Chronicling a surgeon’s tryst with building a homestay

“A family from Chennai was visiting our homestay in Nilgiris, and when they heard about the trials and tribulations that went into building it, they became very interested and insisted that I put this down in print. In fact, one of the members of that family, who is into writing, said such stories come out only in the West and one does not hear about them in India. She even quoted a well-known novel Under The Tuscon Sun which was made into a film. 

The book is a journey and more than a story,” says the surgeon. The book is all about how the author went about identifying the place, getting the land, constructing the house and the problems faced during the process. “It’s a useful guide for anyone embarking on this journey. Also, some chapters are devoted to a fictional flat demolition in Mumbai, what the residents have to do to save their flats and how they manage to do so,” he explains. 

Since Srinivas had only written scientific articles before, he found it a bit difficult to create characters and avoid clichés. “I had to add some flashbacks and snippets to try and make it interesting. I am sure the literary pundits would find numerous faults with the book as the language is very simple,” quips the writer.