Jugal Hansraj on his children's novel The Coward and the Sword, and the world he wants his son to grow up in

Jugal Hansraj, who is still remembered for his debut as a child actor in Shekhar Kapur’s film Masoom (1983), is upbeat about his newfound calling as an author of children’s books. He has just released his book The Coward and the Sword. It is a novel about finding courage within, shunning violence, and winning hearts by rising above old grudges, and extending a hand of friendship.

Packing in adventure, romance, and suspense, it comes four years after his first book Cross Connection – The Big Circus Adventure (2017). Hansraj – who loved reading PG Wodehouse as a child – speaks to us about the inspiration behind the new book, the world he wants to raise his son Sidak in, his experience of fatherhood, his writing process, and upcoming projects. Edited excerpts from the interaction below. Your new book T_he Coward and the Sword_ is a beautiful story about courage, faith, and establishing peace. You have dedicated it to your mentor, Daisaku Ikeda, President of Soka Gakkai International. How did your own practice of Nichiren Buddhism nourish the writing of this novel? I have been practising and studying Nichiren Buddhism for about 10 years, and the philosophy has had a profound effect on me. I guess that seeped into the book, sometimes consciously and sometimes subconsciously. In fact, Sensei Daisaku Ikeda is also a children’s author so that too was definitely an inspiration.

This story emerged in my mind with the birth of my son, and when I re-read a quote by Nichiren Daishonin: “A sword is useless in the hands of a coward.” That inspired me to write.

A lot of content for children today, including books and video games, contains images of graphic violence that desensitises them to the suffering of others. However, your book focuses on creating soldiers of peace rather than soldiers of war. What motivated you to go ahead with this unconventional idea? Once again, the inspiration to go in that direction came from reading Sensei Daisaku Ikeda’s writings, where he talks a lot about world peace. Apart from that, just seeing the news every day, and seeing what goes on in the world around us, I kind of developed a fatigue for all the strife one is constantly faced with. I thought about flipping the idea, and creating some positivity. You have reversed the letters in Sidak, the name of your son, to derive the name of Kadis, who is the prince in your novel. Sidak means aspiration. Would you say that this book is an expression of the hopes that you have for your son? Yes, I’ve definitely derived the name Kadis from my son’s name, Sidak. Well-caught there! Though I didn’t write the character of the prince with the purpose of hoping my son turns out to have similar noble qualities. As a parent, I would naturally hope for him to have a positive, courageous, and encouraging perspective.

How has your experience of fatherhood contributed to your experience of writing children’s books? Have you grown more aware of the world that you would want Sidak and other children to grow up in? What kind of inputs does he offer when he listens to the stories that you tell him?  I wrote my first book before my son was born but yes, being a father has definitely made me a better writer, with aspirations to live in a better, more peaceful world. He is still too young to offer inputs but he does enjoy story time where either my wife Jasmine or I read books and stories to him. He does ask a lot of questions as I suppose any curious young mind would. You grew up in Mumbai, and you are now raising your son in New York. What differences do you notice between these two childhoods? New York and Mumbai are similar in many ways but also different. Growing up in apartment buildings, having building friends to play with downstairs, the hustle-bustle, and exposure to a variety of communities and events are what I find very similar. In a way, his childhood will be similar to mine. My father loved spending time and playing games and sports with my older brother Sunil and me. I’m trying to emulate that as I go along. I hope I can be as good as my father was. The Coward and the Sword seems to advocate for alternative visions of masculinity that emphasise kindness and inner strength as opposed to cut-throat competition and the desire to dominate others. If you had read this book as a child, what kind of impact do you think it may have had on you? I believe it’s more difficult and requires a lot more maturity and courage to make friends out of enemies than it is to make enemies out of friends! Ultimately, it’s the inner strength that determines everything. Reading something like that would have definitely had a positive impact on me as a child. But since I’ve been reading thoughts along those lines in the last 10 years or so, I would say better late than never! Could you talk a little about Sara, Tara, and Myo, the young women in this book who play an important role in brokering peace? How did these characters shape up in your mind? In real life, women rarely get a seat at the discussion table when countries in conflict sit down to talk about their issues. Growing up with my mother, I always admired her inner strength though outwardly, she was very soft, caring, and affectionate. When the chips were down, Mom would always up her game, and that’s something that has stayed with me. And secondly, my wife Jasmine is very strong emotionally. She is never afraid of speaking her mind about something she believes in. She is someone I admire and look up to in many ways so I suppose these two beautiful ladies have inspired the important women characters in the book. Sara’s character is, in many ways, inspired by my wife Jasmine. Speaking of Kofu and Molonga, the kingdoms that used to be united but fell apart, Prince Kadis says, “We are still fighting to justify what our elders were fighting about.” Do you think that the children of India and Pakistan could convince decision makers in these countries to pursue peace? Your father was born in Karachi. Have you ever visited or thought of visiting Pakistan? Yes, my father (cricketer Pravin Hansraj) was born in Karachi, Undivided India, before the Partition. I would like to take a more general view of everyone, everywhere. This is in fact true of any corner of the world. The general populace of the world would be very happy to live in peace. We are all just wanting to survive and live happy lives as can be with our loved ones, so the problems and aspirations of almost everyone in the world are basically the same. So why not help each other? Let us talk about the process of writing. How did you incorporate the feedback on your first book while writing your second one? What aspects of your writing have you honed between then and now? Have you been taking any courses in fiction writing? I haven’t taken any courses in writing though I’ve been a voracious reader since childhood so I guess that helped develop a love of books in me. The feedback for my first book was generally very positive, and that encouraged me to go ahead and write another one. My process is that first I visualise my story as if it’s unfolding on the big screen, and then I start to make notes and develop it from there. Could you talk a little about the stunning illustrations by Ruchi Shah, and how they add to the experience of the book?  I think Ruchi Shah has done a marvellous job with the illustrations. I had a different set of ideas in my head but I thought it best to go with Tina Narang at HarperCollins India, as I had a lot of trust in her as well as the experience of the publishing house in general. They’ve done a lot of this, more than me so best to go with the experts! When I saw Ruchi’s work, I saw how well it created a gentle and calming feeling, which was what the feel of the book was. In the acknowledgements section of your book, you have thanked Joe Sheth who was your English teacher at Campion School in Mumbai. What are some of your fondest memories of him?  Oh definitely! Not just me but every one of his students would have something fond and nice to say about Mr Joe Sheth. He was the best teacher anyone could have hoped for, and his style of teaching was very democratic, and he made English fun. Apart from him being extremely knowledgeable about all sorts of literature, he made us feel reading is the most fun activity there is! I wanted to be able to speak like him but I guess I’m far from that! Terrible pity that he passed away at the very young age of 44. If alive longer, he would have enthralled many more generations of students with his knowledge and wit. What are you working on at the moment? I have recently completed two films as an actor. Shiv Shastri Balboa is written and directed by Ajayan Venugopalan. It features Anupam Kher and Neena Gupta. It was filmed in the US this July and August. After that, I acted in a New York University short film titled Deli Boy. Then I came to India to shoot for a Netflix show. I have been requested to not talk much about it yet. I have been busy the last few months, and I am grateful for that. I am also working on Book 2 of The Coward and the Sword. The Coward and the Sword is published by HarperCollins India. Chintan Girish Modi is a Mumbai-based writer who tweets @chintan_connect.