In light of the recent LitFest, and meeting with Shehan Karunatilaka once more, I wanted to recount the moment I got to meet him and pose him some questions.
He was doing a book signing in Barefoot. I was expecting to be in and out with my book but he is a very down to earth person even after winning the prestigious Booker prize. He talked to us, engaged in some small talk answered our questions and wrote a small note along with his signature. I asked him a question (and his permission to record his response) and he gave a lot of insight instead of giving a simple answer. When I interviewed him I had to keep composure and articulate my question clearly, making sure to not be giving ideas for answers which cause bias this type of questioning being prominent in toxic media.
His answer to best part about writing
Later it was announced that he would be doing a Q&A in the evening so of course me and my parents were eager to attend. We spent some time figuring out what questions we would ask him if given the opportunity and took our seats on the front row.
There were many people in attendance and most people were taking this opportunity to thank Shehan for his representation of Sri Lanka and how they found their childhoods in his book. It was heartwarming to attend this session because it felt more like a gathering of old family friends and members. It gave me a lot of perspective. To the people judging the Booker prize and people reading the books, its all about the story and how well its written. But for Sri Lankans, this was representation. This was them seeing themselves in the media, in the spotlight, shown off in a light other than ‘the island next to India that has tea’.
I asked him yet another question but he was very happy to answer. What struck me the most was how humble he was. He had just won an award that most authors dream of but he still was so kind to everyone, not letting it affect his ego (publicly anyway).
Featured Image Credit: Riyal Riffai (@riyalriffai on insta)