The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : `Process worker' turns writer

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

`Process worker' turns writer

Staff Reporter

Vijay Nair's `Master of Life Skills' launched

BANGALORE: "I was stunned by the energy of the book, it is unusually intelligent," said playwright and director Prakash Belawadi as he launched Vijay Nair's novel "Master of Life Skills" at the Oxford Book Store, Leela Palace, here.

Ms. Nandita of HarperCollins Publishers lauded Mr. Nair for breaking out of literary fiction.

An organisation consultant and theatre personality, Mr. Nair said: "This book is all about a journey I undertook in search of meaning of life and purpose. I can sense in me some of these characters and am sure you will also relate with these characters."

The function drew to a close with writers reading out remarkable episodes from the book.

What made Mr. Nair write the book?

"I was trained to be a process worker and meet a number of people everyday. I take classes on leadership training and teamwork and assess people.

Taking into account all these experiences, I have written this book," says the writer.

`A drift into writing'

Ask him about what drives him to write.

"I think it is something which one drifts into doing." But he is clear about his favourite authors, "Arundhati Roy, P.D. James, Anita Nair... " and favourite books "God of Small Things, Grapes of Wrath, and more."

How would Mr. Nair describe an exact piece of literature? "Literature should be something which moves the reader and makes him think."

He thinks that both content and language are equally important.

Literature and writing, Mr. Nair says, are the means to tell a story, a story that resonates with the reader. It should help people become better human beings, says the author.

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