Dubai: Indians should first own up to their slums and only then can change come, said Vikas Swarup, whose best-seller Q&A is a celebration of the human spirit and on the must-read list across the globe.
The diplomat-turned-writer, who flew in from Japan, however complimented Indians for an indomitable will to get things done, no matter what the odds.
In conversation with author Kate Mosse at the Emirates International Literature Festival on Friday, Swarup said he does not see himself as an ‘Indian' writer, and that the theme of his book was universal, of love and of an underdog winning against all odds.
The idea of the book came when he was a political counsellor in London, he said. He could, however, have easily written the book when he was posted in Addis Ababa as there was a lot of spare time on his hands with not a single Indian delegation visiting the country during the three years of his tenure, he quipped.
Luck factor
He said the idea struck him seeing his contemporaries turning authors while he was in London. "Sometimes, it is just not the right time, and there is also an element of luck," he said about his book which was turned into an Oscar-winning hit by director Danny Boyle.
The author said the criticism against the movie Slumdog Millionaire that it was a glorification of poverty was "misplaced". The slums of Dharavi had been given a much larger canvas on the screen than in the book, he observed.
"Books are basically uni-dimensional. The movie has a great pace, music, acting, it is a great symphony," he said of Boyle's work.
