Weekend Exclusive | Keep trying until you get it right: Author, Alice Albinia

After her award winning book "Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River (2008) ' the acclaimed author Alice Albinia, is up with her first work of fiction named "Leela's Book'. Being a London based writer Alice learned English Literature at Cambridge University and South Asian history at SOAS. In that duration she lived in Delhi for two years, working as an editor and journalist for various Indian newspapers and magazines. While exploring a different genre of non-fiction, this time Alice Albinia brings us an ambitious and entertaining, Leela's Book which weaves a tale of contemporary Delhi that crosses religious and social boundaries, reaching back into the origins of the Mahabharata itself.

Alice Albinia shared some thoughts and experiences in an exclusive interaction with Adgully. We bring you an exclusive interaction with her. Talking to us about plot of Leela's Book she said, "Many years ago, the god Ganesh slipped his own characters into the great epic of Ved Vyas, the Mahabharata. Ever since then he has been incarnating his characters across the years, and across India. At last, in the Delhi of 2001, he plans to bring them back for one final showdown. The novel interweaves Ganesh's subversive plans for his characters, with a contemporary narration that follows three families as their lives are brought together in wonderful and catastrophic ways at a wedding in Delhi."

While discussing the research undertaken for this book, Albinia said, "I lived in Delhi for just over two years, from 1999 to 2001, and the novel takes place then. I researched the Ganesh episode of the Mahabharata while I was studying for an MA in South Asian history in London, and this comes into the final pages of the novel. And I made several research trips to different places in India when I wasfinishing the book. I went to Santiniketan, Mumbai, and to Delhi itself again and again."

According to Albinia the two inspirational events in her life as a writer are learning to read and learning to write. She added, "Apart from the obvious things, the required quality to become a writer is the stamina."

When asked about her experience of being a journalist in India she said, "It was a wonderful time. I loved the different jobs I did in Delhi. Writing to deadline is an excellent discipline for someone who wants to write books. It was exciting." "What inspires me in India are the conversations I have, the friends I made, the books I read. The places I have yet to visit", she added.

Discussing her future plans she confirmed, "I live in London now and the next book or two will be about Britain." While wishing her readers, "Happy reading!" she left young writers with an advice saying, "Keep trying until you get it right."

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