Way to Go,Upamanyu Chatterjees new and fifth novel,takes us back to the disaffected characters of his second book,The Last Burden. But this is a more positive work,says the author in a conversation with Amrita Dutta at his home in Nizamuddin. Excerpts: Jamun,the protagonist of the novel,like many of your characters,is an oddball and not the easiest person to like. What makes such characters interesting to you? Im an oddball myself. But,to be honest,they arent oddballs. I just find them interesting. If you meet them,you wont find them odd. They are funny. All that complexity is in the head. When you read the book,you arent sure how much is happening to Jamun outside and how much is in his head. They are normal human beings who just think a lot. Nothing happens to them. And the fact that nothing happens to them is dictated by the plot. You need an absence of plot so that the jumble in their head can come out. How is this novel,where Jamun goes in search of his missing father,Shyamanand,different from The Last Burden? The harshness,the bitterness that is aroused in the family by the death of the mother in The Last Burden that needed to be rounded off,to be reconciled with the love that they obviously feel for each other. In one sense,that is the way to go. If the father leaves behind a kind of emptiness,it can only be fulfilled by the brothers finding solace in each other. Thats the way of completing relationships. Thats why I believe this is much more positive than the other books. It is the most redeemed of my novels. Theres a lot of angst and bitterness in that family,isnt there? They are all very typical. Its not as if they are more hideous than other families. Its an honest look at how people are,the stresses of modern life,urban living. Not sugar-coated or anything. All relationships are difficult. Otherwise,you could always write something straightforward and boring like life is wonderful. It doesnt work like that. Is it fair to say that as a writer you look at the ugly side of life? No. Theres a lot of tenderness in all the books. They come in flashes. Life is difficult for most people. Theres tragedy and sorrow everywhere. But the rest is a matter of perspective,how you look at things. Even for the reader,it depends on what he chooses to remember. In your books,one always gets a sense of the freakish side of India. How has your view of the country changed? I dont think my books taken together could be seen as a reflection of the changing world. They are not social commentaries in any way. English,August was,or was taken to be but for the wrong reasons. The book was really about Agastya Sen,about how you can feel out of place in your own country. All my books are about people. The social world of the books is secondary. When you wrote English,August,did you anticipate that it would become a cult book? It wasnt as if it was snapped up. It was rejected by publishers. It was only with time,with the film,that it came to stay. Its a novel that is easy to read so people feel it was easy to write. Which is very irritating. At the same time,it was intentionally made easy. When I was writing it,I thought there are no women,theres no love interest,its not Heat and Dust. Why should anyone want to read about it? The kind of hysteria that is in the comedy is some ways intentional. You have to put in as many jokes as you can because you need the reader to turn the page. How do you react to the fact that most readers compare all your subsequent books to English,August? One is always happy that people at least remember ones books. As long as people remember and read it,Im not complaining.
