No child’s play

Mona

“I can take criticism, I am married,” Ketan Bhagat opens up the conversation in his trademark witty style at the launch of his second novel Child/God in Chandigarh on Monday. Post his first fiction work Complete/Convenience becoming a bestseller, Ketan took a chance again and brought out what he began with — telling a man’s side of the story.

While a lot is said and celebrated about motherhood, it’s fatherhood that Ketan has pegged his second story around. The book revolves around two brothers who are writers — one celebrated, another not so. Ketan stresses vehemently, “Apart from the fact that birth of my son Rian brought a big change in my life and all good; the rest of the book is a work of fiction.” Then why choose writer brothers only? Ketan comes out clean, “I am lazy writer. I worked, researched a lot on other aspects of the book and played easy on the brothers, and set them in industries I had known closely.”

Ketan read and re-read the Gita for his venture. “God comes in every house in the form of a child who is pure, happy and perfect. It’s the imperfect parents who take over the reigns of this divine being and turn him or her into a human being first, and, an animal later.”

While the book charts the journey of Raghav Malhotra and his difficult world — ruthless boss, thankless wife — and how fatherhood changes it all; it also draws parallel to the Gita. “The book is engrossing I promise you,” shares Ketan as he takes a moment from paying compliments to those present around at the launch at Chitkara International School — men and women both, and having the crowd in splits by his self-deprecating jokes! “This book has it all — alcohol, violence, red light area and also philosophy. I love reading Gita by Swami Chinmayananda. It has some things that are so true; like every man is Arjun, all confused! And the more I read, the more I realised how a child is an embodiment of what our scriptures recommend and an adult the complete opposite. Putting it in a story was the biggest challenge for me in this book, so what I wrote I got it cleared from those who have deep understanding of our scriptures.”

Keen to explore the Vedas next, Ketan is waiting for his readers’ response to Child/God. The beginning has been good. “My mother was my first reader and she liked it, though she wasn’t surprised that I wrote on this subject as fatherhood is most prominent aspect of my being.” His famous brother is yet to read as Ketan is still to get on to Half Girlfriend! While Complete/Convenience is being turned into a film by Rahul Roy, Ketan is looking forward to writing Child/God’s screenplay for a filmmaker who is keen on turning it into a film as well.

Ketan continues with his MNC job to ‘pay bills’ and has ideas for a third book, provided this one clicks with his readers. His publisher Reekrit Serai, managing director and co-founder Rumour Books India, pitches in at this point, “As many as 5,000 copies have already been ordered, making Child/God a bestseller even before its launch today.”

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