About The Author
Inderjeet Mani is an Indian-born former US professor and scientist now based mainly in
Thailand. His first novel Toxic Spirits (now in its second edition) is based on his experiences
volunteering with hill-tribes in Thailand’s Golden Triangle. In addition to his new novel The
Conquest of Kailash, Mani has also published six other books and nearly fifty shorter literary
pieces published in literary magazines and anthologies as well as newspapers, along with a
hundred-odd scientific papers. Mani’s scholarly books include The Imagined Moment, on the
computing of time in narrative, and other titles are from Oxford and MIT Press. His awards
include the (WIND Magazine) Short Fiction award, (Story South) Million Writers Award
Notable Stories, Reader’s Choice Award, (Glimmer Train) Very Short Fiction Award, (The
Common Room) Story of the Month, and a finalist for the Pan Literary Award and for the
(Nimrod) Katherine Anne Porter Prize.
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Interview
Q) Tell us about the idea behind the book.
The Conquest of Kailash is a story about cruelty and marginalization, and the struggle to find meaning in a world of mounting prejudice and false belief. See the section on inspiration for more details.
Q) How much time did it take in the process of writing?
Five years.
Q) What did the process of writing this book teach you?
Patience. Wait till the time is right.
Q) What inspired you to write this book?
In early 2019, I went with my life partner on a tour of Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India and Nepal. It started in the Deer Park in Benares, which is where the Buddha gave his first sermon after his enlightenment. The tour was a life-changing experience (not that surprising, India being after all a land of so many often mind-altering pilgrimages). This trip brought to the forefront the human search for meaning and for a path towards freedom from suffering. That search in itself is the subject matter of so many great works of literature. As I traveled along on that trip, the novel was born, and it in fact begins in the Deer Park.
I was of course already familiar with Buddhism through my Indian heritage as well as living in a Buddhist country (Thailand) and many years of meditations (originating from different spiritual traditions and religions). At the same time, my rationalist self has always questioned religious beliefs, and I was also wary of today’s highly commercialized and commoditized approaches to mindfulness (McMindfulness, as the author Ronald Purser calls it). So, though I had tasted a few early fruits of what some would call spiritual practice, and though I have a somewhat nuanced approach to religion, acknowledging the important role of faith in people’s lives- I was – and am – not without serious reservations.
When the personal side and the intellectual side tussle like that, a writer knows what to do. I had to make storytelling (including religious myth-making) and the quest for liberation a central topic of the book.
At the same time, living in the times we do, I couldn’t help notice with dismay certain changes taking place in India, where the very idea of Hinduism was being narrowed, marginalizing along the way so many other communities. And of course, the lot of the poorest sections of society has deteriorated steadily. So I had to factor in what was going on politically as a backdrop. I decided to focus on marginalization and thus the character Ali – a gay, rationalist Muslim – was born. Like me, he would be an aesthete of sorts, living in India, England, and the US (though I grew up — and was educated in — many different countries and traditions). And like me, he would have witnessed to his horror how much social sanction there is for heartrending cruelty and intolerance, sexual and gender abuse being the most difficult kinds to witness.
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Q)Which is your favourite part from the book?
That is for the reader to decide. I do like listening to the audio book, which came out last year from Pocket FM, as the narrator’s voice there is utterly fascinating and memorable.
Q) Planning a next book? Tell us about it.
I have a scientific book coming out next year, about Generative AI (that includes ChatGPT and the like.). I am also finishing up an English translation of Jayadeva’s great Sanskrit poem the Gita Govinda. I am supposed to finish a sequel to my first novel Toxic Spirits, which is set in Thailand, and which is now in its second edition. (Toxic Spirits is a rather dark thriller that centers around Big Pharma carrying out genetic experiments on tribal communities in Thailand’s northern mountains. The sequel, with a teenage girl as the main character, has to do with the international trade in antiquities.) However, working on The Conquest of Kailash made me put the sequel on a back-burner. I am also working on a collection of science fiction stories, but these may take a while to get done.
Q) A book that had an impact on you, which helped you in writing this one?
I liked Mary Renault’s historical novels set in ancient Greece. Also, Hokusai’s woodblock paintings of Mount Fuji.
Q) What is a literary success for you?
When your best friends are books, including some you yourself have written. When characters (your creations as well as those of others) speak to you constantly, even in your sleep. Essentially, the literary life is one devoted to reading and writing books, and occasionally talking to friends about them, and making new friends as a result.
Q) A message for all the readers.
Literature must entertain, and sometimes it can do that while asking fundamental questions about what it means to live well. The job of such literature is not to provide convenient answers, but to ask the right questions. I also recommend reading well beyond the spectrum of typical offerings. (That’s why I love traveling, and pottering around old bookstores and libraries!) Anyway, I am happy to share any literary thoughts with my readers. Enjoy the book!
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