The former journalist explores the violent world of India’s modernization during the early 2000s.
“Age of Vice,” Deepti Kapoor’s second novel, spends most of the first 170 pages on the story of Ajay, who is born into poverty in rural India but who manages, through skill, hard work and constant servitude, to build a life of sorts in a rapidly modernizing Delhi. But that life, serving Sunny Wadia, the son of a wealthy and ruthless businessman, carries its own risks and they cost Ajay dearly.
The novel stirred tremendous buzz in her homeland and abroad; it is now being adapted into a series by FX. She spoke by video recently about the novel and its themes. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.Reaction in India is completely different than in America and Europe. Indians are always a little suspicious, rightly so, of books they think are catering to the West, saying, “Oh, is this another ‘White Tiger’ or ‘Slumdog Millionaire.
Indians love the idea that I’m exploring modern India and the corruption and inequality and violence. People have become desensitized there, you almost shut your eyes because it’s so painful — Delhi is a brutal and harrowing place to live and it can be easier to live in a bubble of privilege and comfort, which is what Neda gets seduced by.I wanted to report on crime but was pushed toward covering media, lifestyle and arts.
You see gleaming new highways and roads — they love development like that — but access to schools and healthcare for anyone who’s not rich falls by the wayside.
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