And named it Sweden Pradesh. Zac O'Yeah's latest thriller makes Indian industralists and curry powder, king

And named it Sweden Pradesh. Zac O'Yeah's latest thriller makes Indian industralists and curry powder, kingu00a0

In the world of Zac O' Yeah novels, there's no looking at life through rose-tinted glasses. Life is full of muck. Literally. Grime, blood, gore and the seedier side make frequent appearances in his plots. The Swedish crime fiction writer is just out with his new thriller, Once Upon a Time in Scandinavistan.

Set against the backdrop of a futuristic Europe, Sweden finds itself at the mercy of India, colonised by it, swarming with babus and red tape. Curry is the new flavour, and most industries have been taken over by Asian tycoons.

The book was originally written as a Swedish novel, Tandoori lgen in 2006 and is based in the fictitious city of Gautampuri in Sweden Pradesh. At the nucleus of this unbelieable mess, O Yeah places questions about the environment and politics.

Why would the idea of India taking over Sweden come up in your head?
Over the years I realised how global warming was affecting the climate in Sweden, as well as in India. When I was little, it used to snow every Christmas. For the last few years, we've had snowless winters. That's when I wondered what would happen if the climate in Sweden turned tropical.

The bit about the economy arose out of the fact that Asian industrialists have bought out and rescued several dying European companies. While the European economy isn't going great guns, Asia seems to be forging ahead.

Indian cooking has colonised the Swedish palate in the last few decades. So, developments that unfolded in reality over the last few years and the "what ifs" they threw up, made me stretch my imagination.

It seems like a recipe for a graphic novel. Why didn't you go in that direction?
I was actually considering turning it into an animated film. It might just lead to a graphic novel. I'd love to collaborate with an Indian artist on the project.

Why the obsession with sleaze and gore?
There is something creative in the seedy, and I like that. For instance, Graham Greene's novels had that quality. I also love horror as a genre, and am currently scripting a zombie film. It's an ecological and seedy zombie movie.

Once Upon A Time in Scandinavistan By Zac O'Yeah.

Published by Hachette. Available for R 395 at leading bookstores

India made him a writer
Married to novelist Anjum Hassan, O'Yeah has worked in theatre and was also member of a pop group in Sweden before he realised, while on a trip to India in 1991 that "India is a lovely place to sit and write novels. Whenever I feel low on inspiration, I just need to step outside to again realize how amazing and inspiring the world is."

An extract

>>Barsk didn't see the cook. He shouted, "There's no milk!"
>>The door swung shut again. The fluid seeping through from the rag on the counter looked like blood. Turning he caught sight of the dregs in the meat trough and something stared back at him. He went closer. It was an eye.
>>Barsk blinked from the smoke. The eye didn't. It had no eyelid; it was a lifeless brown iris on a white ball. A chopped off nerve hung from its back.
>>The eye of a dog? He felt nauseous at the thought that he might have eaten a brother of Bobby. Smoke got into his tear ducts and he started to cry.
>>He left his cup on the counter and looked around for an electric switch to turn off the oven. He had to do something before the place caught fire. His foot hit a cast iron skewer on the floor.
>>Barsk picked it up and poked the oven's lid. He dug out heavy chunks of burnt meat from the tandoor. Soon he couldn't see his own hands anymore because of the smoke.
>>He felt his way around the counter and made a run for the exit. Barsk dipped his handkerchief in gutter water and tied the wet cloth over his nose and mouth. He went back inside and pulled out a chair, jammed the door open.
>>As the air cleared, he spotted-near the kitchen door a tiny locket of some weird oriental fashion.
>>It was too expensive to belong to a dog's collar. But before he could study the design, he saw something else: the charred pieces of meat he had fished out were a pair of human hands and a handful of fingers.
>>Barsk did the only thing an old cop could do in this situation like this: he shat his pants.