Going for the kill Aditya Sinha New Delhi, August 27, 2006 Vikram Chandra listens to Hindi film music while he writes. And considering it took him over seven years to write his latest novel, Sacred Games, a 900-page thriller that has propelled him to the pantheon of Indian writing, he must have heard a lot of songs. No wonder, then, the main characters in Sacred Games are often singing or humming a tune, whether it is Inspector Sartaj Singh (Main zindagi ka saath nibhaata chala gaya) or the Hindu don Ganesh Gaitonde (Chala jaata hoon kisi ki dhun me, dhadakte dil ke tarane liye). And no wonder then, while strolling through the cramped lanes of DelhiÂ’s Nizamuddin, when you decide to play a parlour game and suddenly ask him what five songs heÂ’d like played at his funeral, he pauses and says: “One by Kishore Kumar, one by Mohd Rafi, and one by Mukesh,” adding that any song by each would do. Number four: “A hiphop artist in the States, the1shanti, heÂ’s IndianÂ… he actually read Love and Longing in Bombay (VikramÂ’s collection of short stories) and did a song of the same title on his album Indian Bambaataa.” And last? “ItÂ’s not really a song, but Harivanshrai BachchanÂ’s poem, Madhushala.” ….

At 900 pages it’s the right weight for bicep curls and the right size for a substitute yoga block. So for Rps 650, I’d say yer gettin yer paisa’s worth, yaar.

Nope, it’s the opposite. Crossword books already offers home delivery for free, as do many, many other businesses, because the cost of labor is low.

Is this your life now?

and

i didn’t see the trend (of the indian intelligencia, like their french counterparts, being treated like movie stars) until now

Well, it is Bombay You end up with film stars at launches because you don’t have a lot of writer and theater types relative to Delhi and Calcutta.

I can’t get past Manish’s photo’s either. I know Sartre had groupies, and Bernard-Henri Lévy’a wife: wow! I guess Rushdie started it, but i didn’t see the trend (of the indian intelligencia, like their french counterparts, being treated like movie stars) until now. Helps explain why some Mutineers have dropped out of the corporate world to explore their “creative” side.

creating not fire but a dull, steady grow, a persistent and unquiet desire.

What’s a grow?

I do try to stay away from the 900-pagers these days, or the 600-pagers for that matter, but it’s exciting to see a grown-up book be the focus of such excitement.

are you now a cover model?