How Tamil author Charu Nivedita has created a cult following for his books (and his persona)

I can still hear the audience member beside me pointing at Charu Nivedita and asking her friend, “Why is he dressed like that?” Nivedita was wearing a blue velvet tee shirt and ripped jeans with two thick gold chain necklaces and funky shoes, almost like he stepped out of a novelty rap music video. Not only is the attire unusual for a writer but what makes it even more unusual is that it’s a 60-year-old man wearing it.

He’s aware he’s making a statement, going against the grain of how a man his age should dress, but also manufacturing a plumage that’ll make you turn your head as if to confirm that you did see what you just saw. When you talk to Nivedita, you’ll ask yourself, “Did I hear that right?” And when you read Conversations with Aurangzeb, you’ll scoff, laugh, roll your eyes, and utter, “What?” in exasperation. Perhaps grudgingly, you'll also find yourself flipping through the pages.

Nivedita's Conversations with Aurangzeb, translated by Nandina Krishnan, is a “novel”, clarifies its subtitle. These aren’t transcripts, it seems to suggest, and perhaps, to the credit of the publisher, a warning to readers to avoid conflating this book with all their non-fiction titles. Not that they would...

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