Extraordinariness of ordinary people

R.M. Rajgopal was the CEO of a corporate house in New Delhi, and continues to work as an advisor. He wrote a number of stories on the sidelines of a hectic career and finally decided to put them together in the form of a book.

Written over 12 years, how’d you know that it’s time to publish?
Pure instinct, more than anything else. I started feeling this urge to start writing a second time. That is when I realised that I better do something with the stuff that was already there.

The stories are a “picturisation of the India of today, with its strengths, its frailties, its eccentricities, its idiosyncrasies”. Could you elaborate?
All stories relate to ordinary people. Some of the circumstances they found themselves in were sometimes extraordinary. Many have an underlay of pathos (e.g. They Listened), some are surreal (e.g. The Oracle), some tongue in cheek (e.g. All the People). As you read, you relate with various aspects of the endless jigsaw that is India.

What are the challenges of writing short stories?
The genre is demanding. The space allotted is small, yet a lot has to be said. And said elegantly. The genre requires tight writing yet has to have some feel of languid elegance. It is managing these contradictions that makes it both arduous and fun.

Are these stories based on real incidents?
Sixteen of the 21 are from real life. A friend might have told me the story very briefly, a sentence or two maybe. I then proceed to make it wholesome and tasty — like the fable of the stone soup.

When did you know that you want to write? And how was your journey to become a writer?
The urge was always there. I cut my teeth on newspaper “middles”. I then did a bit of journalism — a monthly column called Business Travelogue. The watershed was when my wife and a friend purloined a short story, And Lenin Topples, and entered it in a national short story competition. There were 4,500 entries. I was in the top ten. That gave me courage.