Siddharth Narayan’s Naughty Men , published earlier this year, deals with two middle-aged men who are frustrated with their married lives. They decide, unknown to their spouses, to take a raunchy road-trip along the west coast of India. The cast of the book also comprises exasperating in-laws, masseuses and Rajinikanth. The author responded to questions in an e-mail interview. Excerpts:
What has your trajectory as a writer been? The title page says Naughty Men is your “first book, sort of”.
I have worked all over the globe and so far I have done power-points, so my trajectory as a writer has been trapezoidal. I work like anybody else, watch lots of movies, travel, meet friends, enjoy life. I love R.K. Narayan and feel that Amitav Ghosh is excellent. I used to enjoy Jeffery Archer and I still read John Grisham, he is a master at managing characters and plots.
The book is a part of Penguin’s metro reads series, which is known for uncomplicated plots and not asking for too much time to be read.How long, and how much preparation does it take to write a book that can be read swiftly?
You really want to know? I wrote the first draft of the book in 22 days and laughed the hell out as I was doing it. I wrote it to have fun and then Penguin happened. No kidding, this is true!
You have mentioned in the author’s note that you come from a deeply conservative background. How and why did the idea of a raunchy novel take shape?
Actually this book is more of an urban comedy than a wild fantasy of forbidden flowers and all that. Singles, couples, men and women alike are reading the book and are laughing their guts out. Though we are a country of more than a billion people, most middle class Indians come from conservative backgrounds and that usually doesn’t deter people from getting whacky ideas and mine came when I went to a few alumni get-togethers, to write something really witty!
In the book you have used a device – a talking tool – that is as unique as it is bizarre. Where did the idea originate?
I watched a drunk talking to his instrument and he was saying, “sorry pal, I know you are sulking” and I burst out laughing. It occurred to me that portraying this was innocuous and light hearted. I don’t know if it is as bizarre, but definitely wholesomely funny!
You have said your protagonist could be “your neighbour – or mine.” Is a sex-deprived naughty man working for McArthur Consulting really such an everyman?
Performance averages drop drastically by 40s , though every neighbour would deny vehemently. Sounds stereotypical, but the reality is - Women become full time mothers, get busy taking care of kids, homework, house chores and all that. Men run errands on the weekends and talk to their pals about three things – investments where they made a killing, how well or badly their jobs suck and lastly about the latest chick they admired – on or off screen! But the popular national surveys beat everything and I have a good laugh. Look at this piece of fertile information, ‘Females in the age group of 50-52.5 years in Chandigarh on an average have 32.6 per cent more sex than their counterparts in Meghalaya’ and people read and blog about it.
Is there another book in the offing?
As of now, a few producers have approached for movie rights for Naughty Men , so let me get that off my back. Next book - got to think about it, and why not!
