My first job was a reporter on the
Kingston Whig Standard, in Kingston, Ontario, but
was fired because of my colour when a new editor took
over. He was frank. He said my presence in the newsroom
disturbed him. I went to London and worked and wrote
for The Guardian, The Sunday Times and other newspapers
and magazines.
My first novel, The
Marriage, was published in the UK and India.
Since then, I’ve written 14 books which have
been translated into several languages. Twelve are
works of fiction, including the best seller TAJ
that was translated into 9 languages. Penguin India
re-issued the novel in January 2004 and it is now
on the bestseller list. Penguin published my new novel,
THE ARRANGEMENTS
OF LOVE, in June 2004 and my new memoir
MY
TEMPORARY SON, an orphan’s journey
(extract) in 2005. Penguin reissued FOUR
STEPS FROM PARADISE in 2006. In April 2008,
Penguin publishes my new non-fiction work LIMPING
TO THE CENTRE OF THE WORLD about my trek to
Mount Kailas.
I wrote and produced the Award
winning film THE
SQUARE CIRCLE. It was shown in many film
festivals, including London.
TIME
magazine voted it ‘one of the ten best films
of the year’. It opened in London at the Curzon,
Shaftesbury Avenue. All the broadsheets gave it very
good reviews.
In 1999, I adapted and directed
it as a stage play for the Leicester
Haymarket Theatre, an exciting experience.
Parminder K. Nagra of
‘Bend it Like Beckham’ fame played the
main lead.
I now live in my ancestral house
with my wife and dogs, and play tennis. Currently,
I’m polishing a young adult novel which will
be published by Scholastic in June 2008, and working
on a new adult fiction. I also start a bi-monthly
column for the New Sunday Express from November.
In 2002, I was given the
‘R.K. Narayan Award’ for my novels and
for my work in cinema and theatre
