Khurshid Alam interviews Vinay Capila

Khurshid Alam interviews Vinay Capila writer of an anthology of short stories titled The Revolution and Other Stories

CLRI: How did the idea of writing come to you?

VC: I cannot recollect, I started writing stupid poems when I was in Class 10, when I was about fourteen years old. Prose writing came about ten years later. It was just spontaneous – an effort to express ones thoughts.

Vinay Capila

CLRI: If story telling is difficult or easy? Your views?

VC: I think it is fun.

CLRI: Do your stories have any message?

VC: Not necessarily, but sometimes there is a philosophical undertone to some of them. Some of them have a satirical element.

CLRI: Which story according to you is the best one in your anthology The Revolution and Other Stories and why?

VC: It is difficult to say – they are so diverse in content and tone. I like “Musings at the Farm”, because there is a lot of philosophical element there. More depth.

CLRI: I personally liked the story Fish and Chips the best. Your view.

VC: It was a ‘fun’ story; even though there is a rich mixture of pathos and irony in there.

CLRI: What according to you is the difficulty before a writer in India?

VC: I wouldn’t know, since I wrote these over a period of time, as a means of self- expression, never with a thought about publishing. However, when I decided to publish I realized how difficult it can be.

The Revolution...

CLRI: What has been the response to your anthology?

VC: I have very little idea. My publisher is not very communicative on this issue, even though I have tried to ask him a couple of times.

CLRI: Do you plan to write any book?

VC: I am currently in the process of writing a novel, which I hope to complete by the end of this year.

CLRI: What are you reading presently?

VC: A wide range of books. I am also doing audio recording of books for the visually impaired; so a diverse range of books that the NGO concerned gives me – ranging from course books to novels to religious books.

CLRI: Who are the best story writers in India and abroad?

VC: Sorry, but I am not able to answer that question.

CLRI: Given the fact that Alice won the Nobel Prize in literature in 2013 for story writing. What is your reaction?

VC: Wow! How can someone write 900 odd pages of a thriller! (?) I am struggling to complete 300 pages in what I writing now. I guess I am not very good.

Sorry, no more comments from me.
 

Book Title: The Revolution and Other Stories Author: Vinay Capila Category: Story Anthology Publisher: Angus and Graphers Publishers Pvt. Ltd. ISBN: 978-93-80254-05-0 Year Published: 2012 Pages: 293.

Vinay Capila (70), a graduate from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, with Honours in English Literature is a retired person now. He has been writing short stories and poems since college days. He has recently published two books: one a collection of short stories titled The Revolution and Other Stories, and another one a poetry anthology titled Little Matchsticks.

 

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