Fiction? It Figures

‘‘The distance gives you much more freedom to write. Sitting so many thousands of miles away from India, I can put everything into focus, think and be more analytical’’ Manil Suri, Author, The Death of Vishnu

Mumbai-born MANIL SURI sold the manuscripts of his debut novel, The Death of Vishnu, to WW Norton this January for nearly US $500,000. The novel’s overseas rights were reportedly sold in a dozen countries. The 40-year-old Suri, who teaches mathematics at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County, came to America 17 years ago as a doctoral scholar. He speaks about the novel in an interview with Asif Ismail:

Tell us about The Death of Vishnu.
It’s about this man who is dying on the steps of a building in Mumbai. As he dies, we are also seeing the lives of the people around him. The book is structured so that the people around him represent the various stages of life in Hinduism. There is a period in life when you go after money, then you do service for others, and get increasingly spiritual. This is a journey that the soul takes. Vishnu, the central character, takes the same journey through the building. That’s the basic structure of the novel.

What is the significance of the name Vishnu?
Vishnu’s character is based on a real person (with the same name) who used to live in my apartment building in Mumbai. When I was growing up, he would always be seen on the steps of the building. When I went to the city in 1994, he was very sick and soon he died. I was also very sick during the same visit. I thought I would write a short story about him and that just went on and on, and it became a book.

Are there any literary influences in your life?
There are two that I can think of. One is V.S. Naipaul. I have read only one book by him, A House For Mr. Biswas, and I was really stunned at the way his characters speak. It sounds like they are speaking in some Indian language, even though it’s all in English. It’s something he does, and that was fascinating. The other influence is American novelist and poet Paul Bowles. I have read most of his books, and the one that stands out is The Sheltering Sky. It’s about three people who are going to the desert. In a way, it is a journey into darkness, and I have a character in the book who makes similar journey.

Do you consider yourself an Indian writer?
There’s no doubt about that. If I was living in India, and if I had never come to this country, then maybe it would be different. I think I’m an Indian writer with a different twist.

How do you feel writing about India, sitting here in America, in a different culture and milieu?
I think it is great. This distance gives you much more freedom to write. If I were in India, it would be very hard to write. Sitting so many thousands of miles away, you can put everything in focus, think about it, and be more analytical about it. That has actually helped me. And of course, I go home every year. And that way, I am still connected.

You are a mathematician by training. How difficult (or easy) is the constant to and fro between mathematics and fiction?
So far it’s been a challenge. Last year, it just seemed to be working all the time. I like them both. I don’t know how things are going to progress. What I worry about is that once the book comes out, I’ll have to do a lot of publicity. That will be much harder to balance.

Some Indian writers who write in English have been accused of packaging their theme for a Western readership.
I think the trick is to try and address both. In this book, I have been very careful. You just have to write as if anyone in Bombay can read it and feel I am explaining things. If people in the West don’t get it, they don’t get it.

Letter writing is said to be one of your passions. Do you still write all those dozens of letters?
I am still writing. Now it is down to two letters a week. Some weeks I only manage to write one. I think I am calling up home more often.

How difficult it was to find an agent?
I had attended a writing colony called MacDowell in Massachusetts in the summer of last year, where I met a person who works as a kind of scout for Hollywood. He scouts out any new book or anything that can be made a movie. He really liked my piece and said: ‘‘I know all the agents in New York, and I know the exact agent for your book. Why don’t you send me the manuscript when your are done?’’
n Your agent Nicole Aragi was reported to have liked your manuscript instantly.
Nicole gets 3,000 manuscripts a year. When she opened mine, she found a poster of a movie that I painted. It was like the cover of a book, but it was made to look like a movie, and it had Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha and Pran, besides (the title) The Death of Vishnu. She really thought it was nice. She read a little. She was going to
London. She packed it in her plane and read it on her plane. Then she sent me an e-mail, which I never received. But we finally got together and then it all worked out. I was really lucky to get accepted after sending it to just one person.

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