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'I'm uncomfortable with change'

Literary Giant
Last Updated 17 December 2012, 14:42 IST

There are some personalities whose work speaks volumes about them, leaving no need for introductions.

One such man, Sir Mark Tully, was recently in the City to participate in the Bangalore Literature Festival — an event he thoroughly enjoyed, as he tells Metrolife.

“It was very nice and I really enjoyed myself. It was a great venture and I’m impressed by the number of people who turned up,” says Mark, elaborating that his session on ‘Scripting India’ was better than he had expected.

“It was good and punchy and we raised some interesting points and had good questions asked. The kind of questions we discussed were interesting precisely because there were no right answers to them,” he smiles.

Every writer has his own process; ask Mark whether he types out his works or writes them by hand and he says, “I usually type it. But, I have a regular spiritual programme that I do on BBC and it’s funny, because I always write the script for that by hand. When I try writing them on the computer, they don’t come out right.” He adds that it is impossible for him to write in a room full of people.

After ‘Non-Stop India’, the author notes that he has no ideas in the pipeline, though he had considered writing a book based on a suggestion by an acquaintance. “There was a suggestion that I should write a book on the important people I have met. But I’ve been a very bad archivist — I haven’t kept the notebooks and diaries. At my age, my memory’s not very good either,” he sighs.

But there might be good news for fans of Mark’s words. He says, “I honestly only want to write something if I really feel I should. What I may do is go back to the heart of India and write short stories on rural India.”

Ask him where his inspiration comes from and he thinks for a minute and confesses, “Usually, what happens is that you’re talking to people and something comes to your head and you think about it and build on that. In this case, my mind is blank. I don’t know what I want to write.”

While talking about his personal reading habit, he adds, “My two favourite authors of all time are Graham Greene and R K Narayan. I don’t like writing that is over-descriptive. Both those writers are what I would call very ‘clean’. My favourite books are ‘The English Teacher’ by R K Narayan and ‘The Power and the Glory’ by Graham Greene.”

 He wraps up with his thoughts on the spurt of young writers in India. “I think things change over time. And when you’re my age, you look back at the authors you admired when you were young. Someone like me would be careful not to be judgmental of new writers. I’m very conservative by nature and am uncomfortable with change, but I know I have to accept it. I would not like to be critical of modern writing.”

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(Published 17 December 2012, 14:30 IST)

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