NEW DELHI: India is a multiplicity of stories, Booker Prize-winning Canadian author Yann Martel has said, affirming that he would much rather be a Sadhu than a rich man who is without any tales and all dried up inside.
Martel, who won the prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2002 for his second novel “Life of Pi”, said the book would have never happened had he not visited India in 1997.
“There are many gods and animals in India. The proximity of an animal being divine struck me, and it was the beginning of the book,” he said.
“Seeing animals cheek by jowl with humans is striking. You start wondering what is their relation with us. It is lovely,” Martel told PTI in an interview.
The 55-year-old Spanish-born author said India was a place bubbling with stories and all one needed was a sharp eye and a pair of ears.
“India is a multiplicity of stories. They (stories) are more visible here. There are fewer stories to be seen in Switzerland or in Canada. Here, there are a million stories to be seen. You can be a Sadhu, you don’t see them in the West,” Martel said.
“We have people in the West who have no stories. They have the technology but have no stories. That is boring. It is sad and tragic. I would much rather be a Sadhu than be someone who is wealthy but has no stories. I would rather be that than be someone in the suburb of Pittsburg with three cars but dried up on the inside,” he said.
Noting that while India has changed over the years and is now a wealthier and cleaner country, Martel said it has remained true to itself.
He said the Indians that he found the least interesting were the wealthiest ones.
“I respect them, but they are like me. Have the same approach to life as mine. I don’t come to India to see Canada. I come to India to see India,” he said.
“India has always been self confident. I know Indians have an inferiority complex in relation to China which I think is a mistake. There is still so much suffering here, but you still want to be a free country. You want to be free and rich. You don’t want to be a dictatorship and rich,” Martel said.
Talking about his Booker Prize win, the acclaimed author said while the coveted prize brought fame and money, it did not essentially change him as a writer.
“Winning it makes you wealthier, but as a writer you are the same. Just because you wrote a good book, doesn’t mean you are a better writer. You still have the same strengths and weaknesses the next time you start another book,” he said.
Martel said a novel was not so much about its style as being ultimately emotionally true.
“You can get the facts wrong, you can be a poor writer. Ultimately, a poem or a novel works if it emotionally resonates. If someone feels something. A novel is true when it is emotionally true,” he said, adding that he was “very very lucky” that people liked his books.
Life of Pi was adapted into an eponymous movie and went on to bag four Oscars, including Best Director and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.
“The movie doesn’t capture as much as the novel captures, but it is a lovely movie. The movie looks like the book, but doesn’t feel like the book. It doesn’t capture the depth of the book,” Martel said.
He also wished a speedy recovery to actor Irfan Khan, who acted in the film and is currently abroad undergoing treatment for neuroendocrine tumour.
Martel is presently working on a novel about the Trojan War. (AGENCIES)
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