Introduction and Interviews by Anupama Krishnakumar
Well written, well-articulated words are intoxicating. They unleash magic. The writing styles – the way these words are delightfully put together may be different but the result is the same. The words reach out to the inner you – only that the ‘you’ would differ in every case – the readers that the author is trying to cater to.
At Spark, one of our constant endeavours has been to get good authors talking to us about the art of writing, the effort that goes into writing a book and just what their writing world is all about! So, this month, for the first time ever, we feature four authors together. And they are no ordinary authors, mind you – they have been cracking the bestseller charts in India. And we couldn’t think of a better theme than ‘India Decoded’ to present some young Indian authors who are taking the Indian English literary scene by storm. What’s more – all these books are set in India or are about India.
We are pleased to feature Anjali Joseph, author of ‘Saraswati Park’, published by Harper Collins in 2010. The book has drawn lot of praise from literary circles and Anjali Joseph has also won two awards for her debut novel this year – the Betty Trask Award and the Desmond Elliott Prize. ‘Saraswati Park’ has also been shortlisted for the Vodafone Crossword Awards (2011) under the ‘Fiction’ category. With terse and intelligent responses to my questions, Anjali Joseph proves why she is the really good literary writer that she is. Don’t miss this interview.
‘The Immortals of Meluha’ – if you are a book lover and read Indian writing, there’s no way you wouldn’t have heard about this book. We are delighted to present an interview with Amish Tripathi, the bestselling author of ‘The Immortals of Meluha’ (2010) – the first book of a trilogy based on Lord Shiva. The book has sold over a lakh copies and the second book of this trilogy (published by Westland) ‘The Secret of the Nagas’ is due for release in mid-August. Amish, who mentions that he has written absolutely no fiction before this book, surprised me with his down-to-earth attitude, when he said that he considered the book a blessing of Lord Shiva himself. Well-detailed and interesting responses – that’s what I got for my questions. I tell you, you have to read this interview.
If you get to Flipkart and visit the Books section, you just can’t miss seeing this book with the silhouette of a young woman against a yellow-orange sky. I say you can’t miss it – because it’s the No.1 bestseller in Flipkart now and has been there for many weeks now. This is ‘Life is What you Make it’, which has featured in other bestseller charts too. Its author, Preeti Shenoy, also a blogger, poet, artist and a mother of two, is a very inspiring person! Her positive spirit is rather infectious and her readers simply adore her. Preeti Shenoy has written two books, ’34 Bubblegums and Candies’ (2008) and ‘Life is What you Make it’(2011), both published by Srishti publishers. In her interview to Spark, she brings in the same spirit that defines her writing and life. Do read it!
How about winding up the series of interviews with a good dose of humour and loads of attitude and some yo-ness of Indian urban youth? Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, take my word for it – it’s just the fitting finale for an enjoyable line-up of interviews. Meet Kartik Iyengar – author of ‘Horn Ok Please – HOPping to Conclusions’ (2011) – a book that has lot of insanity and wise cracks to its credit! The best part is that Kartik loves calling himself a moron all through the book and takes the time very often to let you know that you are one too (because you bought his book). In fact, Kartik Iyengar has 20k + hyperactive fans who follow him on Facebook, most of who have changed their middle-names to ‘Hopper’ to indicate that they belong to this social media cult. My interview with him is no different – you can get a perfect feel of his blook (as he calls it– the best loo book!) right here in his responses. Just don’t miss it!
Thank you Anjali, Amish, Preeti and Kartik. We at Spark, wish you all the very best in all your future endeavours as you seek to enthral your audience in your own ways.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Presenting
Anjali Joseph through ‘Discovering Saraswati Park’
Amish Tripathi through ‘Shiva in a New Light’
Preeti Shenoy through ‘Life is what you Make it’
Kartik Iyengar through ‘Horn Ok Please’.
Have Fun!
Anupama Krishnakumar loves Physics and English and sort of managed to get degrees in both – studying Engineering and then Journalism. Yet, as she discovered a few years ago, it is the written word that delights her soul and so here she is, doing what she loves to do – spinning tales for her small audience and for her little son, bringing together a lovely team of creative people and spearheading Spark. She loves books, music, notebooks and colour pens and truly admires simplicity in anything! Tomatoes send her into a delightful tizzy, be it in soup or rasam or ketchup or atop a pizza! Anupama blogs at http://anuforyou.blogspot.com
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