Poet Laureate of Mahim enthrals B'luru book lovers

Jerry Pinto has a hilarious interaction with readers at Blossoms Book House

Falah Faisal | NT

Bengaluru: There is nothing like watching an author in his element interacting with the audience informally, which is how the evening with Jerry Pinto, poet, novelist, short story writer, and translator from Mumbai, went when he interacted with fans and casual walk-ins at Blossoms Book House to promote his latest book The Education of Yuri.

The author who prefers to be addressed as ‘Your Glittering Majesty’ started the session by asking those present for introductions and why they had come, using their prompts to shoot off into funny stories and anecdotes.

When one claimed to be a writer as well, he said “The claim of being a creative person is a big one. Mark Twain said that all the stories had been told. What makes it new is you and your uniqueness. I don’t have to be Amitav Ghosh or Salman Rushdie; I just have to be Jerry Pinto from Mahim.”

Pinto began taking tuition at the age of 14 when he decided to make his own money after an argument with his father. He was faced with an unruly bunch of kids, but what he learned is that the only way to get them to listen is if he made them laugh.

This is a lesson he has since applied to everything he has done, especially writing. He narrates a scene from his book that made many crack up, “Yuri and Arif are sitting in Shivaji Park when Yuri points out a few Jewish buildings to which Arif remarks “The Jews have got here too?” When Yuri asks him if he has a problem with Jews he replies, “I don’t even have a problem with Shias.”

It was an evening that he spent at a close friend's place a few years ago that inspired him to write his recent novel. “We were all sitting on the bed together when my friend’s son asked me why there was a period of two years I hadn’t spoken with his father, I realized that was a wound that hadn’t filled yet and I must write about it in order to heal,” he says despite claiming that the main character wasn’t based on him.

When asked how he knows a story is finished and how much time it takes him to reset after a novel, he says, “I’m never writing just one thing, I work on multiple novels, translations and poems at once because I am afraid of falling through the gaps in between writing. I only stop when I know what the next sentence is.

Writing a novel is like weaving a thread and then following it, not knowing where the centre is. There is no formula that’s true to everyone and you have to figure out what works for you, and then you use it till it falls apart and then start again.” Pinto will be at the Bangalore Lit Fest where he will be in conversation with Preeti Gill about his book.

“Bangalore has a beautiful Lit Fest and it isn’t supported by corporations but by people. I think everyone should drop by, check out the various sessions and show support,” he adds. This Sunday, Blossoms will be hosting renowned journalist P Sainath who will be talking about his book The Last Heroes: Foot Soldiers of Indian Freedom.