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Snow and rain lateArts
Big B gets quizzer book
29/ 4/2005
IT WAS an exciting moment for new writer Vikas Swarup when he
found out that a copy of his debut novel 'Q and A' was given to
Bollywood's biggest star Amitabh Bachchan.
His book and the Bollywood superstar have something in common.
Amitabh hosts the smash hit TV quiz show 'Kahn Banegi Karorbati?
(Who Wants To Be A Millionaire), while 'Q and A' follows the
adventures of a penniless waiter after he wins a 'Who Will Win a
Billion' quiz show.
Said Vikas: "The producer of the Indian version of the show rang me
to tell me that he had handed the book over to Amitabji. I don't
know whether he has read it, but knowing that he's got a copy of
the book is really exciting especially as I'm a big fan of the
great star."
'Q and A', now published in the UK, is a best seller in
India.
Its protagonist, Ram Mohammed Thomas, has been arrested for
answering twelve questions correctly on Billion because the
authorities assume that, as a poor orphan who has never read a
newspaper, or gone to school, he must have cheated.
Rescued from the police cell by a lawyer, Ram reviews television
footage of his flawless performance and takes readers on a tour of
his life - from the day he is salvaged, as a babe, from a dustbin,
to his employment with a faded Bollywood star, to meeting a
security-crazed Australian colonel, by way of a career as an
over-creative tour guide at the Taj Mahal and falling in love a
young prostitute. With this colourful early life at 18, Ram's
instinct for strategy and survival is infallible and it is his
store of street wisdom and trivia that provides him with the
ability to win the billion.
Forty-three-year-old Vikas, an Indian diplomat, who recently served
in London, said he was inspired to write because he himself was an
avid quizzer.
He said: "I wanted to tap into the global phenomenon of the
syndicated, televised quiz show, but in an off-beat way.
"I had also come across news reports of slum children, who had
never read a newspaper, never gone to school, but were able to use
a mobile internet facilities.
"This led me to juxtapose the quiz show format with the life story
of a rather untypical contestant - a young, penniless waiter living
in the biggest slum in Asia. I wanted to show that knowledge is not
the preserve of the educated elite and that even a 'street-kid' can
possess the wisdom to win a quiz show.
"Many Indian novels base their writing around middle class Indians,
I wanted to write about real Indian people."
Vikas said his posting to London provided the spark for his debut
in serious creative writing.
"London is the cultural hub of Europe and I got to know a number of
authors and others in the creative field. I thought if they can do
it, so can I.
"I hadn't written anything beyond my schooldays, my last published
story was 'The Autobiography of a Donkey', way back in 1977. So 'Q
and A' got published after a gap of 28 years. Hopefully, the next
novel won't take that long!"
Q and A is published by Doubleday priced £12.99
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