For the kid within

Khyrunnisa A. on the form and content of “Clean Bowled! Butterfingers”

Khyrunnisa A.

After “Howzzat! Butterfingers” and “Goal! Butterfingers”, Amar Kishen is playing his third innings with “Clean Bowled! Butterfingers”. A must read for this summer and a good excuse to stay inside the house, the novel takes the reader down memory lane and reincarnates the kid inside. Delighted with the affirmative feedback, author, Khyrunnisa A. talks to The Hindu

Excerpts:

How much of your own childhood experience have you used in the novel?

Not much, actually, though when I invented the game Crack It, a variation of cricket played without cricket equipment in ‘Clean Bowled, Butterfingers!’ I went back to how we used to convert anything into bats and balls and play ‘cricket’ when we were children. I’m sure cricket-loving boys and girls everywhere would have done something similar. 

Did you use any real life character as the sketch of the lead character?

I have given the lead character the name Amar which is the name of my son. The names of Amar Kishen’s friends are the names of my son’s friends. But I have borrowed only their names; the characters I have created have hardly any resemblance to the real life Amar and friends. Of course, they do share general characteristics like a sense of fun, mischief and adventure, and love for sports. As for Butterfingers, clumsiness runs in the family; we often call one another Butterfingers; so it wasn’t difficult to sketch that character. 

Still being in the eighth standard since the very first novel, isn’t Amar Kishen planning to get promoted to the next class?

No, he isn’t, or rather, I’m not planning to promote him to class IX if I can help it. I’d like him to continue to have innocent fun and get mixed up in innocent trouble. No growing up complications for him.  

Whom do you admire, when it comes to writing for children? And how much of his/her impact do you have in your writing?

I love the books of Roald Dahl, P.G. Wodehouse, Anthony Buckeridge and Richmal Crompton. I don’t know if they have influenced me in any way. If they have, it must be unconscious influence for my readers have said I have a distinctive style. 

  Swami of ‘Malgudi days’ and Amar of ‘Butterfingers’, both have a liking for the cricket. How do you see it?

That is just a pure coincidence! 

Have you got an offer from any producer for using the novel into a movie?

A reputed producer did show great interest in making ‘Howzzat Butterfingers!’ into a movie but I think lack of funds stumped him. He says he’s still keen on it and if he can raise the finances, he’ll go ahead with it.

After the third butterfingers instalment, aren’t you planning something for the adults?

You mean exclusively for adults? But from the feedback I have received, adults too enjoy the Butterfingers novels.