Cyrus Mistry: Writing not lucrative

"In India, they don't pay very much for books. What they pay is enough to live on for two-three months. And it is not that you will get more money because your book is doing really well. But, if you are a best-selling author, things might be different. But to be frank, I don't know much about how this industry works," Mistry told IANS Sunday in the course of an interview.

"Either one has a guardian angel to take care of daily needs, or one has to take up odd jobs to sustain and that is not healthy for writing, unlike the West where they pay you well," he added, saying to get his home going, he is working with an advertising firm.

The author has moved from Mumbai for health reasons, to Kodaikanal where he has been quietly writing far away from the media glare.

Though Mistry defends his move for solitude by saying he hasn't been approached for many interviews before, at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival he has a genuine reason to open up to the media.

Mistry's novel "Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer" won the prestigious 2014 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature here Saturday, beating off stiff competition from five other authors.

The novel explores the complex and closed lives of Parsi corpse-bearers, in which a Parsi priest falls in love with the daughter of a corpse bearer.

"This community (corpse bearer) is shunned by the society and while writing about them, I did have a fear that people might unnecessarily drag it into controversy. But, I am glad nothing of that sort happened and I was able to raise certain moral questions through my narrative," he said.

The award came with a trophy and a cash prize of $50,000, and Mistry hopes he is able to use it wisely for his writing pursuits.

The writer also thinks many would now make an attempt to read the novel, since it has fetched him the award.

"You know the way people are. When you win a prize, people want to read it, even those who might have resisted reading it earlier," he said.

"Another thing that this award has given me is recognition and it will also help me in getting contracts for other works, translations, and that is welcoming. But, otherwise, the main thing about a writer is to think about what he is going to write about next," he added.

The award, in fact, has brought much-deserved appreciation and recognition for the writer whose first novel, "The Radiance of Ashes", that was about social cruelty of man towards man, failed to evoke interest among readers. However, the blame on failing to deliver wasn't his writings but lack of marketing strategy by the publisher.

Mistry calls the writer's profession a "voluntary solitary confinement", and plans to write a novel soon.

"I haven't written anything for quite some time now. I have to get down doing other things for my daily bread. There is a selection of short stories that is with my agent now and we are hoping we find a publisher," he said.

"We are in a difficult situation in India as we aren't an English speaking country. Hence, in terms of sales and reading books - it is a limited territory," Mistry added, saying he yet remains optimistic with the industry and will continue to write for the joy of writing.