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| Rohan Govenkar |
In this one, he tells
us how the book first happened, how Ashwin, the lead character came about, how
he came about with the central idea of the book, before developing it and what
the challenging parts of the book were.
There is much
more to come in the second part of this Interview, Folks…
How did ‘1,000 Kilograms of Goa’ happen? Could you describe the
journey?
I
cannot recollect one, single journey that led to the happening of the book. Different ideas coupled up, from various points in life,
and they finally emerged together to give rise to the idea of writing ‘1,000 Kilograms of Goa’.
It took me two passionate years to get this task completed, and
another year to hunt for a publisher.
How did you bring about each of the characters? How much of it was
true and how much was fictionalised?
I
have used certain habits and qualities of people
around me to give birth to a few characters. Different characteristics and
reaction styles of certain friends and acquaintances have been merged together
to create those fictional people.
But
no single character resembles in entirety, any person I know in real life.
Goa is a relevant part of your story. How did the life and the
experiences play an important part in your novel?
I
have known Goa, its culture and people too well, since I, myself am a part of
it since birth.
So much of the Goan essence; its folklore, the habits, the
lifestyle, and the speech is entwined in the plot that I can be certain, that
it would have been very difficult for another writer from a different place to
include it all with ease.
What kind of research did you put in it?
The
research I have done is tremendous, in proportion to what I chose to include in
my plot. Even though there are crucial parts, which
involve the history of Goa, it’s still 1% of the relevant matter, I extracted
from reading several books cover to cover.
I visited Divar Island four times and conversed with a lot of
knowledgeable folks in and around the village. From what I learnt, the treasure
of Divar could still be lying under the ground, below a landlord’s house. I
spent some weekends in Morjim to understand the lifestyle of Russian people.
I even visited an offshore casino once, and the bouncers had to
literally ask me to leave because they thought I was a nosy journalist trying
to chat up their staff to make a story out it.
What according to you is different about your book?
Books
about reunions are very common. But this one, is
not a simple reunion spent having fun and reminiscing the college days. This
one is a crackdown of Goa’s largest kept historical secret.
Even people who otherwise hate history have found themselves
interested, because the characters involved are not professional
treasure-hunters with sophisticated equipment and detectors, but normal young
people, you meet in your daily life.
This
book will make people realize how opportunities can cause regular people, with
normal lives and jobs, to change their lives into an adventurous roller-coaster
ride.
How would you relate the lives of characters to the lives today? Any
similarities? What was the most challenging part about writing ‘1,000 Kilograms
of Goa’?
The
characters in this book are as natural as they can be. There’s nothing
extraordinary about them, except for the part that they have found a map to an
ancient treasure.
While penning the book, I had to
figure out how an average person, in his life’s monotony, would react if he/she
were to get hold of a treasure map and embark on an adventurous journey to
track such a massive fortune.
Keeping the characters real and the story believable was an
important part; very challenging too, especially in such an unconventional
setting.
You can Read the Review, right here
You can also Buy the Book, here
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