a:10:{i:0;a:2:{s:8:"question";s:31:"Do you have a writing schedule?";s:6:"answer";s:432:"Well, I have my day job. I have my clients. I have my family. So my writing schedule has to accommodate all this. I would love to be able to sit by a lake for long hours and get “inspired”. But very few of us can enjoy such luxuries. So I have to adjust accordingly. I don’t write at any fixed time. I do try and squeeze in an hour or so a day when I’m working on a book. Most of the time, it works. Laptops are such a boon.";}i:1;a:2:{s:8:"question";s:37:"Ever struggled with writer’s block?";s:6:"answer";s:182:"Not so far, no. But I do worry about it. Occasionally, I have wondered what will happen if after writing my first few books, I run out of ideas. It is, for me, a very scary thought. ";}i:2;a:2:{s:8:"question";s:85:"What inspires you to write? Do you have a secret trick, or a book/author that helps?";s:6:"answer";s:207:"No, I have no trick. I wish I had, though. My all-time favourite author is P.G. Wodehouse. I have spent many, many happy hours reading and re-reading his books. My life would have been poorer but for these. ";}i:3;a:2:{s:8:"question";s:67:"Coffee/tea/cigarettes — numbers please — while you are writing?";s:6:"answer";s:242:"I don’t smoke and no, coffee/tea have no connection with my writing. As I said, I don’t write for long hours at a stretch, perhaps this explains why I don’t need any props. If I get some time and my laptop, I don’t need anything else.";}i:4;a:2:{s:8:"question";s:39:"Which books are you reading at present?";s:6:"answer";s:191:"Just finished Sam Miller’s Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity and enjoyed it. I have Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Palace of Illusions lying unread at home. I will probably pick that up next.";}i:5;a:2:{s:8:"question";s:31:"Who are your favourite authors?";s:6:"answer";s:400:"I have mentioned one already. I have liked individual books of course, but I can’t think of anyone else who has made even half as much of an impact on me. I think, in a sense, I have never grown out of or beyond Wodehouse. Maybe I am still trapped in his joyful paradise, a world of sunshine and innocence where an inherent goodness prevails, a world that may have villains but absolutely no evil. ";}i:6;a:2:{s:8:"question";s:59:"Which book/author should be banned on grounds of bad taste?";s:6:"answer";s:128:"Well, given my rather limited range of reading, it is unlikely that I will ever come across a book that I feel should be banned.";}i:7;a:2:{s:8:"question";s:35:"Which is the most under-rated book?";s:6:"answer";s:576:"Again, I am restricted to the few I have read. Besides, I don’t think I’m really on top of things when it comes to knowing how widely a book has been read or how it has been rated, except for the bestsellers. But yes, from time to time, I have come across books that I had never heard of, but yet enjoyed reading. Extra Virgin by Annie Hawes, Penguins Stopped Play by Harry Thompson and The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner. I also loved Shashi Tharoor’s The Great Indian Novel. If I let honesty take precedence over modesty, I should also include my debut novel here. ";}i:8;a:2:{s:8:"question";s:44:"Which are your favourite children’s books?";s:6:"answer";s:512:"If one can describe J.K. Rowling as a children’s author, I find her books captivating. As a child, I grew up on all the usual stuff that were available in India those days… Enid Blyton, Richmal Crompton, the Hardy Boys series… Now I have a 14-year-old son and I find it most difficult to read the kind of books he seems to relish. In fact, the only reason I started reading Harry Potter was to make sure it was appropriate for him. That I got hooked on to it is another matter. I still like comics, though.";}i:9;a:2:{s:8:"question";s:35:"Which classics do you want to read?";s:6:"answer";s:188:"Somewhat shamefacedly, I must confess I am not much of a classics guy, though I would have liked to be. I’m afraid these questions are bringing out all my “weaknesses”, one by one :)";}}
