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No ordinary tryst this...
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A banker who does more than just count and add. A finance guy trying his hand at playing with words, not just figures. Here is an opportunity to meet Dhiraj Lal, an honest first-time novelist whose debut work, "A Tryst With Destiny", promises to be your date with truth in contemporary India, as ZIYA US SALAM finds out... .
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HE IS unlikely to be in the running for a Booker's Prize shortly. Never mind. Some of the greatest men blessed with the muse have not been touched by Booker's either. No comparisons, just plain-speaking here. Yet there is an endearing quality to him which makes you want to pick up his debut work - "Tryst With Destiny" - even if the dark, brooding cover - without a hint of life -- announces that it is all about "terrorism, money laundering, political intrigue... " And aren't we all suffering from an overflow of words - written and spoken - on these subjects? He is honest. As honest as probably a nursery child is when he forgets the second line of "Johnnie, Johnnie, yes Papa... ." And that is a trait not many writers can claim to have, which is ironic considering writing is one of the most therapeutic of exercises. Also when it comes to choosing modesty at the altar of honesty, he is unlikely to pull any punches. He may not admit it but he is a writer, as like any writer as they come. A bit narcissist, a bit self-indulgent, a bit straightforward, a bit dreamy.
"Writing this book was one of those things. I just believe that you should try everything at least once in life. I tried it for a lark and it worked! This book was written more for the beauty of creating, not meant to sermonise. In a way, it was actually meant for myself."
Confession time? Maybe. But it is certainly time to welcome aboard a new writer in the growing list of Indian writers in English. No Arundhati Roy. No Vikram Seth. Just a simple Delhi guy who went to Bal Bharati Air Force School before forcing his way into IIT Delhi and then on to IIM Calcutta. Born in 1964, this quite chatty, maybe even loquacious, man answers to the name Dhiraj Lal. And of late, he has had a lot of answering to do considering his book - brought out by Minerva Press (India) Private Limited - has attracted a lot of feedback from the market. And Lal has been busy soaking it in. "I think the book is doing well in the market. But I can speak with authenticity about the style and content. Most of the reviews have been pretty favourable and laudatory about the style."
Ah, fine, but there must have been a few heart-rending moments of criticism? "Oh! I don't mind criticism. I believe that any criticism is likely to have an element of truth in it. So it is fine. I can use some of their observations in future."
And has he come along as a writer? "I started this book some seven-eight years ago. I was always fond of reading. One day I picked up a book `Writing the Blockbuster Novel'. It told about the first draft to the next draft. It gave a blow-by-blow account of constructing a story. I learnt a lot."
Does that make him a method rather than a natural writer?
"There is a method in structure, not in the ideas. But I am no prisoner of muse. Having said that, I musts admit that writing is not as easy as churning out Citibank figures." Interestingly, he has worked for Citibank for the better part of the past 15 years, having just quit the job to join American Express recently.
How does this finances and numbers guy marry the muse?
"Well, it gives me a licence to do the things I want to and in my work I have consciously tried to put everyday themes. Along the way, I have grown as a person. I believe one must love life, have good powers of observation and be ready to do some research to be a good writer. It has been an uplifting journey for me. And I have enjoyed it, though my parameters have been different. Again, it is because I don't judge success by the market response but from the critical acclaim."
As trysts with destiny go, this one is different. "A Tryst With Destiny" is a political thriller, a rare genre in the country.
Dubbed as a "novel about hope", the story is based on historical events that form part of India's history and relates to everyday issue that confront us on a daily basis - corruption, political instability and lack of decision-making, a `feel-food' anarchy.
How Lal goes about making some sense out of this `anarchy' is what makes this debut novel an honest exercise in something more than mere self-indulgence.
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