Featured Interview With Kannan
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am an Indian with fluency in three Indian Languages. And I know a little bit of English.
I was born and brought up in the state of Andhra Pradesh, where Telugu is the spoken language. However, I was born into a migrant family that speaks Tamil. So, I used to speak Tamil at home and Telugu outside. My education was in Telugu and I grew learning that language well. When I was adolescent, I taught myself to write and read Tamil. When I moved to the state of Maharashtra for doing my Masters in Engineering, I learnt Hindi to manage my day-to-day affairs. I was forced to read newspaper in English, the Times of India, which in those pre-commercial days was good to read.
When I started working in a place near the then Bombay, I visit Bombay often to buy books and then was initiated into English literature, albeit I had few interactions earlier as well.
At present, I live in Mumbai – the same old Bombay, with a new name with my son, and of course my wife.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
It was during high school. Eversince I could read, I read – whatever I find and could. At that time, I used to read all that was written or printed in Telugu. Then, I wrote poems – in line with my young age – both romantic and revolutionary.
However, once my academics have turned to be serious, I forgot about the finer arts. When I was working and stayed alone in the factory’s colony, I painted a lot, apart from reading. When I moved to the interior India to work for the aluminium Industry for the first time, and quite a distance from both my native place and Mumbai, I started writing – and that was nearly nine years ago. However, none of the books I started then were completed, at least till now.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Robert Ludlum, Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie and Ayn Rand. I know, the combination is a bit weird, but I think it explains me. My favorite genre is mystery and thriller, the way Ludlum conceives. I enjoy reading Doyle and Chritie at any time like I enjoyed Dickens and Defoe.
With Ayn, it was those two novels that shaped my perception of the world.
Despite influenced by the writings of Ayn, I feel, it was Ludlum and Doyle who inspired me to write.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
It is a book about the insignificance of life in the eyes of politicians and businessmen. Yes, the plot deals about a purported nuclear attack on India, by non-state actors of Pakistan. But, in the story, the Pakistani characters are not villian, but heroes in their own way.
The story involves one Pakistani general who was disowned by his own Government, Army and finally his nation. As a patriotic officer of Pakistan, how he reacts – despite he was a part of one of the dastardly schemes.
The main protagonist of the book was however, a nuclear scientist, who belong to an Indian family that moved to Pakistan after partition. How, this person with exposure to both countries responds to the suggestion to nuke the country in which he was born, when pushed by his adopted nation- form the crux of the story.
I tried to discribe and discuss various background scenes that evolve when such attack is expected and how all major countries of the world respond, keeping only their interests in mind.
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