Building a home

Having called a plumber to fix a recurring leak in your bathroom is all it takes to sympathise with the trials and tribulations that come with constructing a house. This is what provides fodder for Dr V Srinivas’ new book, A Tale of Two Homes.

At the book’s release this week in Chennai, Dr Srinivas, in conversation with writer Aroon Raman, described how the idea of this book was birthed after he and his wife finished building a guesthouse in Kotagiri, on the suggestion of their clients. The book is semi-autobiographical, combining his experience of building the guest house with an imagined narrative of a house set to be demolished in Mumbai. It is from this simultaneous beginning and ending of two homes that it gets its name.

Dr Srinivas read out some portions of the book that were a humorous spin on the various obstacles one faces while getting a house built. The bribe-taking contractors, the booze guzzling labourers and the snooty architects kept the audience amused. “I was careful not to mention any names so that I didn’t step on any toes,” says Srinivas.

Raman notes how the author used his background as a urological cancer surgeon at the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai to make startlingly visual comparisons between stitching a body and laying bricks. This being his début novel, Srinivas says, “I can only write about what I know. I can’t write complete fiction, I don’t have the imagination for that.” The author also made comparisons between the fast-paced life in Mumbai and the relaxing atmosphere of Kotagiri. “A person lives till 80 in Ooty, 90 in Coonoor and has to be shot dead in Kotagiri,” he laughs.

Many of the digs that Srinivas takes throughout the book are aimed at his wife, portrayed as a fierce, high-society lady who threatens to send him to the dog-house if he disobeys her. He points to his wife sitting in the audience and admits, “My wife is nothing like the character I’ve created. I just needed someone whom everyone would love to hate.”

Srinivas also revealed that he was in the process of writing his second book, A Tale of Two Medics, that will deal with ethics in medicine.