In Suspi'ended ad-belief

It took five years for author Anand Suspi’s light-hearted memoir to transpire into a tangible copy.  The advertising honcho, with roots in Karnataka, chats up with us about his debut read, Half Pants Full Pants – a byproduct of his personal challenge to write pages of prose about his growing up years in Shivamogga, in order to convince himself that he could describe things...   

“Back then, life was filled with foolishness and now it’s filled with stupidity,” opines the 44-year-old author, who currently runs an ad agency based out of Gurgaon. Speaking about his earliest memories in the state and nammooru, the quick-witted author responds, “I did my schooling in Mary Immaculate, DVS High School and college from DVS Junior College in Shivamogga. I remember visiting Bengaluru during holidays as a kid. But, I never really lived in the city. Now, I come down for a week every year to meet mom. That’s probably all that there is with the ooru.”

Prod him about what propelled him to author books, and he enthuses, “The book was accidental. I started penning down various incidents for my friends in Shivamogga. What started out as an exercise for me accidentally rolled on from one anecdote to another and turned into a book. It took me five months to write it and nearly five years to find a publisher. Most of the childhood incidents that amused me to write are a part of the book – B D Special, writing to Rajiv Gandhi, making magnets, ransacking the Shimoga Central library etc.”

Inspired from insightful episodes from his early childhood, Anand pipes, “The book is set against a backdrop of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Apart from the excesses of childhood madness and adventures that we indulged in, the book captures nuances of social mores, traditions and mindsets of South Indian Brahmins in a small town.”

Interestingly, the book has caught the eye of many literates, including renowned filmmaker R Balki. While the book centres around his growing up years, Suspi is certain about not wanting it to be categorised as a children’s read. “Though the book is about childhood, the target reader is an adult. Having said that, some of the kids of today could also enjoy it. Like Balki has mentioned in his preface, it could well be a fantasy book for children of today. But I would not want this book to be categorised as a children’s book,” adds Anand.

Work aside, Anand confesses to how he doesn’t have a buzzing social calendar. “My life is as boring as a goods train bogie. I rarely do anything beyond my work. Whatever little time I manage, I spend a lot of it playing with my dog. Beyond that, I doodle a bit with a drum kit or watch darts championships,” he concludes.