About V.R.Chaithanya
V.R.Chaithanya is a designer by profession. He has graduated from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad in 2009. He is born and brought up in Hyderabad, India. He has worked in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. He is currently working as an Art Director in a design firm based in Mumbai.
LiFT: Tell us about your book, the journey of writing it, and its content.
V.R.Chaithanya: It was during my time in college that I have mulled over the dream of being a writer. I began reading a lot of fiction. V.S.Naipaul, J.M.Coetzee and R.K.Narayan have had a major influence on me. I have written this manuscript over a period of 4-5 years. It has gone through a lot of editing and rewriting. The structure of character monologues really was an accident. The book took a tone of reportage with this structuring, something which went well with its crime aspect. Two books that have been influential in writing the book were ‘Pedro Paramo’ by Juan Rulfo and ‘In the heart of the country’ by J.M.Coetzee. It has a parrot which talks, a widow who comes and disappears, a Hindu idol found in an Islamic ruin, dacoits who kill and rape, and a black cat which is sold as a black lion on the borders of Nepal.
LiFT: Why did you choose this title?
V.R.Chaithanya: The book is called Diary of a Dacoity because it is structured in unreliable monologues of its character which takes the form of a diary which reports events as they happen.
LiFT: When did you realize that you wanted to be a writer, and what was your inspiration behind it?
V.R.Chaithanya: In my college I started reading a lot of fiction and it was while reading Orhan Pamuk’s My name is Red that I realised I wanted to write. Since then every book I have read I always imagined writing my own.
LiFT: Where do you see yourself ten years down the line in the world of literature?
V.R.Chaithanya: I want to write as many books as I can which are set differently and are unique from the others.
LiFT: How important do you think marketing and the quality of a book are in promoting it and increasing its readership?
V.R.Chaithanya: I think it is very important that the book is positioned aptly, for what it is. But the book has to be inherently good for it to get readership.
LiFT: What message do you want to convey to people through your writing?
V.R.Chaithanya: I have no message to give through my writing. I just want to tell stories which deeply engage the reader.
LiFT: What do you do apart from writing?
V.R.Chaithanya: I am a visual designer. I make cartoons and A.I. videos and post it on my Instagram. Other than that I am a voracious reader.
LiFT: What activities do you resort to when you face writer’s block?
V.R.Chaithanya: I read and journal my thoughts in my notebook and take long rides on bike to clear my head.
LiFT: What if your story were to be adapted into a movie? Who would you want to work as the director or actors in it?
V.R.Chaithanya: I would like to adapt my stories to movies in the role of a screeplay writer.
LiFT: Are you working on your next book? If so, could you tell us something about it?
V.R.Chaithanya: I am writing my best book. It is about a woman who has an inexorable wish to live in a dream. It touches the themes of dreams, sleep, time travel, history, art and science. It is going to be a slim book.
LiFT: What are your suggestions for budding writers and poets to help them improve their writing skills?
V.R.Chaithanya: Read as many books as you can and write as much as you can.
Click here to order V.R.Chaithanya’s Book – Diary Of A Dacoity
