Poet, novelist and journalist C.P. Surendran is out with his latest book ?Lost and Found?. The book was launched the other day at the British Council Library by Member of Parliament and prolific author himself, Shashi Tharoor. Speaking of the book, Tharoor commented, ?So many books I have launched this season, far more than I have even read. But this is one book I find truly interesting, intending to read from cover to cover.? Tharoor further added that the book has an intriguing plot, lively characters and surreal narration.
Talking about the book, (by Harper Collins), Surendran says, ?The story revolves around the character Salim, a terrorist from Pakistan. The plot begins when one night Lakshmi kidnaps Hari, a journalist, taking him for the man who raped her a long time ago. Next morning they both find themselves taken hostage in a terrorist siege of Mumbai along with a teenage actor Nirmal. The siege is headed by Salim. The turn of events in the next 24 hours takes Salim through what he was never prepared for.? The author revealed that the book spins around ?five real tragic incidents that have been published in newspapers.?
Surendran said the idea came from the graphic stupidity of India and its people. ?We are abnormal people. We do abnormal things and then think it is completely normal. Take Amir Ajmal Kasab for instance, he was made to attain maturity so that he could be hanged. Every other day there is news that Kasab threw a tantrum. I mean what is this? what's so newsy about it? Of course, he would throw tantrums. He is in confinement, deprived and tortured. How could you expect him to behave normally?? Answering to a question about graphic presentation of characters in the book by filmmaker Pankaj Butalia, who was in conversation with the author on the occasion, he said, ?India is a graphic country, and so are its people. Cows, dogs straying on the streets, monkeys flying in air. People having vile thoughts, always looking for some excuse to pounce on each other. Imagine a cow at Times Square, New York. It would be a ticketed show. But here, there is a circus on every other nook. The crux lies in graphicness of events. So, the characters had to be very graphic.?
Surendran added that in our country people first destroy, then with the passage of time, realise what they lost, and then lament their actions. ?Take the example of India-Pakistan division. First, we were hungry for each other's blood. Then as time went on we began to realise the mistake we made, and now we find solace in old combined maps of India, songs and movies of the pre-division era, and start initiatives like Aman Ki Asha. Things are lost here only to be found later on. This forms the gist of this book and also the title.?
