THE CZAR OF SCARS
Arjun Raj Gaind’s The Anatomy of Scars is written in the first person. It starts just as the tumultuous events of 1984 roll out—Operation Blue Star, Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the mindless horror of the anti-Sikh riots. The protagonist is a young Sikh boy. We witness those heart-searing events through his eyes, then follow him through the years of his own personal tumult. The author speaks to india today: Q.
US-based Poisoned Pen Press calls you “one of India’s bestknown comic-book writers”. You’ve published science fiction-horror comics such as The Kalki Project and The Reincarnation Man, as well as your Raj-era murder mysteries, A Very Pukka Murder and Death at the Durbar. What led you to semi-autobiographical fiction?
I wrote the original version of this book when I was 26. I thought I had an insight into homesick Indians living abroad. I called it “Beginnings and Endings”. I showed it around and had any number of doors slammed in my face. Then it was accepted by Penguin (India), where it languished for many years. Writing comic books and the
Maharaja Sikander Singh mysteries was a detour that turned out to be a very successful one.
Q. Where were you and what were you doing when you heard about Mrs Gandhi’s assassination?
I was six or seven years old. We were at lunch at the Gymkhana Club, in Delhi. It’s just around the corner from the residence, where it all happened. I remember the bearers coming in, telling everyone, “Leave. Go home.” Not much later, my father had a heart attack and we had to get to the Safdarjung Hospital, even while the exodus out of Delhi was going on.
Q. To what extent is the central character in Anatomy based on your life? Only obliquely. My late father was part-Sikh, part-Kashmiri. My mother is part-Persian princess, part-Sikh. Growing up in India, my elder sister and I lived extremely sheltered lives. I spent nine years at Lawrence School, Sanawar. In those days, being well-read was a burden…
Q. …and an asset, surely?
It sets one apart from the rest. Those first six years in school, I got bashed up daily! (Chuckles) Much later, Khushwant Singh, to whom I’m related, would tell me, “Always make sure you’re seen carrying interesting books.” Well, yes. I do that anyway.
Q. So, the violence in Anatomy—the mugging your character faces in London—is that based on what you experienced at school?
There are two different kinds of fear: the sense of being victimised versus the fear of knowing that you could die. I’ve been mugged twice. In London. That’s the second kind of fear.
Q. Would you say that you’re drawn to violence?
Not to the gore but to the pulse-quickening puzzle of a good story. I love the research, the history, getting all the details right. My real life is exceedingly predictable. Writing murder mysteries is the opposite.
—with Manjula Padmanabhan