As busy as the country was with the election results, there's one who was not only fascinated by the entire process, but was suitably impressed by the results. In the country to promote his latest work Paths of Glory' as part of the Landmark Jeffrey Archer Tour, master storyteller Lord Jeffrey Archer says he followed the elections very closely. "I was told that the government will be formed by a conglomeration of parties, but it's nice to see one party leading and even better to see that you will now have a stable government which will only help the economy," he comments.
Talking about development, one thing that truly troubles him is the traffic in the country, from cars moving, according to him, "in the wrong direction" to people crossing the roads without a care for their lives. "I'm expecting a call from the Prime Minister offering me the transport cabinet. I will definitely improve the traffic," he chuckles.
Though he can cut an intimidating figure, the bestseller author that he is, Archer can also put you at ease in no time. You look at him and all the characters he has created in his long career make an appearance in your mind, especially Kane and Abel.' The author too considers Kane and Abel' as something he's emotionally attached to, like his first book, Not A Penny More, Not A Penny More.' But he says his best work was As The Crow Flies'. "You cannot forget your first book, and the book that got you recognition."
The latest, Paths of Glory' is about a man whom he calls a mysterious British hero, George Mallory, who went missing during a mountaineering expedition to Mt Everest in 1924, only to be found dead in 1999. "My friend and mentor and an Olympic medal winner Chris Brasher suggested me the subject. There are six non-fiction works on Mallory. They are all very good. Like others, I too started wondering if he had made it to the summit of the Mt Everest before he died.
" Archer agrees that writing about a real-life person is quite difficult then creating a fictional one. "You fictionalise certain parts and yet there are others that you cannot. Also you have to keep in mind that while 90 per cent of the people who read the book may not know Mallory, there's the 10 per cent who know him."
Talk veers to Indian writers and pat comes the reply, "I love R K Narayan. He is such a good storyteller. When you read his books, you actually get into the skin of an Indian villager," he says. We probe further and Archer says, "I think V S Naipaul and Salman Rushdie are very good." What about Arvind Adiga? "He is promising, but no one can beat Narayan," is the answer.
What about Bollywood? He tells us has just watched Lagaan,' and, as an avid cricket enthusiast as he is, Archer says he predicted that the Indians will win much before the film ended. "The lead actor is very good looking; no wonder the women in the film love him."
You utter the words Slumdog Millionaire,' and he completes it: "I liked it." He defends the film saying that it was not a "poverty porn" as some critics claimed. "Everyone knows that India is a vibrant, young and successful country. To give an example, your banks are stable while the ones in my country have collapsed." Point taken.
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