Alexander McCall Smith says he could not have written his Botswana books, including The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency, if it were not for Narayanan's books. At the Jaipur literary fest, the fiction writer talks about his inspirations and his 'Really Terrible Orchestra'
Alexander McCall Smith says he could not have written his Botswana books, including The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency, if it were not for Narayanan's books. At the Jaipur literary fest, the fiction writer talks about his inspirations and his 'Really Terrible Orchestra'u00a0u00a0u00a0
You're now one of the most popular writers in India and likely to get mobbed at the Jaipur Literature Festival. How do you plan to deal with that?
I very much enjoy meeting readers of the books, and so I'm not too worried about being mobbed. As long as one has a bit of private timeu00a0 in my case, time for a siestau00a0 then it should be fine!
What are you looking forward to on this visit to India?
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I always enjoy visiting India. I like the friendliness and courtesy of the people here. I find it a fascinating and exciting country in every respect.
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Smith (right), with author William Dalrymple, answering an audience query at the Jaipur Literary Festival u00a0pic/teamwork |
When do you plan to write a novel (oru00a0 series) based in India?
It's kind of you to ask that, but I fear that I do not know enough about India to set anything here yet!
How long did you live in Botswana? Did you know someone there who inspired Mma Ramotswe? What got the series going?I lived in Botswana for one year many years ago, but since then, I have been visiting the country every year and have got to know it better. I didn't base Mma Ramotswe on an actual person, but I was inspired by many people who are quite like her.
Why did you put Mma Ramotswe in Botswana and not in Zimbabwe where you grew up?
I was a bit out of touch with Zimbabwe. Also, I think that Botswana seemed just the right place to base this particular story. In particular, I wanted to say something about the very special qualities that I saw in Botswana.
Your first books, in the 1970s and 1980s, were on law and medicine. In the early 1990s, you started writing children's fiction and in 1998, you wrote The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Since then, you've written 27 novels, six children's books and several more medico-legal books. How do you divide your time between writing and your work as Professor at the Edinburgh School of Law?
I have now stopped being a professor I really could not do all these things at the same time. So now I concentrate on my writing. As for the division between writing and the rest of my life, I try to get a balance.
You have to be quite disciplined, of course, and so I set time aside for writing and stick to it. If you sat about and waited for inspiration, you would never get any writing done!Tell us something about your Really Terrible Orchestra.
This is an amateur orchestra of very bad players who cannot really play their instruments well. We set it up for people who were weak musicians, but who nonetheless wanted to have the enjoyment of playing in an orchestra. We have had great fun. In April 2009, the orchestra went on tour to New York and played to a packed audience. They all enjoyed the joke and we got a standing ovation!
Your books are imbued with a philosophy of life. Is it, to an extent, inspired by your knowledge of the law? Would you describe yourself as a social activist or even a missionary?Generally, I believe in what I write. The philosophy of life that the books contain is one to which I would like to observe. My legal interests have some effect, I suppose, but not a great deal. Law is about life so is fiction! I don't think of myself as an activist or missionary. However, I am aware of the fact that the books appear to have some impact on the lives of a large number of people, and if that impact is a positive one, then I am content with that.
Your most successful and lifelike characters are women. Each one has a different voice what has been the process by which they developed?
Writers need to put themselves into the shoes of othersu00a0 and so I try to imagine what it is like to be somebody different from me u00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0093 a woman, for example. And yes, I suppose I do have different voices for each of the series of books. I do not set out to develop that u00c3u00a2u00c2u0080u00c2u0093 it just seems to happen naturally.
Who are the authors who have inspired you?
I am very fond of the poetry of W H Auden. From the point of view of fiction, one of my greatest influences is R K Narayan. I admire his work immensely and I don't think that I would have written my Botswana books were it not for the fact that I had read Narayan. When he writes about the concerns of one of his characters, he is writing about the whole world. I also like Graham Greene and Barbara Pym but Narayan was the greatest influence. I wrote the introduction to his works when they republished in the USA.
What advice would you give to the many young Indian writers who want to be as readable and popular as you?
My advice would be: listen to what you hear about you; read widely; keep an open mind; and follow what your heart tells you to write.
If you knew the world was going to end in the next 24 hours, how would you spend that time? Drinking bush tea, perhaps?
I suppose I would like to sit and think about my life and what has happened to me and reflect on why I should feel grateful.
Smith first-hand
An encounter with Alexander McCall Smith gives you the same pleasant, content feeling that you get when you read his books. I saw him walking around the festival venue and chatting with anyone who went up to him, with complete involvement.
When I told him that my friend Gladys, who is 85, had told me that if I got to meet him I should say Thank You to him from her, he suggested that we could phone Gladys right away and he could have a little chat with her.
