Graphic novelist Parismita Singh first work, The Hotel at the End of the World, introduces you to a woman pining for love, a prophet and a little girl. All 3 have one thing in common the desire to tell a story
Graphic novelist Parismita Singh first work, The Hotel at the End of the World, introduces you to a woman pining for love, a prophet and a little girl. All 3 have one thing in common the desire to tell a story
It took 29 year-old Parismita Singh two-and-a-half years to write her first graphic novel. But it took her even longer to realise that she actually wanted to write one.
"For a long time, sketching was just something I used to do. But after I read Art Spiegelman's Maus: A Survivor's Tale, a graphic novel that recounts the struggle of Spiegelman's father to survive the Holocaust as a Polish Jew, I knew I had something here. 
I knew that if I wanted to tell a story, then this would be the way to do it," says the Assamese author whose influences range from Commando war comics and Buddhist art to World War II.
The novel, which is set in a hotel at the end of the world, is stage to a handful of strangers, each of whom recounts a story.
The two friends who are on a journey to China, tell tales of bridges that lead to heaven. Pema, the hotel owner speaks of a love affair gone sour because her father was a night walker who collected souls for the devil, while her husband tells the tale of the soldier's spirit who realises one day that war never ends. A chat with Parismita about her fairytale characters:
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Your stories have a "Once upon a time..." quality to them. Do you see them as modern-day fairy tales?
Not at all, but they do have a hint of folk-lore.
I have tried following the tradition of oral storytelling that's so common in the world. We all remember our grandparents telling us stories when were young. I have given the storytelling format a visual form.
Are these characters a reflection of people in your own life?
Maybe they are (she grins). It's a sort of a universal setting. People are sitting across each other and talking, and eventually, stories unfold (that's only if you don't have TV). So these are fairly general situations, with fairly normal people, but yes, they are inspired by people I've met along the way. And though they may seem like normal people, their stories are magical. Can you actually believe this bunch of people?
A soldier in your novel talks about wars that never end. Is that a comment on the times we live in?
That's something I have no comment on, but yes my reader can take that away from the book. If you notice the etchings on the warplanes in that story, you will realise that it talks about many different wars. And one day, this soldier gets up realises that once war starts, it's tough to stop.
Your characters sound melancholic.
Are they? To me, they are just people, and I've stopped looking at them in a realistic way I don't care if they are ugly or pretty, they are just people to me. People I have known for a long time. But if you see them as melancholic, and feel for them, then my work is done.
The Hotel at the End of the World has been published by Penguin and is available at leading bookstores for Rs 350.
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