‘This is a Delhi book in many ways’

The much-awaited shortlist for The Hindu Prize 2015 is out. An interview with Siddharth Chowdhury, one of the six authors in the reckoning

November 07, 2015 04:56 pm | Updated November 08, 2015 10:00 am IST

The Patna Manual of Style; Siddharth Chowdhury, Aleph, Rs.295.

The Patna Manual of Style; Siddharth Chowdhury, Aleph, Rs.295.

Siddharth Chowdhury’s The Patna Manual of Style has made it to the shortlist for The Hindu Prize 2015. for, as the judges put it, “its “impish humour, high readability and understanding of small-town life” in India. Chowdhury navigates plots and storylines, characters and quirks, in the same way that one would navigate the bylanes of a familiar landscape. Experimenting with both style and form, he gives us a book that plucks at notes of nostalgia and dark, honest humour. Excerpts from the interview:

When I first read The Patna Manual of Style , I realised that the title itself was fluid. It says stories, but it’s not that simple, is it? They aren’t disconnected stories, but at the same time, they are. You have worked with a style that’s hard to slot. Could you talk about that?

Well I think The Patna Manual of Style can be read as both a short novel and a collection of connected stories. As long as the reader is satisfied, the label does not matter to me. Same with Patna Roughcut and Day Scholar . Every novel is a rough cut. The final cut is always with the reader. As I work full time, I am usually short of time to write. This jump-cut style which I have acquired over the years makes it possible for me to write dense allusion ridden novels in as few words as possible.

The title refers to the Patna code of living which the characters bring to Delhi. And not to upturned collars and safari suits.

Tell us about creating Hriday Thakur and his world? How much of autobiographical material went into him?

With Hriday Thakur I needed a character who was less of an idealist than Ritwik Ray, the hero of Patna Roughcut . Hriday is more hard bitten, colder.

Well like I have said before, the trajectory of my stories is autobiographical but after that it is pure storytelling and various axes to grind.

How was it, returning to him after Day Scholar ? To pick up on his life and where it was going?

Very easy in fact as Hriday never left me. I started ‘The Importer of Blondes’, the long opening story where we meet Hriday again, soon after Day Scholar was published. But with this book, I wanted Hriday to be mellower, more contemplative, less angular.

You could say the protagonist is Hriday in most stories, but really, your protagonists seem to be the places you write about, the environment which seems just as alive and important. Would you agree?

Yes, I would. Patna and Delhi are two places where I have grown up and know intimately. And I love writing about them. The Patna Manual of Style , inspite of its title, is actually a Delhi book in many ways.

Could you talk about your own process of writing itself? How do you go about it? In bursts and waves, or with a regular, scheduled discipline?

Well, I write very slowly and do many drafts. At least five to six drafts per section. In writing, as in life, I am an advocate of the rhythm method. I usually write very early in the morning and on Sundays. But sometimes months go by when I do not write. Usually, if I start something I finish it.

Now, with the book shortlisted for The Hindu Prize, do you look at it with a new eye? A perspective that takes into account the fact that it was read by a team of judges and loved for the meaning they read into it?

Well, I am delighted. It is a wonderful shortlist to be on. It has on it writers whom I have admired ever since I started writing. It is a validation no doubt. This wasn’t an easy book to write and I am sure it is not easy on the readers either. As a standard issue David in a list full of Goliaths I am looking forward to the outcome with much glee.

You yourself haven’t really done the lit fest rounds. In a way, you’ve almost entirely steered clear of them, except for one, I think. Why is that? And is it going to change?

Well, there is no hard and fast rule really. But the fact remains that I am inordinately lazy and do not enjoy doing readings.

The Patna Manual of Style; Siddharth Chowdhury, Aleph, Rs.295.

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