The Indian Underdog is the toast of the town. Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger, a tale of the seamier side of Indian life and how a man overcomes poverty, won the Booker Prize this year. And another book, Q & A, about a penniless waiter in Mumbai who becomes the biggest quiz-show winner in history, is in the news for having been successfully adapted for the big screen as Slumdog Millionaire. The film has recently won three British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).Currently posted in Pretoria, South Africa, as India’s Deputy High Commissioner, the writer of Q & A, Vikas Swarup, couldn’t be more thrilled about the accolades and awards the movie is winning. Unlike a lot of writers, he’s very happy with the way the movie has turned out. “I was consulted on the script by the writer, Simon Beaufoy,” he says, “and I always knew that there were certain things in the novel which would not work on the screen and that they would have to be changed. But the important thing is that the essence of the novel has been retained.”Swarup says that he derived comfort from the knowledge that the film was to be directed by acclaimed director Danny Boyle. “I’ve watched all his movies— Trainspotting, The Beach, 28 Days Later — and I think he’s brilliant. I knew that he would bring his own unique vision to the whole project and just knowing that he would direct it, made me comfortable with it.” He admits that the novel remains more personal than the movie. “But the movie and the book are separate entities,” he says, adding “I watched the movie in London at the closing of the British Independent Film Awards and I was very impressed.” He adds, “The success of this movie is making other western directors look to India for stories. It’s no longer the exotic India of the Maharajas.”Already, the BBC has approached him to adapt his second novel, Six Suspects, for the screen. “But they’re still debating whether to turn it into a full-length movie or a six-part series,” he says. Swarup has received offers from Bollywood to write movie scripts, but he isn’t interested. “I already have a full-time job as a diplomat.” he says. But he assures that he will be there for the Indian premier of the film. “I’ve been invited to attend the Jaipur Literary festival and the movie is going to be the centre-piece of the festival,” he says.Many perks come of being a writer. “I’ve been to so many literary festivals now. One gets to meet so many people from the field, people whose works you’ve read and admired,” Swarup confides. Recently, he was approached by Rasa Sekulovic, the Serbian translator of Q & A, to be part of a charity project The Children’s Hours: Stories Of Childhood. Swarup was asked to contribute a short story, alongside such luminaries as Margaret Atwood, Nadine Gordimer and Andre Brink.
