Ashwin Sanghi is not currently sniffing around for conspiracy theories in Delhi. He is, in fact, working on a novel set in the country’s south. “Why do people like me write thrillers? It’s because we lead utterly boring lives!” he joked.
The Mumbai-based author proved to be engaging company as he opened up about the processes of writing page-turners. “Growing up, my mother would say I’m a bloody good liar! And we storytellers are liars — we spin yarns,” he confessed.
It was his maternal uncle who encouraged a love of books in the young Ashwin, for his was a family that wasn’t much into reading. “In his lifetime he sent me around 400 books. I was brought up in the Bania/Marwari tradition where book-keeping is more important than bookreading. And that, if you have to read at all, you should read the balance sheet!”
Sanghi’s success story began with
The Rozabal Line which, like many bestselling debuts, endured a long gestation period. “It was rejected because I was a lousy writer! It was utterly disjointed, going through six rewrites.”
That first foray into fiction came after a visit to the Roza Bal in Srinagar whose backstory obsessed him – to such an extent that his wife was left exasperated. “She told me: ‘You’re an utter bore – only if I go and lie in the tomb would you give me attention!’” But she did see the genesis of a great story. That first book was published in 2008, launching Sanghi on a successful career.
Sadly, there was more freedom when he wrote
The Rozabal Line than there is today. “We’re reading and writing in an environment in which it’s easy to take offence. But one version of the truth doesn’t make another version any less.”
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