FACE TO FACE
Travelling writer
In jeans and T Shirt, 31-year-old Will Marks looks a college student. A part-time globetrotter, travel writer, Marks' first novel, The Highway, was recently launched by Frog Books, Mumbai. He talks to V. GANGADHAR.
YOU seem to be doing a lot of things. How do you organise your life?
I graduated in History and English from Wellington University, New Zealand, then studied Marketing and Economics at Victoria University, Wellington. With these qualifications, I can handle assignments in Information Technology, Finance and Marketing for firms in London, Sydney, Singapore and so on. I work for six months, save money and travel the rest of the time. Mind you, I travel cheap. And then I write.
Where have you travelled? What kind of writing have you done?
All over Africa, Asia and Europe. Two years in the Indian subcontinent and I did a 16,000 km motorcycle journey across the Himalayas from the Pakistan border with China on the Karakoran highway in Nepal. I also learnt, and am now constantly practising, para gliding, spiral diving and scuba diving. I get assignments from Indian and foreign travel magazines but I am keen to become a serious writer. Hence the novel.
Any special memories of India?
So many. India is special. The Dalai Lama's abode at Dharamsala has special appeal for me. I spent time at several Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, visited the sites of Buddha's birth at Lumbini as well as Sarnath and Bodh Gaya. I am interested in Zen Buddhism. Of course, Goa, Kerala and Bollywood showed me different aspects of India.
Bollywood?
Yes, I spent two weeks working as an minor artiste in Raj Kumar Santoshi's "Legend of Bhagat Singh" with Ajay Devgan in the lead. I was a British police officer. I sported a moustache, carried a gun and was involved in some shooting scenes. What an experience!
What kind of novel is The Highway? Is it autobiographical?
Not really, but I have narrated some of my personal experiences in the book. It is about relationships — two men who are friends, fall out get separated and then go about in search of each other. I conceived the idea about four years back, and now it is over. I had to write it, because the idea appealed to me, and it was time to sit down and do some serious writing
Coming back to India, did you find the country more commercial rather than spiritual?
India is such a huge, diverse nation that it is difficult to draw any conclusions. You can't escape the "physical" aspects — the crowds, the heat, the smells but one is impressed with the underlying feelings of spirituality and mysticism. Poverty and opulence exist side by side. While talking to ad executives and MBA's, you get a different picture of India. Then you have a glimpse of scenes of wretched poverty everywhere. But India is not totally materialistic
What are your views of Australian politics? How do Australians view India?
I am not an admirer of the Aussie Prime Minister John Howard, with his right wing, racist policies. As in the U.S., Australia has a strong Conservative lobby, which is happy so long it is able to make money and influence national politics. But a lot of young Australians are keen to know more about the world and India in particular. Your culture and tradition has many admirers in Australia. The recent festival of Bollywood films in Sydney was a big hit.
How was your book published in India?
Thanks to the `Internet' I became friendly with Sunil Poolani, managing editor of Frog Books. He liked the book and was keen to publish it.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Magazine
