“Writing it was a fun-and-exciting ride”

Parbina Rashid

“At my age I want to think more, hear less and talk even lesser,” says Sir Mark Tully. Though he immediately clarifies, “No, no, it’s a pleasure talking to you.”

Assured and relieved, we proceed. And it takes a little nudge to make him talk, and he is quite voluble about his book Upcountry Tales ..., his adventures while doing the background research for the stories and his reluctance to adapt to new technologies. With a disarming smile, he flashes his newly acquired Nokia mobile phone which he bought for Rs 1,100.   

“I am technologically challenged. I am not on Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram. In fact, I write all my books in long hand,” he continues with a twinkle. 

Like the protagonists of his book who eventually succumb to modernisation, Tully, too, tried to emulate them and tried writing his stories on a computer. But he had a tough time co-ordinating the flow of his thoughts and the speed of his fingers on the keyboard. “It is difficult to find someone to type your manuscript and then do all that proof reading and stuff,” he explains. 

So, what made him come back to fiction after 22 long years after his much acclaimed work of fiction, The Heart of India? “I was under pressure to write a book,” says one of the most celebrated observers of Indian politics and society. “I chose early 1990s as the timeframe for my stories as India was at the crossroads at that time.” The themes came from his long years of experience of covering India for the BBC. “Some stories are the outcome of my imagination, some are based on facts and some fall in the mixed category,” he says.      

And though the conception of book happened out of pressure, the gestation period was a fun and exciting ride. “For one particular story, I needed to know how I could lead a train to its derailment. I had to meet some Railway officials to learn the technological side of locomotives. For another story where the protagonist, a Dalit man converts into Buddhism, I had to research on both Amberdkar’s philosophy and Buddhism. It was a learning process,” says Sir Tully.