NP Rajasekharan is many things rolled into one: writer, actor, musician, entrepreneur, teacher… Here, he tells _DNA_ how a writer forces you to see another side of your reality. _Presently,

NP RAJASEKHARAN keeps a day job as director, international HR, with International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, Mexico. Earlier, he was with International Center for Agricultural

Research in the Dry Areas, Syria, for three years. He has written six novels and a screenplay in Malayalam. His novel, NISHADA PARVAM, published by DC Books, had won the Kumkumam award. He

is now writing a non-fiction book on power and politics. _ _He is many things rolled into one: writer, actor, musician, entrepreneur, teacher… Here, he tells DNA how a writer forces you to

So in writing, I am seeking to understand. And the same could happen to the reader. _The Living Dead _holds a mirror to the reader. Some may find parts of themselves in it. Based on what

people have gone through in their lives, some will hate or love some parts; some will be excited or sad. And it may mean nothing to some. Q: You have written both fiction and non-fiction. 

Do you find writing fiction a process of sidestepping the truth? A: Whose truth? Except in man-made sciences like mathematics or science, there is no precision. Between white and black,

there are thousands of shades of grey. I am dealing with a different shades of grey and it may look like truth to some and false to others. Imagine a piece of paper that is red on one side

and blue on the other. If you and I sat on opposite sides, our truths will be different. It happens in writing. As a writer, you force your characters to see that paper from different sides.

If one comes to the other side, the conflict can be resolved. Often in life, we do not do that. We live with our perceptions and consider them as gospel truth and they define our reality. A

writer forces you to see another side of your reality. Q: How would you classify your writing? A: Some of my novels are straightforward stories in the realistic, artistic. You cannot

classify my writing across all my books. My different works fall into different genre. And I don’t know where _The Living Dead _can be placed. Q: ARE YOU A MODERN WRITER? A: I have

experimented with different types of writing to present my story in the most appropriate form. Each of my novels probably has a different treatment. There are only two types of writing—the

ones that people read, think and/or enjoy and the ones that do not. Modern, ancient, classical etc make no sense to me. I consider fairy tales as some of the best stories. Are they modern or

old? Interestingly, I have created new fairy tales in _The Living Dead_. Some readers may think that these are old fables that I have quoted from Katahasarith Sagara and therefore, old. The

only relevant question is: Does it move the reader? Q: Where do you find your stories from? A: From life and from dreams. They blur, overlap and sometimes subsume each other. No fiction can

match the wild nature of dreams or of the complex kaleidoscope of life. And it also comes from your own personal losses. I was working on the last draft of the novel when I lost my mother

and brother-in-law. Then, the novel changed. Q: What are your challenges? A: I try to communicate in words what truly cannot be communicated in words. Our experiences use all our senses. So,

it is challenging to capture the feelings of colours, sound, touch, smell and sight using words. The second challenge is to communicate many things to people without actually saying it. I

like to keep my writing brief. So I have to leave sufficient white space in my book, which readers can fill. Q: Tell us one rule you strictly follow while writing. A: To be honest to my

thoughts. Q: You have travelled around the world. How has it contributed to your fiction? A: Any story is about people and about people in contexts. The more people and contexts I know, the

richer my mind and larger the opportunities to create. To quote from _The Living Dead_, “Every Journey made me smaller and bigger.” Q: Your advice to a new writer. A: Read! Read whatever you

can lay your hands on. Q: If there is one thing that you think we, as readers, should take away from your work, what would that be? A: Each one will take away different things based on

their belief systems and experience. _The Living Dead _will make you look at yourselves. It has to be read and synthesised using your belief systems. It is so generic that characters don’t

have a name and are called mother, brother, father, wife etc. There are no references to any real places or to any period in time. So it could happen anywhere, anytime. You read it they way

only you can.