Borei Gowda, who was introduced in Anita Nair’s police procedural, Cut Like Wound, is one of her favourite characters. The 57-year-old author was speaking at Bookworm on Church Street in Bengaluru, at the launch of the third novel Gowda novel, Hot Stage (Harper Collins). For all who have wondered what Gowda looks like (does he have a mustache? Is he clean shaven?), Anita names actor Prakash Raj as the inspiration. The actor was at the launch and read an excerpt from the book.
“Prakash has been my muse in so many ways,” says Anita. “I was a quarter way into Cut Like Wound, and had this character fully formed in my head, but I didn’t have a face for him. Then out of the blue I had the face and it was Prakash Raj. He became Gowda in my head.” Gowda and Prakash are roughly the same age and are both Bangalore boys, Anita says.
Strong impact
Raj has created such a strong impact in the way she thinks, Anita says. “Two of my best stories in audio format, ‘The Little Duck Girl’ and ‘A Field of Flowers’ were both read by Prakash. When I was writing those stories, I couldn’t think of anybody else who could play that role.”
Anita Nair | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The award-winning actor, well known for his work in several languages including Telugu, Tamil, English, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi, found his way into Anita’s children’s book Bipathu and a Very Big Dream. “Prakash played a character called Maash in ‘The Little Duck Girl’. The character had so much life that I couldn’t abandon him and I brought him into Bipathu as well. Prakash and I also collaborated on a poem which I wrote and he read.”
Survival instinct
Bengaluru, Prakash says is beautiful and free. “There is also politics, crime syndicates, and drugs. The city has different layers, it’s an animal which can survive. Some things go extinct, while others stay relevant. The Bangalore I see in Anita’s books is real, tangible and true.”
Hot Stage, comes nearly seven years after 2016’s Chain of Custody. “I hadn’t intended for such a long gap,” says Anita. “In fact, right after Eating Wasps (2018), I had started researching the next book. When I realized that there was a certain predictability about the theme I had chosen for book 3, I started afresh. Meanwhile, I had got busy with my audio stories as well as a children’s book. Gowda had to wait a bit, which was great as it allowed me to intensify the scope and depth of research.”
Time frame
Hot Stage is set towards the end of 2012. Cut Like Wound, set in the busy Shivajinagar area features a vicious serial killer. “That book was set in August-September 2011. It was followed by Chain of Custody, which was set in April 2012.” Anita says she wanted to ensure a six-month gap between each novel. “To make sure Gowda has a few more cases to handle before he retires.”
Gowda is 51 and an ACP in Hot Stage. “Gowda knows that he can do nothing to change the system striated with corruption, power and greed but deep within the cynic that he is, exists an idealist who still believes in law and justice. Despite all the murkiness caused by politics on the world of law enforcement, he still believes he can make a difference.”
Anita says she does not think too far ahead vis-à-vis a finite number of books featuring the gruff intelligent Gowda. “Now that three books are done, the fourth is hovering in the back of my mind.” There will be no prequels for Gowda, Anita says. “Gowda ‘s life until Cut Like Wound doesn’t excite me as a writer.”
Series versus standalone
A series character, Anita says, unlike a standalone one, has a life and impact that cannot be contained within one book. “I did not set out to write a series but as I drew to the middle of Cut Like Wound, I realized that I needed several books to capture Gowda’s mind and being.”
Many hygiene checks are required for a series character, Anita says. “My character can’t contradict his personality from book to book without a sound reason. The integrity of the character has to be retained in each book without it being repetitive or tedious.”
Matters of the heart
For all who have been holding their breath about the direction of the relationship between Gowda and the sophisticated Urmila, Anita says she cannot see it going very far. “Gowda’s priority is his work and even someone as understanding as Urmila will eventually grow tired of being taken for granted.”
Hot Stage by Anita Nair | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Physically, the Gowda universe centres around the Cantonment region, Anita says, even though Gowda grew up in south Bengaluru. “He chooses to live in the north east end of the city almost as if he wants to put the city between who he once was and who he is now. As for his team, including the feisty ASI Ratna who Gowda might groom as his spiritual successor, they have become a well-synchronized unit over the last 18 months. There is genuine affection between them.”
In a crime novel, character is as important as the plot, Anita says. “The moment the writer recognizes this, the novel moves into a higher plane where the character and plot complement each other.”
Joining the high table
There are crime novels set in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. Bengaluru seems to have grown to join the high table with Harini Nagendra’s period novels set in 1920s Bangalore, Anuja Chauhan’s The Fast and the Dead and Zac O Yeah’s Hari Majestic novels.
“Gowda is synonymous with Bangalore and he thinks in Kannada and English depending on who he is with. The city it once was and the city it is now. The city and its secrets add to the narrative in a way that wouldn’t be the same if the Gowda series was set in another city. I am toying with sending Gowda to another part of Karnataka, briefly, of course!”
Always learning
The novels are a journey of discovery in more ways than one. “Gowda novels keep throwing up interesting facets about the city I have called home for the last 24 years. Everything from dialects to bar snacks or sides as they are called reveals itself. The Tegulu (a combination of Tamil and Telugu) dialect was one such discovery. The Kannada writer, Vasudendra, was telling me that the Tegulu-speaking people were first brought to Bangalore by Hyder Ali as gardeners and who because of their strong physiques were also used in combat by him.”
Cities seem to lend themselves to a crime novel. “While villages in some ways are open books, cities are like Russian dolls with secrets within secrets. Unlike a village where the population is fairly homogenous, cities have people from different parts of the country and the world and hence the nature of crime becomes that much more complex. Also, there is a certain anonymity in cities that make crime undetectable at first.”
Nothing has come to fruition on Gowda’s onscreen avatar yet, says Anita. “Gowda is an extremely complex character and Bangalore essential in the filming. As we speak, my film agent is in talks and so fingers crossed. Meanwhile Ladies Coupe (2001) has been optioned by a major production house.”
