BENGALURU: Speaking to CE about how much the book, To Kill a Mockingbird means to her, Sudha Menon says Atticus Finch, is one fictional character she would go to when she needs a friend. Excerpts:
Your favourite book of all time and why? Could you quote a passage?
To Kill a Mockingbird will always remain my favourite book of all for a variety of reasons. When I was a kid I was fascinated by Scout, Jem, Atticus Finch and, more than anybody else, Boo Radley. I felt for him deeply because I put myself in his shoes and wondered how it would be to live like a ghost, hounded, hunted and forlorn. I was a bit of a shy, reclusive child and I imagined myself to be an underdog and so, I identified with Boo and his solitary life.
As I stepped into my teenage years and later, as I became a parent myself, I saw my father in Atticus Finch. Achchan was a fine man, simple, honest and kind and he was the one who taught us to love every human being and to be compassionate. That was what Atticus Finch taught his children, wasn’t it? My father passed away two years ago and left a huge void in our lives. These days I frequently find myself reaching for the book and reading Atticus Finch’s portions of the book. It stills my mind and gives me peace. It heals the hole in my heart. That is what a good book should do.
Excerpts:
When I pointed to him his palms slipped slightly, leaving greasy sweat streaks on the wall, and he hooked his thumbs in his belt. A strange small spasm shook him, as if he heard fingernails scrape slate, but as I gazed at him in wonder the tension slowly drained from his face. His lips parted into a timid smile, and our neighbour’s image blurred with my sudden tears.
‘Hey, Boo,’ I said.
Your favourite fictional character and why?
Boo Radley! His character travels the entire arc. You don’t know just who he is till the very end and spend so much time disliking him, hating him, being fearful of him and then, suddenly, this character comes out of the shadows, smiles shy at you and you fall in love with the vulnerable soul that he is. In the end, Atticus and Boo were my heroes from the book.
“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” - Invictus by William Ernest Henley.Without being arrogant or foolhardy, I truly feel that even though I believe in a superior force that is the ‘sutradhar’ of our lives, each one of us can steer our fate to a large extent. It is the choices we make that determine what happens to us.
Which author would you like to have tea with and what would you talk about?
Jhumpa Lahiri, for the sheer poetry of her words, her language and for the stories that she writes that stay in our heads forever. I would talk to her about how she writes characters, how she shapes them and gives them life. I would ask her if she takes inspiration from the people around her when she creates characters.
One advice you would give to your favourite author, and one you would give to terrible writers.
One of my favourite authors is Jerry Pinto, who used to be a fellow journalist back in my journalism days in Mumbai in the early nineties. I would like to tell him (not advice but suggest) that I hope that someday he will write a sequel to his Em and the Big Hoom. I adored the book and was sad when I finished reading it. I wanted the book to go on and never end.
I think there are no terrible writers; just impatient writers. And to them, I have this to say: To become a good writer, you have to be a good reader first. Read as much as possible and soak up everything you can from them.
Which books would you take with you on a solo holiday?
Right now I’m thinking of going back and reading some of the books that I grew up with including Anna Karenina, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Emma and Doctor Zhivago.
Your one guilty-pleasure read?
Gone With The Wind. When I was a kid I would steal my aunts collection of Sidney Sheldons and achchan’s James Hadley Chase books. I loved the badass women in the books. I wonder if Mills & Boons novels will have the same effect on me now that it used to have on the teenaged me!
One fictional character you go to when you need a friend?
Atticus Finch
What is one quality of a book you wish people would have?
If you own a book, you have a friend for life. I wish people would have the same dependability.
What is one thing you cannot tolerate when you are reading?
I get totally annoyed when I am interrupted while reading a book. I sometimes lock myself in my room, switch my phone off and tell my maid I am not be disturbed for two hours, unless the house is burning down.