I never believed the hype about how the Internet would be able to bring people from different points around the world together. Well it's really nice to report on how wrong I was.
About six months ago I was wandering through a book store, and picked up a book on a whim: Prince Of Ayodhya book one, Ashok Banker's modern adaptation of the 3,000 year old Indian epic, the Ramayana. I was immediately hooked. Thankfully for me the next two volumes had already been published, so I was able to read volume two,
Having never heard of the writer I decided to do a quick Google search and found that not only did Mr. Banker have a web site but also a blog. (By the way, if you were ever looking to blame anyone for my presence in the blog universe you could lay it at Mr. Banker's feet. It was through his blog that I discovered Blogger's free spaces.) The truly amazing thing about Mr. Banker was that he took the time to answer people's letters at his web site. 
It was in this manner that I began communicating with him. When the fourth volume of the Ramayana was published, Armies of Hanuman, I sent him a copy of a review I had written for my blog and Blogcritics. Since that time we have exchanged thoughts through the comment section of his blog, and the web discussion group he founded, Epic India, dedicated to talking about the stories of India and related material.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that I thought of the idea of suggesting an interview with him. I knew he had been reading my work at Blogcritics, and had liked it, so I thought he might be open to the suggestion. Unfortunately, my timing couldn't have been worse.
Ashok lives in Bombay, and if you have been following the news, you know they have had the worst monsoon season there in years, with horrendous flooding and mudslides claiming over a hundred lives. Things still aren't back to normal there, as they now face the problems of combating water-borne diseases. Last reports have over a hundred people already dead.
In spite of all this, and hours spent swimming in six feet of water, when I suggested the idea of the interview, he responded with enthusiasm. We decided that the best solution to the problems of distance and time differences was to pick a time when we could just email questions and answers back and forth from our computers. Since I wake at an obscenely early time in the morning, this seemed like the ideal plan.
So what you will be reading are his unedited email responses to my questions. Enjoy.
(This is part one of a two part interview. Look for part two tomorrow.)
There are few people in North America who know anything about you. Could you fill you in some of your biographical details, where you are from, why you write. You are pretty open about your less than ideal childhood, could you tell us how that influenced your writing?
I was born and brought up in Bombay, now Mumbai, lived here all my life. My mother was an Anglo-Indian (please don't use the term "East Indian") and her mother, my grandmother, was Dutch-Irish-Scots. My grandma, in addition to being of foreign descent, was brought up by nuns in a convent school in Sri Lanka, and came to India in her twenties, first staying at Chennai (then called Madras) and later Mumbai (Bombay). She met and married a Goan Catholic, and had three kids in Byculla, a very central area of the city then, a kind of Brooklyn with a very mixed immigrant population of over 300,000 Jews (who came here escaping the Nazis during WWII), Muslims, Parsis, American Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, and of course, Goan Catholics, Chinese immigrants, and a few Hindus too.
Article comments
1 - Mickey
Excellent interview !! Here's hoping things are better in Bombay....
2 - Mickey
This gentleman seems to be a budding Indian JK Rowling...
3 - Aaman
Great stuff, gypsyman - I've read Mr Banker's early novels as well - they were interesting, if derivative, yet different from the rest of the Indian English scene.
What about Byculla Boy - that was originally a 900-page manuscript that was published as a 250-page book. I hear he is re-publishing it.
4 - Aaman
Also, what news of the Mahabharata series he was working on? and the film work
5 - gypsyman
Stayed tuned for part two today! But he was extremly reluctant to talk about any forthcoming projects...refering people to his website and blog for more information as progects are developed.
But that being said, I did get him to talk about the "movie" which it turns out is not a movie...you'll see what I mean.
6 - Ashok K. Banker
Hi Aaman, all,
Those who know me also know that I much prefer answering questions directly, individually, rather than tomtomming things in an interview or through the mass media. I am indeed trying to re-edit my original manuscript of Byculla Boy and hope to republish it sometime in 2006. It is linked to my other novel Vertigo, which I was able to republish earlier this year and which is a personal favourite. The book and 'video essay' or docufeature Beautiful Ugly are also directly related to Vertigo and Byculla Boy.
I am already writing the Mahabharata and you should see the first book The Seeds of War in Indian bookstores by end 2006. To know more about my other projects, you're welcome to visit my website and blog, or to email me directly.
Best wishes
Ashok
7 - JOSEPHINE
MY DAUGHTER AND I READ YOUR BOOK, Prince Of Ayodhya ...AND ENJOYED IT SO VERY MUCH...LOOKING FORWARD TO READING THE OTHERS NOW THAT WE HAVE DISCOVERED YOU....MY GODSON LIVES IN KANPUR, INDIA AND I TRY TO READ AS MUCH ABOUT HIS COUNTRY AS POSSIBLE...THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR WONDERFUL STORY WITH US..SINCERELY...JOSEPHINE D.
8 - Ashok Banker
Hi Josephine,
Thanks for those wonderful heart-warming words. Always a pleasure to know I brought something new into the lives of total strangers!
If you wish, you could visit my official website and perhaps join in our Epic India group or simply browse through the forums. You'll find many interesting discussions on India and all things Indian there, including (but not only about) my books.
And I do hope you enjoy reading the rest of the series as much as you did the first book.
9 - Vijay Kurhade
any way to contact this author bu email
10 - gypsyman
Vijay
Unforntunately Ashok has had to stop responding to emails because he was receiving far to many annoying requests as well as harrassment. If you want to get in touch with him, you can visit his web site www.epicindia.com, where there is an area to leave comments. He will always respond.
There is also a forum on the site which he posts at regularly, and responds to posts addresed to him, or if you really want direct access you can also apply to join his yahoo group. There are links to all of these things at his web portal.
cheers
gypsyman
11 - NERISHA
DEAR MR BANKER
I HAVE READ 3 OF YOUR BOOKS, FIRST BEING DEMONS OF CHIRAKAUT, THEN SEIGE OF MITHILIA AND EVENUTALLY THE PRINCE OF AYODAYA -WHICH WAS ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING - YOUR STORY-TELLING IS WONDERFUL - CANNOT WAIT TO READ THE OTHER BOOKS I AM TRYING TO GET A FRIEND WHO WILL VISIT INDIA SOON TO PURCHASE ALL YOUR BOOKS SOON. ALSO READ SOME SECTIONS OF THE BOOKS TO MY CHILDREN - AGED 13 AND 7 - BOTH WERE IN AWE
WE LOOK FORWARD TO READING THE BALANCE OF YOUR BOOKS
REGARDS
NERISHA
DURBAN
SOUTH AFRICA
12 - pranav
mr banker yo are simply superb in ur writng and imagination skills
13 - shen nalwalla
would like to buy in bombay a copy of byculla boys .where do i find it?
14 - Ashok Banker
Nerisha, thank you for those kind words. It would have been nicer had you read the books in order, but thanks anyway!
Pranav, thank you so much. I hope to keep living up to your (high) expectations.
Shen, Byculla Boy is out of print and will not be republished again anytime in the foreseeable future. Even I don't have a copy of the book.
15 - Suchi Chatterjee
Hello Ashok
I just purchased a UK copy of one of your books the second part of the Ramayana not realizing it wasn't the real Mccoy, I bought it at a local bookstore in town in Brighton, UK and thought I would try and get the first part on line and that was when I read your review.
How can I get an Indian copy, the one that you recommend?
I really want to read it but I want the REAL thing not something that the author is saying isn't the real thing!
Hope you can help.
Regards
Suchi