Writing

In this chapter the author describes the process of writing his novel Home Products (which was later published in the United States under the title Nobody Does the Right Thing). The piece considers common issues of concern to first-time novelists: how to start, voice, structure, and revision.

This chapter is a manifesto for writing in the Indian subcontinent. The main thrust is toward producing writing, whether fiction or non-fiction, that makes sense of rampant violence in our society, especially violence against women and people from lower castes.

This chapter is about the author’s relationship to Bollywood films. The narrative focuses on interviews with the Hindi film actor Manoj Bajpai (who starred in the hit film Satya) and the way in which Bajpai entered the world of the author’s novel Home Products (later published in the United States under the title Nobody Does the Right Thing).