A book on a dwarf who's half Hindu and half Muslim is sure to raise eyebrows. After meeting the author however, we realise the book stands for so much more

It's easy to brush off this author and his book, by being cynical and categorising his work as another book on a minority group. It's even easier to accredit the entire buzz it's garnered to its exotic theme.

An interview and a reading later however, perspectives will change.

Pics/ Satish Badiger

Chandrahas Choudhury was in town recently to promote his first book Arzee the Dwarf, at a book reading held at Odyssey in Indiranagar.

The book claims to be a dark comedy that peeps into the vanishing world of Mumbai's old cinemas and the lives associated with them. In a much larger perspective the story also narrates the uncertainties faced by the people left behind in a fast changing world.

We caught up with the author to find out more and here are a few excerpts from the interview.

MD: Why did you choose to make your protagonist a dwarf?
CC: I wanted to voice the opinion of a character, who like several other millions, lived in Mumbai and shared a life with many others in that city, but owing to the fact that he was smaller, I wanted to indulge myself into the experiences he might face everyday. I wanted to describe Mumbai as it would seem to a dwarf.

MD: So was Arzee completely a creation of your imagination or did you research into the lives of dwarfs before you wrote the book?
CC: I didn't research, because I didn't see the need for it. Arzee is a creation of my imagination, but like everything from one's imagination, he is influenced by real people.