Quick Fire Interview with Girish Kohli

Girish Kohli graduated in software engineering but quit it to work in a garage. He later tried his hand at becoming a fitness trainer but quit that to work in his father’s business. He finally quit everything to write full time. Girish Kohli is no quitter. In fact, he is the author of ‘Marathon Baba’, a fictional novel which saw the light of the day early this year. Marathon Baba is the journey of a man who is propelled from being Human to God and his struggle to become human again. Born and brought up in Mumbai, Girish Kohli, 29 years, does not consider himself as a writer. He believes that a writer is someone who survives only on writing. He is a maverick traveller who loves to embark on a journey without much care about the destination.

Why should one read your book this weekend?
Marathon Baba is a story about a man who runs away from home and goes on to open an Ashram for all those who have run away from home. You should read it because it is radical. It won’t bore you and it won’t take you more than a weekend to read. It is quite breezy.

How did you come up with the title?
I must admit, I thought hard about this. I have a knack for coming up wit whacky titles; I think we can credit it to the enormous amount of reading I have done in my teens.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
I am greatly influenced by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Marquez’s writing taught me that it is okay to blur the lines between general fiction and fantasy. I learnt that that there are no limits when it comes to imagination. I also learnt that it’s okay to confuse the reader as long as the writer is clear about the story.

Would you like to see your book being made into a film and who would you like to see playing the main protagonist in the film?
I don’t think anybody in India has the sensibility to adapt Marathon Baba. I am not interested in who portrays Marathon Baba. I am interested in who directs the movie. I guess the late Vijay Anand would have done a great job.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Ernest Hemmingway simply because I love the way he writes.

What do you feel about the impact of English fiction on the youth of today?
The impact is twofold. Current English fiction is dry. It doesn’t impart any values and doesn’t give the youth any worthwhile heroes. Thus the youth is looking up to ordinary characters. But the good thing is that the youth will stand up and change the trend and break the herd mentality and come up with something radical.
Read the entire interview on www.youthincmag.com

-Babita Balan

Volume 2 Issue 2