After addressing serious issues for teens in your previous books, Sandy to the Rescue is a light book for younger children. What made you write it? When an idea pops into my head and lurks around long enough, I don’t ignore it. I have never written for a specific age group. So far, I have written for adults and teenagers—and now younger children. I may even write a book for geriatrics, if the mood takes me. Who knows?
2. Whose parent would you dread to be in crèche napping situation- Sandy or Aftab? All parents. No exceptions.
3. A day care setting is an unusual setting for a book. Did you ever experience the horrors of a day care centre as a kid/mom? Or is this your way of reacting to the whatsapp videos (the ones in which care workers beat kids mercilessly) being circulated? None of the above. A lot of children go to day care centres these days as both parents work and with frequent transfers, there may be no grandparents/relatives around in the city to do the caring. A day care centre is just another place where kids hang out. It’s the new normal.
4. Neither Sandy nor Aftab gets beaten or humiliated in public by their parents for acting irresponsibly. Both sets of parents act cool and composed. Do such perfect parents really exist? Yes they do exist! My parents never beat us or humiliated us in public. The punishments were simple and private like standing in a corner facing the wall or being denied a treat. I have heard some horror stories from a few of my friends about punishments during their childhood and I cannot imagine how they can continue to love their parents after that torture. Red chilli powder and being thrashed with anything that came to hand were a few that made me shudder. If I were them, I’d have taken my parents to court as soon as I became an adult—and I’m not kidding.
5. The punishments for both the kids in the book are deferred. Is that a reflection of your parenting style? I’m not a parent myself, but perhaps this is a subconscious reflection of my parents’ parenting style. Also, this is a story, and I couldn’t bring myself to put unpleasant things like punishments into it! As a writer, I played God.
6. At a time when senior citizens are being encouraged to step out of the house and explore more fulfilling activities, how appropriate do you think it is to suggest the seniors as a solution for babysitting problems? I think it’s a terrible idea and more grandparents should be as forthright as my mother. She stated very categorically that she’s been a mother already (to us) and she wanted to live the rest of her life without worrying about looking after little children (it’s not an easy job by any stretch of imagination). A sibling (with children) was rather upset when my mum said this, but the rest of us stood by my mum. It’s not fair that grandparents should be roped in, and you can’t blame those who resent it. If you’re old enough to have a baby, you’re old enough to plan it around your career as well. Sure, in case of occasional emergencies, grandparents should and must be roped in and they would be very willing to do that, I bet!
7. This is your third book with Duckbill books. Describe your experience of working with the Duckbill team. The Duckbill team is absolutely amazing. Working with them is pure joy because they are readers first, publishers later. They enjoy reading manuscripts, it’s not just a job for them. And they go out of their way to make writers feel comfortable during the editing to publishing process (and yes, we’ve had heated arguments too, but that’s because all of us are free thinkers and dissent is always welcome!). Their relationship with you doesn’t end after the book has been published. It continues till forever and they help you in very many little ways. If I’m only writing for teenagers and little children these days, it’s because Duckbill doesn’t publish adult fiction. I’ve never enjoyed working with any other publisher quite as much.
8. Cockroaches, pigeons, cats… Animals seem to be at the receiving end of your ire. Plain fear or unpleasant experiences from the past? Oh I love cats. But not all cats are wonderful, see? Pigeons are terribly annoying, as everyone knows. As for the rest: rats, cockroaches, lizards and other creepy crawlies, I’m terrified of them. Ask my husband and my neighbours. They hear me screaming quite often, and know why. A large sum of my money goes towards pest control services, of course.
8. Can we expect a sequel for Sandy to the Rescue? No. I don’t enjoy the idea of writing sequels. I would rather do something new.
9. Any other books in the offing? Yes, two books. One for teenagers and one for little children. Both are works in progress right now.
Anything else you want your book buying public to know… Well, just this: I love naughty children to bits!
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