Skip to main content

Sniffing out a story


Remember Mean Girls and its school groupism, Us vs Her game, in which Cady (Lindsay Lohan) finds herself entangled? Advertising professional Vedashree Khambete-Sharma’s Swear You Won’t Tell? runs on similar lines, but is far more sinister.


The soft target is Avantika Pandit up against Aisha Juneja and her gang of girls. Avantika’s only friend, Laxmi Swaminathan too goes over to Aisha’s group, thus making her schooling years very difficult.

Avantika’s path crosses with Aisha’s again; she as a journalist sent to cover Aisha’s designer collection. In the midst of all this, Avantika learns that Laxmi’s dead. And, thus begins the chase, to find out what happened to her.

Published by HarperCollins, Swear You Won’t Tell? blends school cliques with grown-ups’ inability to let bygones be bygones. Over to Khambete-Sharma...

Please tell us about your relationship with Mumbai/Bombay. The story couldn’t have been set anywhere else, but Mumbai.
I’ve lived in Mumbai since it was Bombay, which is to say, for most of my life. I’d say my relationship with it is the kind a teenager has with her parents. When you live together every day, you find thousands of things to complain about. But stay apart long enough and you miss them feverishly. And you miss the oddest of things. I experienced that first hand when I studied in Pune for two years. There were days when I’d miss trips to the Dadar vegetable market with my dad! So yeah, it’s a city that’s a part of me for good.

There are footnotes and explanations, mostly whacky. Is that the advertising copy writing working itself into the narrative? Most Indians would know what a Satyanarayan pooja is or a rice plate.
The footnotes are a tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett, one of my favourite authors, who passed away a few years ago. It lets me explain concepts people outside Mumbai might be unfamiliar with. A friend who grew up in Mangalore had no idea what a rice plate is, for instance. Of course, sometimes I write footnotes just because it’s fun — which is the reason I write both advertising and fiction anyway.

Were you a part of Aisha’s group (or some popular groupie) in school? Or Avantika Pandit?
Hahaha. I was definitely, absolutely, totally never part of a popular group in school. Quite the opposite, which in a sense makes me more like Avantika I guess.

How did you sum up your characters? Tell us in one word.
a) Avantika: Incorrigible
b) Uday: Sensible
c) Laxmi: Indignant
d) Aisha: Possessive

Your first book was set in advertising world. And, the second one is a crime genre. What’s next?
I’m working on a sequel to Swear You Won’t Tell? Fingers crossed.

Is the writing process easy when you are writing about a familiar milieu?
I won’t say it’s easy. Writing takes a lot out of you, irrespective of the milieu you’re writing about. Although adding in details to the setting is a little easier if you’re familiar with the turf. Otherwise, it’s a lot of research.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Valu and more

Visited Poman Pimpale village where Marathi picture Valu was shot. --- Documentary la chala… came the shout and Poman Pimpale villagers slowly started gathering at the village square. The children were already there, jostling each other, eager to see the ‘documentary’ – Marathi film Valu, which was shot in this village, some 14 kms away from Saswad. On the occasion of the film completing 50 successful days, the cast and crew of Valu, decided to host a special screening for the villagers on Saturday as a tribute. As Umesh Kulkarni, the director of Valu says, “ The movie is a collaborative venture of the villagers and myself. Valu is theirs as much as it is mine.” You just need to mingle with the crowd to find out what Umesh says is true - it’s their movie that the villagers have gathered to see. Pradeep Poman, a village elder, says that they enjoyed the whole film making process. “It had become a past time for us. Whenever we had some time to spare, we just went to see the shooting. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Portrait of a poet

This has already been published in the Sunday supplement. Krishnaji Keshav Damle also known as Keshavsut --- Poetry never really appealed to me. And, so it was with great reluctance that I agreed to my husband's plan to visit Keshavsut Smarak – a memorial raised in memory of 'Father of Modern Marathi Poetry', Krishnaji Keshav Damle – in Malgund. We were in Ganapatipule at that time and decided to go to Malgund, a 10-minute drive (a kilometre) from the popular tourist destination. A sign-post told us to take a left turn and what greeted us, at the end of the lane, was tranquil silence. No security guards, no tourists, just a plaque announcing that Damle, popularly known as Keshavsut, was born in the red-roofed house, surrounded by green shrubbery. Keshavsut's house in Malgund  A poem by Keshavsut  The house, renovated in the old style, was near-empty, except for Keshavsut's portrait that was hanging from the wall in the front room. In the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Many ideas of ‘self’ (Review of Pratibimb, Marathi play)

With Mahesh Elkunchwar’s name as a writer associated with Pratibimb (Reflection), you know nothing in the play will be at face value. Nothing is what it seems. It is difficult for commoners to get into Elkunchwar’s mindspace, which is precisely the subject of the Marathi play, which was staged earlier in August and will now be performed again on Friday, September 15 at Sudarshan Rangmanch, Shaniwar Peth. While watching the play, it’s evident that the viewer has to peel various layers to get to the core of the story — Who are you? What does ‘self-identity’ mean? Is it so bad if your reflection goes missing or if you have no identity? Thokale (a white-collared office goer) wakes up one morning and finds his reflection missing. Enters Bai, his landlady, who tries to assure him that nothing is lost. In fact, it could be a ‘breaking news’ for the newspaper. This perhaps could have led to a lot of chaos physically. Instead, we are led to the darkness looming large in our dystopian minds...
1 comment
Read more