"The novel strikes a chord
with ordinary people because it's about endless possibilities
of life - anything is possible. The themes the novel explores
like love, friendship and fate, are universal," he said.
Being a diplomat, Swarup has an inbred talent
for projecting India's soft power. It's Hollywood time for India,
he says. "Hopefully, the success of the book will encourage
Hollywood to look more closely at stories of India and locations
in India," he said.
Swarup can expect a champagne treatment from
his colleagues in the external affairs ministry, who are excited
about the success of one of their tribe, when he comes to India
later this week.
The soft-spoken author, who is a little overwhelmed
by the global buzz his book and the movie version has generated,
is not the kind to be swayed by the four Golden Globe awards "Slumdog
Millionaire" won Monday.
"Many people want a piece of me. My mailbox
has been flooded with congratulatory messages. I have been deluged
with interview calls," he said while faintly complaining
about the toll the spectacular success of "Slumdog Millionaire"
has taken on his private life.
"But I know it fully well deep down success
is ephemeral and transient," he said with a touch of philosophical
gravitas.
Swarup, who served as director in then external
affairs minister K. Natwar Singh's office before he went to South
Africa, is excited about the prospects of a wider readership for
his book after its tryst with Hollywood.
"It's been huge. It's still sinking in.
Let's not forget the ultimate mass medium in India is movies.
The book will now reach more people," he said.
Riding on the movie's success in these celebrity-stricken
times, Swarup said publishers have already renamed the book as
"Slumdog Millionaire".
"That's because that's a trade practice.
After the movie's success, it helps readers to locate the book
in bookshops. But that's only for some time ," he said.
The movie is, however, no surrogate for the tactile
experience of holding a book in your hands and relating to it
in the privacy of your imagination.
"The film's shelf life is nothing compared
to that of the book's. The book will live long after the movie
buzz dies down," he said. "Ultimately, literature triumphs,"
he declared in an oracle-like tone.
What's his next book about? Another imaginative
version of the much-hyped India story? No, no, said the author.
"The next book is not based on India or
set in India," is all he is willing to let in on his next
literary venture.
"I have already done two books on India.
I want to find new inspiration and new theme," he said.
The story of Slumdog goes back to Swarup's holiday
breaks in his hometown Allahabad many years ago. An avid quizzer
since his college days, the hugely popular quiz show presented
by Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan fired his literary imagination.
He, however, finally managed to write the novel "Q and A"
only in the evenings in London over five years ago when he was
posted there as counsellor at the Indian high commission.
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