Booked For Life

The daughter of an embittered, hard-drinking Anglo-Indian engine driver from a little railway colony finally finds love in war-torn England. But it’s 60 years before she breaks her silence on how she helped unmask a German spy, and the aftershock takes an investigative Australian journalist all the way to the Vatican. Kolkata-born novelist and photographer David McMahon speaks about his forthcoming book to Mathures Paul

Growing up doesn’t always have to be a straight line, but a series of advances and retreats, something novelist and photographer David McMahon learnt early. At 3 Dumayne Avenue lies some of his most cherished memories. Giving up his secure job in Calcutta, McMahon moved to Australia many years back. Last year Penguin decided to publish his first novel, Vegemite Vindaloo, which was on the bestseller lists, and in October this year he e-mailed the manuscript of his second novel ~ Muskoka Maharani ~ to Penguin, one day ahead of deadline! He speaks to Unplugged.
“Every novelist hopes to write a bestseller, but I never expected that my debut novel would be on the bestseller lists from July to December. My parents would have been delighted to see my name alongside Frederick Forsyth and Jeffrey Archer and to see Vegemite Vindaloo at number three behind the Booker Prize winner. I guess it’s a tribute to the many wonderful teachers I had in school and university, and to all those who encouraged my writing. My second novel is called Muskoka Maharani,” says McMahon.
He allows us a glimpse of the story. “Muskoka is a stunning lake area in Ontario, Canada, and it is where an investigative journalist must travel to, in order to uncover the biggest scoop of his career. The bulk of the novel is set in an Anglo-Indian railway colony in the fictional Indian town of Marsdengunj. The central character is the teenage daughter of a hard-drinking engine driver. When she is an old woman, she finally breaks her silence on how she helped unmask a wartime spy.”
Of course, he couldn’t keep Calcutta out of the plot. “There are a few scenes that are set in familiar locations of Calcutta. But the majority of the narrative is set in Marsdengunj before moving to wartime Britain and finally to Canada.”
Ravi Singh, Penguin’s managing editor, coaxed David into writing a novel based around an Anglo-Indian railway colony. “It all began with a very minor character in Vegemite Vindaloo, a gritty, resourceful woman who lived on a railway colony. Shortly after Ravi had suggested this, a plot began to take shape. I began putting the ideas together, like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, but there was one crucial factor that I couldn’t solve for a few days. Then one Saturday morning, I was actually behind the wheel of my car when it all fell into place. Once that was done, I began writing immediately.”
Since school McMahon has been a voracious reader, picking up anything that was around. “In all honesty, I always wanted to write a novel, from the time I was an inky schoolboy. I’m now working on my third novel for Penguin and while my photography is a large part of my life, I will definitely be writing as many novels as I can.”
True, photographs and novels have made McMahon a renowned figure but it’s his blog that endears him to millions worldwide. The posts (on his blog) draw a fairly accurate picture of McMahon ~ curious, has an eye for details and has never got up on the wrong side of the bed! “I started my blog two years ago, on a whim. I wrote a couple of things and then put the whole project on the back burner. Then in August 2006 I decided to take the blog seriously, so I started updating it every day. Almost immediately, I began getting a lot of attention, I guess because of my photography as well. I’ve now had more than 80,000 page views and I get about 300 page views a day. But the real joy behind my blog is the fact that I mentor a group of about 300 people around the world, helping them with their writing and, of course, with their photography as well.”
Let’s say the blog is his diary and can serve as an inspiration for his future novels. “But the answer is no. My personal life has never intruded into the plots of my novels. At the moment, I am busy with a third novel. However, my next project will bring me back to India, as I want to spend some time photographing every possible aspect of Goan life, as well as doing a documentary on Goa. I have been there three times before and I would love to be able to immerse myself in the place.
“My other big ambition is to give back to India what I once received. I want to start a mentoring program for Indian writers and photographers. It would be wonderful to nurture the talent of gifted young people in India. If Tata or Reliance or some other major organisation want to invest in Indian excellence and are able to fund this, there is no limit to this sort of project and the reach it could achieve in a country that is already one of the global economic leaders. We could start something like this on a small scale, in just one or two cities, and gradually include more major cities and towns. It just takes one step to begin a snowball effect.”
On every visit to Kolkata, McMahon is surprised by the progress in infrastructure. “I was heartened to see investment in infrastructure, in roads and flyovers, parks and gardens and, of course, in power generation. And for the first time since my own childhood, I noticed manned police booths on several street corners! That’s not a common sight in the West, so it shows that this city is serious about protecting its own future.”
McMahon finished high school at St Joseph’s College, North Point, Darjeeling and graduated from St Xavier’s College. He has been living in Australia for 20 years.
To read his blog, visit david-mcmahon.blogspot.com