The No 1 Ladies Man

Alexander McCall Smith takes pride in the fact that pirated versions of his books were floating around even before he was officially published. “My first book was a children’s book,I wrote it in my spare time,after I returned from university. I’d given a manuscript to a friend in Taiwan and soon I found out that a pirated version was published in China,” chuckles McCall Smith. At the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival,the Scottish writer marveled about how “organic growth” helped shape the popularity of the No. 1 Ladies Detective series. “The book was first published in Scotland with a modest print run of 1500 copies. It was exported to America and published by the Columbia University Press. People started to buy copies of the book,pass them on to friends and the sales grew with no marketing at all,” says McCall Smith. But when the New York Times wrote a full page article on the silent phenomenon the book had become,McCall Smith knew that he’d arrived.

But actually,it all started with a chicken. “It was in 1981,a friend and I went to get a chicken. We travelled to this lady’s house and we found her chasing the chicken in a spectacular fashion. She caught it and promptly wrung its neck. What a remarkable woman,” recalls McCall Smith who decided that he would like to write about such a woman. And so,one day Mma Precious Ramotswe appeared,full-bodied and fully formed into McCall Smith’s imagination and soon enough,in print. But there have been critics who feel that the No 1 series does not portray the “real Africa”. “I did not have an agenda when I sat down to write the series. The Africa focus is always so bleak and I was certain that I wanted to write about the inherent goodness of the people and the land. The role of fiction cannot be to portray the real,bleak side of things,” says McCall Smith. The No 1 series,he is happy to say,has now been translated into 45 languages and was adapted for the big screen by the late British director Anthony Minghella. “I’m very happy that Anthony wanted to make the film,I like his work a lot. But as soon as the news about the film was out,I was besieged by women all over the world who wanted to audition for the role,” laughs McCall Smith. After a long search,Minghella finally chose American soul singer Jill Scott and the BBC and HBO also produced a six-part television series on the books.

Apart from working on the Sunday Philosophy Club ,the 44 Scotland Street and the 2 ½ Pillars of Wisdom series that run parallel to the No 1 series,McCall Smith writes a chapter daily for a Scottish newspaper. An amateur tuba player,McCall Smith also founded an orchestra in 1995,cheekily named The Really Terrible Orchestra. “My wife and I saw that our daughters were having a good time playing in their school orchestra. So we created an orchestra for adults who cannot play. Some players play some notes,” smiles McCall Smith. But they’ve tasted success: they’ve released two CDs and been on three tours,including one to America. “There was a sold-out show in London but as soon as we finished,the audience bolted for the Exit,” says McCall Smith. What a riot.