Butterfingers gets bowled over

 

Amar, the Butterfingers in her novels that are all based on sports, has not grown. She likes to keep him frozen at 13. “I don’t want the growing up problems but I am conscious of the chronology. The time span of each book is getting shorter. The first took place in six months, the second in three to four weeks and the third is hardly two weeks. Perhaps by the time the last book is out, it will be one day!” she laughs. 

 

She is as famous for her Butterfingers as she is for her humour. There is always a tinge of humour in the books and the newspaper columns that she writes. She says, “I like to write something to laugh about, fun books and no morals,” she says citing the part where women teachers come wearing skirts to play cricket. 

 

Cricket is again the sport in her third book, like in her first and Khyrunnisa’s biggest challenge was making it entirely different this time. “I wanted it to be a tennis book but after I went ahead with the first two chapters, the publishers suggested I make it cricket.” Here, Amar and his friends try to get a cricket match organised for the students and end up creating a mix-up with a match proposal for the teachers who need to be healthier. There is also the case of two thieves — a sporting thief and a jewel thief — to deal with. The author also creates a version of cricket, called ‘Crack It’ that becomes the most interesting part of the book.

 

Khyrunnisa’s love for sports comes from her growing up years when her dad used to take the family to watch matches and when they gathered around the radio to listen to the commentary. She has not played professionally but followed cricket and tennis ardently. “There were suggestions that I write the third book on hockey or swimming or basketball but I hardly know those games,” she says. She is also considering writing an adult book, but, she clarifies, her children’s books are not a preparation for that.