GO BACKOf Paper Thieves and Nuclear Ducks (Interview)
An extensive interview with The London Magazine (UK) on the occasion of Paper Chor's publication. Grover discusses his childhood reading, Hindi literary influences, and the decade-long journey of writing children's fiction for Chakmak magazine.
A wide-ranging conversation with The London Magazine on the occasion of Paper Chor's publication. Grover discusses his childhood reading, influences, the journey of writing children's fiction for Chakmak magazine over 10 years, his relationship with Hindi literature, and the meaning of Paper Chor.
On Paper Chor:
"I am unsure about what this book means to me, mainly because of the way it came together. All the stories, except the last one, have been published before in the children's magazine Chakmak in the last ten years. Sushil Shukla, who used to edit Chakmak, put together this book for their new imprint Jugnoo Prakashan. So, in a sense, this is like a second life for these stories. Scattered across time and space, they are now bound together by name and staple pins."
On growing up reading:
"I grew up reading Hindi books—children's magazines like Baal Hans, Nanhe Samraat, Paraag, Nandan, and Suman Saurabh, as well as translated classics in novella format, like Don Quixote, Robinson Crusoe, The Three Musketeers..."
On literary influences:
"From teenage years to my early 20s, I graduated to reading the works of Mohan Rakesh, Ismat Chugtai, Dharamveer Bharti, Amrita Pritam, Manto, and Harishankar Parsai among others."
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