Dr. V. Srinivas, a urological cancer surgeon and robotic surgeon has penned a book with simple narratives about building a house in the Nilgiris and a flat being demolished in Mumbai called ‘A tale of two homes’. It can be quite a task —building a house. And not all of it is fairytale like, but once you are through the tiring experience, you know exactly why it was all worth it in the first place.
The author masterfully weaves a tale full of witty humour and substance, wherein you encounter colourful characters across the spectrum of the good, the glittery and the greasy. ‘A Tale of Two Homes’ is his first foray into creative writing. We spoke with the author and prodded as to why he thought of writing a book with such a storyline.
“Since we run a Homestay we get guests from all over. While interacting with a family from Chennai we described the trials and tribulations of building this house. They found the story interesting and said such stories are only written in the west and no such personal experiences are captured in India. So they urged us to write a book”, explains Dr. Srinivas.
The author’s pretty home in the Nilgiris with a terraced garden may have made his home building exercise worthwhile.
The book deals with the adventures of building a house in Nilgiris and a fictional account of a flat being demolished in Mumbai and we couldn’t help but ask how did building a home in the Nilgiris came about. “We wanted a 2nd home. So the choice was between Goa and the Nilgiris . Since I had gone to school there and the weather was definitely better than Goa we chose this place”, says the author.
The very story idea or theme of the book is unique in the sense that not much has been done in this area in India. We asked Dr. Srinivas how did writing something like this occur to him and he says, “The movie Under the Tuscan Sun is written by a person who went to Italy from USA and built a house. Our guests from Chennai suggested we do the same.”
“We wondered how would the readers accept such a storyline, given that it is about building houses and wanted to know how he managed to make it humorous or interesting for the readers. Since I have no experience in creative writing, I get to write it very simple and basic and added some anecdotes to keep the reader involved. So far the feedback has been very positive as most feel it is a very easy and funny read. Reviews on Amazon.in and Goodreads has been very encouraging and over 1,400 books have sold in 3 months”, says an elated Srinivas.
The author also shared some interesting anecdotes with us. “We sourced the floor wood from a ship breaking yard in Gujarat from a 1952 Philippines ship and going there and getting the wood was an adventure by itself. To top that, the lorry transport driver knew only Gujarati, had never been south of Hyderabad, did not have a clue where Kotagiri was and had no GPS, but he was certain he would bring the wood home in 4 days. We left it to God!” shares Srinivas.
The doctor turned author hopes that this book will help people who are constructing homes by giving them some practical pointers, while attracting people to visit Raven’s Nest Homestay in Nilgiris and help put Nilgiris on the tourist map. “Regarding the part of the flat demolition, it will caution people not to buy a flat without an OC (occupation certificate)”, adds Dr. Srinivas. The author’s next book will be ‘A Tale of two medics....ethical and non ethical medicine’.
