September 2000.
Kaun Banega Crorepati
Episode number 64. More than 50 million eyes stare unblinkingly at their TV screens. Hot seat contestant Harshvardhan Nawathe is on the precipice of the million-rupee question. The random question flashes, he doesn't know the answer. He phones a friend who doesn't know it either. Without an alternative, Nawathe makes a painstakingly wild guess. And wins.

As 300 people from the audience descended on the disorientated winner, and his building

residents back home lit up the evening sky with fireworks, the boy next door became an instant celebrity and one of India's most eligible bachelors. Nawathe, who, before the competition, was preparing for his entrance exams for the Indian Civil Services, is now studying business

management in London, England. His family still lives in their modest apartment in Mumbai.

Nawathe's 15 jackpot-winning questions:

1. Which is the largest key on a computer keyboard?

a) Enter b) Back space c) Number lock d) Space bar

Correct answer was d

2. If you visit the Tirupati temple which state would you be in?

a) Karnataka b) Andhra Pradesh c) Tamil Nadu d) Kerala

Correct answer was b

3. Who composed the bhajan 'Pag ghungroo bandh Meera naachi re'?

a) Tukaram b) Surdas c) Meerabai d) Chaitanya

Correct answer was c

Which angle is formed by the hour and minute hands of a clock when it's exactly 3 o'clock?

a) 45° b) 90° c) 360° d) 180°

Correct answer was b

What name is given to the zodiac sign usually represented by a lion?

a) Cancer b) Taurus c) Leo d) Pisces

Correct answer was c

6. Which Asian Games gold medallist played Bheema in the TV serial 'Mahabharatha'?

a) Bhim Singh b) Praveen Kumar c) Dara Singh d) Pangal Singh

Correct answer was b

7. What was the first name of the wife of the last Viceroy of India?

a) Diana b) Sara c) Elizabeth d) Edwina

Correct answer was d

8. Which of these do not reproduce by laying eggs?

a) Whales b) Hens c) Crocodiles d) Snakes

Correct answer was a

9. The rivers Brahmaputra and Sutlej originate near which source in the upper Himalayas?

a) Gangothri b) Siachen c) Manasasarovar d) Yamunanatri

Correct answer was c

10. Who is the President of Pakistan?

a) Musharraf b) Ghulam Ishaq Khan c) Rafiq Tarar d) Farooq Ahmed Leghari

Correct answer was a

HERE HE USED HIS FIRST LIFELINE 'AUDIENCE POLL'. BUT HE GOES AGAINST THE

AUDIENCE POLL.

In one-day cricket how many fielders can stay outside the 15 yard circle for the first 15 overs?

a) 3 b) 4 c) 5 d) 2

Correct answer was d

Who was the world's first woman Prime Minister?

a) Indira Gandhi b) Golda Meir c) Srimavo Bandarnaike d) Margaret Thatcher

Correct answer was c

13. In the Mahabharatha, who was Draupadi's twin brother?

a) Parikshit b) Drupada c) Dhristadyumna d) Ikshvaku

Correct answer was c

14. Which Indian state has the highest percentage of Hindus?

a) Uttar Pradesh b) Madhya Pradesh c) Himachal Pradesh d) Orissa

Correct answer was c

HERE HE USED HIS SECOND LIFELINE '50:50'

HE ALSO USED HIS THIRD LIFELINE 'PHONE A FRIEND' – BUT THE FRIEND DIDN'T

KNOW IT EITHER

15. Who among these does the Indian Constitution permit to take part in the proceedings of Parliament?

a) Solicitor General b) Attorney General c) Cabinet Secretary d) Chief Justice

Correct answer was b

Questions for Discussion

1. Ram has been described as an 'Everyman Underdog'. Is he someone you might like to

meet? What would you talk about?

2.
Q & A
shows a side of India we don't often see or read about. Do you think this is true?

What makes the book so atmospheric?

3. Were you able to guess any of the questions before the end of the chapter? What other question might you have asked, if you were writing it?

4. Ram is infinitely resourceful and versatile. How does he show it? What does this say

about the rigid social and religious structures in India?

5. Why is the Bollywood actress so tragic? How far does she reflect the darker side of

celebrity lifestyle? What is Ram's attitude to celebrity culture?

6. Ram has also been described as a Forrest Gump figure. Do you agree?

7. What do you think the author's underlying message is? Is it a very radical one?