zhangsuli

MPH Quill Interview, October 2007

Q: If you weren’t doing what you are doing now, what else could you imagine doing?
ZSL: I'd be a jazz singer in an 'underground' jazz bar, dressed in a cheongsam, looking melancholy and sitting on a high stool by the baby grand. Or I'd be a National Geographic journalist, a veterinary surgeon, or an Odissi dancer.

Q: When you think of travelling / writing, do you look at the big story/picture first, or do you look at the details? Are the details really necessary to you?
ZSL: The way I travel and the way I write are very different. I travel without a 'formula'. But in writing, I have a flexible formula - I  focus on the big picture first - the overall concept of the story, and the message I want to convey. Then, I get down to details and crafting of the writing to enhance that concept. Detail is very important to me for 2 main reasons:    
1) It is often in the details that the truth lies.
2) Details are subtleties that make more impact on the subconscious, therefore, remain there longer.
 
Q: Tell us about an event of your travels when you were the happiest. A one single event.
ZSL: I was standing on a busy road littered with rubbish, animal carcasses, live peacocks, dogs, pigs, donkeys and cows, when a dirty beggar child in rags watched me surreptitiously while peeling an orange. Every time I looked at her, she would concentrate very hard on peeling her orange. I teasingly thrust out my palm at her (as I've encountered so many beggars thrusting theirs at me). Totally without contemplation, this beggar child split her orange in two and placed one half onto my palm. And I forgot that I was on my way to the Taj Mahal. When I eventually got to the most stunning and elegant display of love in history, I wondered if it would have been quite as joyful to look at had it not been for half an orange. (See...it is in the details)
 
Q: Tell us about an event that gave you trouble.
ZSL: On an empty stomach, I took some rather dodgy Indian gin from an auto rickshaw driver, and felt as sick as a dog a few minutes later. It was quite late at night and when I asked him to take me back to the hotel, we went through a pitch dark jungle. Slumped, almost unconscious on the back seat, all I heard was the snapping of twigs, and bushes brushing against the sides of the auto rickshaw. When we eventually stopped, 2 other men came to drag me out of the auto rickshaw...
 
Q: Give us a metaphor that represents your career.
ZSL: Roller coaster ride.
 
Q: How did copywriting help you in writing your novel?
ZSL: It keeps me focused and not lose sight of the objective and concept of a story while I work on the details. Writing needs practice and endless crafting. When I first started in advertising, my creative group head was a merciless torturer. I will forever be grateful to her.
 
Q: What do you read?
ZSL: Regretfully, I'm not one of those people who have the time to read 52 books a year, so I have to be more selective. For fiction, I usually go for the Man-Booker Prize winners, Bill Bryson, Haruki Murakami, Anton Chekhov. My non-fiction preference is for history books, Indian culture and the National Geographic.
 
Q: Explain the process of how you pen down your thoughts. Do you have to write using the computer, or do you scribble on napkins?
ZSL: I use the computer, as I get a kick from the feel of the keyboard under my fingertips. And the clicking sound is addictive too!
 
Q: Why did you decide to write a book?
ZSL: I didn't make a conscious decision. The opportunity came to me as a 'coincidence'. However, if it were a conscious decision, it would undoubtedly be because I want to thank all the strangers I met on my travels who helped me without expecting anything in return, and changed my life with big as well as small, seemingly insignificant gestures. I have no idea how to contact them, as most of them were poor and have no access to 'Facebook', but at least I can pass their kindness to my readers through my book.
 
Q: Could you have written a book without the experience in your field of expertise?
ZSL: No. Because I'm not a genius.
 
Q: What if you wrote fiction? Can you imagine writing for a radically different genre or should writers only write what they know?
ZSL: I have started the next book, which is fiction. It is radically different from 'A backpack and a bit of luck', but it is still about humanity, which is what I think I know something about, after having travelled extensively. However, I don't think all writers should write only what they know. After all, what is the imagination for?
 
Q: Who do you write for?
ZSL: People who would be affected positively by what I write. If I could offer a different perspective to one person at a time with my writing, and gradually change the world, that would be a dream come true.
 
Q:  Who do you do what you do for?
ZSL: Myself
 
Q: What do you look for in a story?
ZSL: 2 things:   A good story line, preferably bizarre, like 'Perfume' by Patrick Suskind. But if the story line is basic, the writing must be well crafted, with a unique style, like 'The God of Small Things'.
 
Q: Can literature and books have the power to bring people together? To unite mind frames.
ZSL: Yes, because I think, no matter how independent a person is, everyone needs affirmation and support to a certain extent. And literature brings like-minded people together to create bigger ripples. It is of course, debatable, whether it's for the 'better' or 'worse'.
 
Q: What is the difference between what you were doing yesteryear, and what you are doing now that you have written a book?
ZSL: With shame, I have to admit that due to my procrastination, not much has changed - I'm still in my comfort zone of advertising. But I will, as soon as I've answered this question, get on with what I should be doing, which is, continuing 'Madam Laxmi's Pleasure Palace', and looking towards a future in writing only what I believe in.