INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR OF "THE ROYAL ENIGMA" - KRISHNA BHATT

Q:How much of the book is realistic? Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

A:Writing is mostly personal for me. It is difficult to write something purely based on imagination. But then you put in a lot of imagination in turning real life events into a story you think readers will like.

Q:How did you come up with the title?

A: Title came when the first draft of the book was completed. As it dealt with the period of history of Nepal, when the King had absolute power, and the subsequent developments which culminated in his whole immediate family being disappearing from the scene, the title was obvious. I never thought about a second title. More so, when no plausible explanations are available for what happened.

Q:Which books have influenced your life the most?

A: Life… I do not know. But many writers have influenced me by refining my sensibilities. Else I might not have been able to see and feel the life in a way I do, to write about it. Guy De Maupassant, Prem Chand, V S Naipaul, B P Koirala, Jorme K Jorme and the rest. Forster, Saul Bellow, Samrat Upadhyay etc.

Q: If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

A: Mentor--no. Influences--yes. It is an eclectic mix here as you can see, I mentioned above.  The problem is, soon you read more to find that there are so many other writers you never knew about. These days I just sample most writers for their style. Only a few I read through. Those are often good stories. But you come back to some writers. They are Naipaul, Samrat, Maupassant, Forster etc. I still read Prem Chand at times.  

Q: What inspired you to write this novel ‘The Royal Enigma’?

A: The story was always looming over my head. I knew it will be a long one. One ‘dashain’ the intenet was down. I sat down to write it. It was 21k words initially, written in a fortnight. Then I started building on it. The chapters kept increasing. In the earliest draft the chapters of the dialogues between Nawin and Dilip were not there. So there were a lot of afterthoughts and rewriting in it. When Victor started editing it, I was inspired to impress him too, with my writing. It took a year to complete it. I wonder if the internet was not down that ‘dashain’… But, it was down only till ‘tihar’. Later the novel engaged me to write it. I avoided net for most of the later period.

Q:As a Nepali, do you see writing as a career?

A:For the ones writing in Nepali, it is already there. In English, if you can write well, you are exposed to a much bigger market. So the onus is on you. But it may take time for the newer ones to make it. There is an element of luck too. But good writing will be always valued. It is what the people will refer to, to get an idea of a time long gone. Like we do now by reading Muna-madan or the work of Shankar Lamichhane, Parijat etc., though we may forget who the rulers of the country were then.

If you want to make billions and have private jets, you should do some other business. 

Q:Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

A:I find it very challenging to describe a scene authentically and in a way that a reader may have it pictorially in his or her mind, while reading it. It takes a lot of hard work. The drama, the dialogues and the context… you have to include everything. And then present it in a way that it does not prove a put off for a reader to close the book.

Q:Have you ever hated something you wrote?

A:No. You cannot hate what you write. You may always like to add to it or correct it. The readers have that freedom to hate a writer.

Q:What are your expectations for the book?

 A:I aspire to be read and to be liked, for my book ‘The royal enigma’.

Q:In the book, the friend of the character Nawin was much into sex (he wanted to release his sex videos, had sex with the sterile wife of the landlord, if I am not wrong) and all, and Nawin wasn’t like that. And since, as a reader, I see much of you in Nawin, were you really not into sex; or you tried to hide it. Or it May be possible for Dilip, in addition to Nawin, to be your reflection?

A:This is a great question. It is difficult to present one in one character for a writer. So he invents many of them. And then laces them with his vices and virtues. Some may be the people he might have killed, given the chance and impunity, in real life. But he cannot disown one to own the other. So, I may be part Nawin and part Dilip. But then you have a few more characters in the book.

Q:Are you a sportsman (you mentioned about national games in your book)?

A:I exercise regularly now into my middle age also. So if it is an indication, then yes. I have followed the sportsmen of repute of my days like Maradona, Gavaskar, from Bjorn Borg to Boris Baker, Aryten Senna, Carl Lewis etc. But I may not write about a sportsman’s life.

Q:Your book can be an awesome movie, what do you think? Do you want to approach any film maker.

A:What you say was suggested by a British reader of my book too. But he also mentioned a caveat that it may need a prohibitive budget to make. 

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The Author of "The Royal Enigma", Mr Krishna Bhatt