BENGALURU: Meera H Sanyal is one of the country’s most respectable bankers. In December 2013, she stepped down from her role of CEO and Chairperson of Royal Bank Of Scotland, India. She thereafter joined the Aam Aadmi Party and is a member of the National Executive Committee of the party. The Big Reverse is the author’s first book, which analyses the impact of the demonetisation in 2016. Excerpts from an interview with City Express:
What was your trigger for writing The Big Reverse?
The chaos caused by demonetisation. As a banker, I simply could not believe that the RBI would have allowed the Government to undertake a step that wiped out 86.9 per cent of the currency of our country, without having sufficient new bank notes to remonetise the system. The lack of planning sucked all the liquidity out of the system, brought our economy to a halt and destroyed the lives of many. I felt it was important to document this mistake.
Have you always seen yourself as a writer?
I have been a banker for most of my life and writing seemed to be a distant career! As a child, I was greatly encouraged when I won a gold medal in an All India Short Story writing competition. The Big Reverse is my first book, and now, I already have plans for another!
What has been your inspiration as a writer?
I love reading and many of my favourite authors have been an inspiration. But my greatest inspiration came from my family. My father, the late Vice Admiral G M Hiranandani, was the official historian of the Navy, and has written three landmark volumes on the history of the Indian Navy. My brother Dr Manik has written books related to medicine. But most recently, my husband Ashish has written a book on the heritage retailers of Mumbai. The discipline he brought to his writing was an inspiration for me.
With the digitisation of books, have you moved to reading books on screen or do you prefer the old-fashioned books?
Personally, I love the feel of an old fashioned book in my hands! However, I do also read books on screen – especially while travelling. Digitisation offers many advantages of convenience – and also helps save trees.
What is the process you undergo while writing?
There were many days when I suffered from writer’s block and would get sad and frustrated. There were also many days that I struggled to get the data I needed for the book – as this was simply not being released by the authorities. As I mentioned, my husband was writing his book at the same time. He would encourage me every day, which really helped.On days that I could not write, I tried to do something else – read a book or meet friends. Then when I felt it would be a good day to get back to work, I would start and keep at it for as long as I could! I found that a daily schedule somehow was not working for me and that it was best to write when ‘one was in the zone’.
Who’s your first reader? And who are your biggest critics?
My first readers (and biggest critics) were my children. Thanks to their suggestions, I believe the book got much better. Other members of the family – my husband, brother and mother were equally helpful. Some dear friends took the trouble to read the final draft and made some excellent suggestions, which I incorporated. And of course the team at HarperCollins and my copy editor helped put the finishing touches on the book – their understanding and experience were invaluable.
Do you think marketing plays an integral role in the success of a book?
Marketing is integral to the success of any venture – be it a business or a book. Life, however, has taught me that unless a product has intrinsic worth, no matter how slick the marketing and packaging – it will not succeed in the long run.
While writing The Big Reverse, I tried to be as objective and analytical about demonetisation as possible. Data and statistics are important for such a subject but I also had to keep it readable and capture the drama and stories that surrounded this momentous move. I hope that the readers will enjoy reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.