Twinkle Khanna Discusses Her New Book With Subhash K Jha

I wrote half a book when I was 18 and in fact the characters Noni Appa and Binni from my new book, The Legend Of Lakshmi Prasad were originally part of that manuscript . This is my third attempt that has finally appeared in print, where the story revolved around the two old ladies and another character Anandji. I also carried around a black felt file as a teenager that contained all the poems that I had jotted down, primarily about maggots and death. I have always been immersed in a world filled with words, earlier as a reader and now finally as both a reader and a writer.

How did the Legend Of Laxmi Prasad come about?  Do you feel it says the stories in exactly the way  you wanted them  told?

I was doing some  research on menstruation for a column. I read about Arunachalam Muruganantham’s life and work and his story gripped me and that is when I sat down, wrote the first few pages and sent them off to my editor to have a look. I then began chasing Muruga and after numerous lengthy interviews, he agreed to let me fictionalize his story and that is how this book started. The other stories then followed , they were all topics I had briefly touched upon through my columns and now I could weave a substantial tale around them .

Tell me about your next book?

I haven’t begun . I have some ideas for a book about dystopian India but we shall see.