‘Yeah’ metro ki ek kahani

“I have this sincere belief that any self-respecting mega metropolis should be the setting for a detective novel. You go to any bookshop and you’ll see thrillers set in Los Angeles, New York, Stockholm or Tokyo, but very few, hardly any at all in fact, are set in Bengaluru,” says Zac, setting out on changing it. If the average Bengalurean in you can’t get over Majestic’s traffic snags and people who can’t stop staring, Zac’s enthusiasm will probably make you want to give it a second thought. “Homely restaurants that do cheap food from Kerala parathas to Bengali mustard fish – it is like a miniature version of India, at least from a culinary point of view. It is also very intense and a perfect setting for a detective novel,” he says.

Employing his celebrated protagonist Hari Majestic, his new book is a medical thriller. “I’ve noticed that every street in Bengaluru has at least 14 pharmacies, three super specialty hospitals and eight piles and fistula clinics. So I thought Hari should explore that world,” quips the author whose sense of humour leaps out from the pages of his books into his quotidian interactions.

Debuting with his cult classic Once Upon A Time In Scandinavistan in 2006 and with thirteen novels since, Zac believes he was always headed this way. “Even before I knew how to write, I used to tell stories to my parents who had to write them down. Their handwriting was so poor that I had to learn to write it myself,” says the devout RK Narayan fan who never fails to return to the great’s classic, The Guide. “I guess Hari Majestic is a little bit inspired by the main character in that book. Not too much, but a little,” he says. His other sources of inspiration are sparked off by, “Strange stories in the city newspapers,” says the author, who writes under the moniker Zac O’Yeah, but whose real name, probably only his wife, celebrated author Anjum Hasan, knows.

There have also been talks of adapting his book into a film. “Actually, the Hari Majestic novels are influenced a lot by Kannada cinema, which I love to watch – especially the movies by Real Star Upendra,” he says, now waiting for it to come full circle. Until then, it’s more book tours, pegs of Old Monk for when he gets nervous and long walks at sunset.