Q1. What inspired you to write ‘The Boy Who Fought the Empire,’ particularly focusing on Netaji’s life for children?
Netaji has been neglected in our history books for decades. I have personally been deeply affected by this and have discussed this issue in another book on Netaji I wrote a few years ago. That book is titled ‘The Vanishing of Subhash Bose: The Mystery Unlocked’. As such I had already done nearly half the research necessary for writing this book. The other thing is that not only have our history books ignored the contributions of Netaji, the Indian National Army and the Naval Mutiny, our history books are also written very badly. Although there is now attention being paid to Netaji’s life, with his statue installed at India Gate last year, it will take some time before new history books are written that provide a proper perspective. And so I thought it would be a personal tribute to the man for me to write a play for children.
Q2. How did you approach the challenge of presenting historical events, like Netaji’s stand against bullying, in a format engaging for young readers?
Fortunately for me, Netaji has penned down the memories of his childhood including the influence Vivekanand held over him, his journey to a village to help victims of cholera and even of the time he took a stance against Mr E F Oaten, an English teacher who was using racist language against the students of Presidency College in Calcutta. That book is titled ‘An Indian Pilgrim: An Unfinished Autobiography’. As class representative he first took up the matter with the school principal, but was told by the principal that he could not do anything as the teacher in question was an Englishman and employed with the Indian Educational Service. It was under these circumstances that Netaji confronted the teachers. The details of that exchange are mentioned in the book and it was simply waiting to be dramatized. Incidentally, I have used Netaji’s own words in this scene, something that I have done in certain other scenes as well.
Q3. The Boy Who Wrote A Constitution’ was shortlisted for the PVLF Author Excellence Awards. How has that recognition influenced your approach to subsequent books, especially ‘The Boy Who Fought the Empire’?
Every writer is happy to receive recognition for any work that he produces. I was therefore very pleased to be shortlisted for that award together with other eminent writers of children’s books. The award made me realise the truth of the assertion made by my publisher Pranav Kumar who is the owner of Ponytale Books that dramatic works represent a huge gap in children’s literature in India just waiting to be filled. He himself was astonished by the sales of that particular book, and is planning to take out a translation in Hindi and possibly Marathi to begin with. I am hoping that we take out a translation of the new book on Subhash Bose as well, in both Hindi and Bengali.
Q4. In your exploration of Netaji’s life, what aspect of his character or journey resonated with you the most, and why?
It is interesting that Gandhi, Karl Marx and Einstein were each separately asked during the course of interviews with them which human quality they admired the most. All three men said it was ‘courage’ that they admired the most. Netaji is courageous but also sensitive and that makes for an irresistible combination. You see this aspect in his character from his childhood onwards. It required great courage for him to take friends along with him to help ordinary people in a cholera afflicted village. It required courage to confront a teacher at the Presidency College, Calcutta, for which he was expelled from college. It required extraordinary courage and determination to turn down an offer of employment with the Indian Civil Service, one of the most coveted jobs at the time. Finally, of course, it was an extraordinary act of courage to lay the foundations of the Indian National Army and confront the most powerful empire on earth. As the Burmese head of state remarked upon meeting Netaji, he was like a force of nature, not a mere human.
Q5. Your diverse portfolio includes plays on social themes. How does your background as a playwright contribute to your storytelling, especially when addressing issues like criminalizing homosexuality or the conflict in Kashmir?
As you may know I have written many novels and many works of non-fiction. I have also penned a collection of short stories and a travelogue. I often write plays when the subject is such that it demands immediate engagement. A novel takes much more time to write and it often lacks the immediacy of a play script. In respect of both homosexuality and the conflict in Kashmir I thought the format of a play would work better than a novel. Times have changed and nowadays people are reading plays much more than they did twenty, thirty years ago. Incidentally, this phenomenon was predicted by the legendary American novelist Henry James who used to be a playwright before he started writing novels.
Q6. Could you offer some insights into your upcoming project(s)? Are there any particular themes, issues, or genres you plan to explore?
As you know I write across multiple genres. I have a second collection of short stories that I am working on, a novel on the partition of India and a non-fiction book on Gandhi which will be quite critical and different from what has been written before. For children, perhaps next year around this time, I may take out another play. I am currently exploring the idea of doing a dramatization of the Gita. To my knowledge, this has not been attempted before. It will not be an easy task, but I am exploring the possibility.
