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The New Age Man Cometh
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SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY meets Patrick Neate, New Age writer and music journalist from London, on his maiden visit to New Delhi this week.
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Patrick Neate... Frank words in New Delhi. Photo: V.V. Krishnan.
PATRICK NEATE is a music journalist but does not play any musical instrument and sings "only in the shower." The Londoner has four novels, few short stories and recognitions like the prestigious Whitbread Novel Prize and Betty Trask Award to talk about but the comment he is often hit with is, `I don't think I like you so much.' When not off to Lusaka, Africa, he can be found in Book Slam@Cherry Jam, London's only literary nightclub playing music, reading excerpts from his books, recite poetry and share a few jokes with the audience.
At the Barista outlet in New Delhi's Connaught Place this week to "kind of do" what he does at Cherry Jam at the invitation of the British Council, Patrick instantly comes out as one who is a little away from the herd. "I write about the contemporary British and Black British experience in different fields. For obvious reasons, I come under criticism. There are people who try to decide what is authentic culture and what is not. But I am too thick-skinned to be affected by it," he laces his toothed words with a syrupy smile. Coming into reckoning with the novel "The Twelve Bar Blues" in 2001, the British rolled out a saga spanning three continents and two centuries about jazz and juju, about fate, family and friendship which finally unfolds in Louisiana.
"It was a rambling epic. Brought out by Penguin, it is available in the Indian markets too," he says. An abundance of African influence can be traced in his pages, thanks to his umpteen visits to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania. A fan of hip-hop music, Patrick's second release last year was a non-fiction on this genre: "Where You Are At: Notes From The Frontline of a Hip Hop Planet". And then, his maiden film script, "The Tesseract" is scheduled for release later this year and he has a project on verse going with Channel Four.
To add to it, his third book, "London Pigeonwars" brought out by Viking, is also on the stands since April last year. "It is a book about the London city which has become morally corrupt. It is an allegory about amorality so prevalent in modern life," describes Patrick, looking somewhat reprehensible about it.
On his maiden India visit, his first stop was Bangalore, where he says, he checked out a few nightclubs and found them "interesting." In Delhi too, he got into a few joints, "The scene is good," he comments. Also, on his list of dos was bookstore hunting. "Unlike in Britain, CDs are less expensive in India than books. Thankfully, Britain still does not look at books as luxury items. Interestingly, people are now reading more there. The London literary scene is quite strong and vibrant," he remarks.
But is there space for all? "I am still surviving," he says.
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