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Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 1:04
#TalkTo Anil D'Souza Author Of The Gods Must Be Smiling
Never in his wildest dreams had Satan now imagined himself in Cardiff but there he was meeting his son Manja after many years and for this they both had only one man to thank Neil, their guardian angel hello book lovers, I'm Siddhi your very own book gobbler in focus today we have the book the Gods must be Smiling by Anil D'Souza the story goes born and raised in tiny Coast Hamlet of Kodali Manja noticed very early in life the invisible girl inside him he spent his childhood amidst confusion and humiliation hoping for the girl within him to disappear but she did not unable to subdue his inner self he decided to let her free embarking upon an uncertain yet even full journey towards liberation Anil Desusa meticulously crafts a heart touching story in his debut book the Gods must be smiling and I will be live in conversation with the author tomorrow
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 1:13
So let's talk to Anil about his book the Gods must be smiling. Hello Anil, welcome to my swellcast and congratulations on the book. The blurb is quite intriguing and the title more so the gods must be smiling. So I would like to know how and when did you come up with this story?
Anil Dsouza
@anildsouza · 1:35
Hi. Hi, Siddhi. Good afternoon. First of all, I'd like to thank you as well as the swell team for arranging this interview with me. Yeah, I've been writing for some time now and to be honest with you, this topic, this book, how did I come up with this? It's quite a very freak thing. I would not say a freak thing, but then it came up accidentally
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 0:10
It's always interesting to know how a book was conceptualized. So how long did it take for you to pen this book, and what themes does the book delve into?
Anil Dsouza
@anildsouza · 1:53
Hello. Well, it took me quite some time to pen this book down, to be honest with you. Again, I think I took about one year and three months or four months to just finish the book, my first draft of the book before I began sending out the manuscript to the publishers. And the themes this book dwells into, it actually takes in a lot of. Lot of themes around the coastal belt. The traditions, the festivals, the way different religions celebrate different festivals. Very
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 0:17
That's really interesting. And I'm sure it must have been tough to get into skin of a character, a strong character like Manja. So talking about characters Setan na Manja and Neil, were they inspired by real life people? What? Inspired to really pen these characters?
Anil Dsouza
@anildsouza · 1:11
It. Yeah. You rightly said it was actually difficult to get into the skin of these manja, basically because I usually am, usually was, and still am possibly uncomfortable when it comes to facing a trans person. But once I realized that they're just people like us, getting into these characters was very easy when, because they just think like our normal people, just that they got some confusions in their gender, possibly. So Sithana and Neil were not very much inspired by one person
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 0:26
It's a very heart touching topic that you discuss in this book. And it's important for us to realize that trans people are just like you and me, and they just want to live their lives the way they want, and it's their right. So as a debut book, you picked up this sensitive topic, this transformational story, or a heroine's journey, I would say runs deep, rather deeper. So why pick this story of triumph?
Anil Dsouza
@anildsouza · 1:45
It also gives hope to people who have lost many things. Now in this case, for example, Manja. As he travels from Kodali to Bangalore. He is hopeful that something better is going to happen in his life. Then when he again comes back from Bangalore to back to Kodali. He's still hopeful that something better is going to be in his life. And so with the case of Sitarna as well. And finally, when Manja embarks on his epic journey to Cardiff
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 0:14
So, talking about your writing schedule, what was your writing schedule like? What kind of challenges did you face during the writing process, and how did you manage to keep up with your professional and personal life alongside writing a book?
Anil Dsouza
@anildsouza · 1:54
So the main challenges were just creating subplots within the stories or getting some characters more deeper in engaging them more between or among themselves. Yeah, these were the certain challenges. The main challenge for me was also to approach the publishers after I wrote the book, but that is on a different topic altogether. So
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 0:07
So, now that you mentioned about the publishing process, I would like to know, what kind of challenges did you face to get the book published?
Anil Dsouza
@anildsouza · 1:18
You well, the main challenge which I faced during this publishing process was that being new to this industry, I did not know how it works and many of the publishers also felt that since I'm a first time author, it was difficult for them to get the book out to the shelves
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 0:12
And I'm so glad that this book happened and it's seeing the light of the day. So, coming to my last question for this session, I would like to know, what can a reader expect from your book? What can they take away from this book?
Anil Dsouza
@anildsouza · 1:14
So, yeah, all in all, these are the few themes which can be taken by the reader, but I would still say the main theme would be to see trans people in a very different light and to get them included in the society
Siddhi Palande
@Book_gobbler · 0:16
It is an absolutely beautiful and sage thought there and I hope that the book reaches far and wide. Thank you so much Anil, for talking to me about your book. The gods must be smiling. It was an absolute delight talking to you. And my best wishes for the book
Anil Dsouza
@anildsouza · 0:13
Oh, thank you, Siddhi. The pleasure was all mine. To be honest, I'm really grateful to you for having taken time to sit with me and talk to me about the book. Thank you
Hello. First of all, thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to ask our questions, and it's really great to know about you. Anil Di soja and I really feel like the kind of theme with which you have written this particular book is really amazing. So my question to you is, I just wanted to know what inspired you to you make a story on this particular thing. From where did you derive your inspiration for starting this particular book? And I also have my second question
Anil Dsouza
@anildsouza · 2:43
Hi. Thank you for your question, and congratulations on your third book. The title is very interesting, so I think I'll be delighted to read this book to answer your questions. First thing, as I said earlier with my talk with Siddhi that long ago, I was just reading an article about a vice chancellor of a university who was a trans woman
But I still feel the way you have continued and the way you have put forward your points is really amazing. Loved the concept. So thank you so much for your reply, and I would surely read your book and then get back to you on multiple kind of questions that I have in my mind. And it was really great listening to you. And the kind of clarity that you have is really commendable and amazing. Thank you so much for that. Have a great day. Bye