When his contemporaries were trying their luck at penning the Great Indian Novel 20 years ago, journalist and motorbike enthusiast Shashi Warrier penned a thriller, Night Of The Krait . His portrayal of the life of a hangman in The Hangman's journal won critical acclaim. His latest novel, The Man Who Wouldn't Be God ( Speaking Tiger, Rs.350) is a fast-paced thriller that involves alcoholic journalists, shady god men and an eclectic bunch of characters.
At the Bengaluru launch of the novel, Shashi was in conversation with writer Zac O'Yeah.
Talking about the book, Shashi said, " It is a mix of multiple elements. The book focuses primarily on a murder mystery, with an out-of-job alcoholic journalist looking at the case as a means to redeem himself. In the course of the murder mystery, he also takes a look at his own issues and arrives at some sort of realisation about the life he should lead. A spiritual quest is also thrown into the mix."
He adds, " Though a swamy and his ashram play a very important role in the book, I am rather wary of god men. I am an atheist and do not believe in a supreme power as such."
Zac O'Yeah stated that the surfeit of complex and well-etched out characters make Shashi' s books very readable. Shashi responded, "I like thrillers that holds up a mirror to me and society. I think that people show their true self under pressure. A thriller provides a writer the best device to put the characters under pressure and see how they react." Starting off with a children's book, Shashi switched genres soon. "
I realised that I do not know the craft of writing books for children well. I started writing thrillers after a routine conversation with publisher David Davidar and have enjoyed the journey."
Shashi admitted that he does not follow any writing routine. " My working day starts at 9 in the night. I tend to write at night. I tend to bumble a lot and rewrite many passages. Most of my books start with one interesting character. I do not flesh out a plot in the beginning, since the plot changes dramatically as the characters develop. I would say that I do not have much control on the writing process as such. In this book, I had to rework an entire portion, because I decided to tweak the role of a principle character."
Shashi claimed that he does not read many Indian writers. " I tend to read e-books and have discovered not many Indian authors are available in digital format.”
He added that his next book, “is a political satire."
