the Terror plot

In the book,he explores deeper realities that transcend simplistic categories,through Rafiq Ansari and Shaista Shabbir and their son Jamaal Ansari,inhabitants of the imaginary town of Moazzamabad in north India. Having studied in Aligarh and Gorakhpur in the early 90s,Ahmad writes of these locales as an “informed outsider”. With a glint in his eye,he adds,“I don’t think any writer can be an insider. We write about what troubles us; if you are an insider things don’t trouble you.”

The 35-year-old first wrote Jimmy the Terrorist as a short story seven years ago,exploring the question of how one defines a terrorist,or,for that matter,becomes one. Ravi Singh at Penguin India realised its potential and asked him to consider making it into a book. Even though Ahmad’s most dependable critics were sceptical at the idea,and felt the short story might suffer,he realised Jimmy had to become a person in the real world.

“I want to know where a person comes from,” says Ahmad,who sees the individual as essential to society and not apart from it. In Jimmy the Terrorist,shortlisted for the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize,he reveals that while circumstances shape a character,they don’t determine him. Having spent his childhood between Saudi Arabia and India and his adulthood between the US and India,Ahmad realises that every man has a simple need to be relevant and respected in his own society. While identifying these essentially human traits,he simultaneously also brings to the fore that “India is about many Indias. People who try to make it one India,will break it.” He adds,“We should concentrate on the good Indian stories and not the great Indian story.” Ahmad’s own writing begins with the end. He starts with the ending of the story in mind and the character that will lead to the desired end. He traces the story’s complete arc mentally before he sits down to write. After that,“it’s like trying to catch a cart that is running down the hill,” he says dramatically.

With a six-book contract with Penguin to his name,Ahmad,who has a background in international affairs rather than literature,is a happy writer. At the moment,he is busy with a non-fiction book on Bhutan,“The more I write,I realise I know less,” he says with a laugh,adding,“All writing is like that.”