The prolific best-selling author is impervious to critics and remains an unreformed big game hunter.
It is not often that you meet someone for lunch and he has already placed the order before you have arrived. And this is when you’re not late – in fact, a few minutes early – for the meeting. But the man I am meeting is Wilbur Smith, who loves to eat and calls himself a “carnivorous beast” when it comes to food, writes Aabhas Sharma.
We’re at Café Fontana at the Taj Palace, a venue convenient for Smith because he is staying at the hotel. Smith apologises for ordering early and says he is starving after a “light breakfast”. Since he has already ordered, the waiter immediately comes in with the menu and I settle for Cannelloni with Spinach and Pine Nut and a diet coke. Smith is waiting for his Grilled Norwegian Salmon with Butter Poached Potatoes and Boiled Egg. He doesn’t drink aerated drinks and chooses sparkling water.
At the age of 78, Smith looks extremely fit and at least 10 years younger and it would probably be fair to say that custom has not staled his infinite variety. His latest book, Those in Peril, is the 33rd in a prolific career. It was published eight months ago but he is in the country to promote it now. “I just didn’t get the time earlier because I always take a few months off after finishing a book,” he says. Smith has three homes, one in London, one in Cape Town and another in Switzerland. For someone in his seventies, he does a lot of “crazy things” — deep-sea diving or fishing in Switzerland in extreme conditions.
Born in Zambia, Smith is firmly rooted in the continent that figures so prominently in his books. His first book When the Lion Feeds was published in 1963 and since then he has churned out books almost every second year. As we wait for our food, he explains his fascination with Africa. According to him, Africa is a land of a million stories, which he has tried to tell through his books. The majority of his books have been based in Africa and he says he can’t help it: “It’s in my blood.”
I tell him that his books have always divided opinion and the literary critics aren’t too kind to him either. “I don’t write for them and I am aware that there are people who like my books or simply hate them. There is no middle ground in it,” he admits matter-of-factly. Does it bother him? Not at all. “Everyone has opinions and you have to take them in your stride,” he says.
I mention that although I haven’t read all his books, I thought Those in Peril was quite a gory novel — something for which he has been criticised a lot over the years. “Being gory is one of the meekest criticisms I get for my books. I have been called a sexist, sadist and a racist,” he replies cheerfully.
Our food arrives and Smith finds it hard to believe that I have been vegetarian all my life. “There’ so much to eat and you’re restricting yourself,” he remarks. He claims to have eaten crocodile, python and even lion meat. “Not that you will eat it, but I won’t recommend a lion to anyone,” he says. He isn’t too happy about the technology explosion in books and says arrogant companies like Google and Microsoft want to make e-readers popular. He has strong opinions about multinational companies and says he isn’t too comfortable about a lot of changes they are bringing about in the world.
Writing was something he always found interesting because his mother made him read almost every kind of book as a child. His father, on the other hand, wasn’t too keen that his son takes up full-time writing because he didn’t think it was a “real job”. “My father was a big game hunter and encouraged me to take up hunting as well. When I was 13, I shot my first lion.” It’s not something he is proud of but he says hunting and fishing are two things that take his mind off the rigors of life. He hunts in Africa, fishes in Switzerland and relaxes in London. “London is a crazy city but I can’t stay away from it for too long.” Harrods, he says jokingly, is his corner store.
He is enjoying his salmon; it’s been cooked just the way he likes it, he tells me. I can’t say the same about my extremely ordinary Cannelloni. Smith notices that and says “maybe it’s time to convert,” he winks playfully.
Before he became a writer, Smith took up a job as a chartered accountant but was like a fish out of water. He hated it and says it took its toll on his personal life as well. He now lives with his fourth wife, who is 38 years younger than him. His wife is sitting at a table next to us and keeps checking whether he is eating properly or if he needs something else. “She spoils me a lot,” he says.
Smith says at first he never understood women and two of his marriages ended because he was just not ready for them. His third wife Danielle, to whom he was married for 30 years, died from a brain tumour about eight years ago. He candidly admits that he loves women and he needs them. “They have this resilience and courage, which is hard to find in men,” he explains.
How does he manage to be so prolific? He does a lot of research after he has the basic plot in mind. Once the plot is worked out, he devotes seven hours a day for at least eight months to writing. After he finishes writing, he sends off the manuscript and takes off for a month or so. People, he says, are his biggest inspiration and he can talk to them almost about anything. “I don’t pick plots because I think they will sell more or will be liked by people. It’s the people with whom I interact who often lead me to my stories,” he explains.
He is enjoying his short – and second – visit to India. He is astonished to see how traffic works relatively smoothly in a city like Delhi. He asked his cab driver how people manage to drive. The cab driver told him, “Sir, you need three good things in Delhi. Good eyes, good brakes and good luck!” He laughs uproariously remembering this incident.
We decide to skip dessert because Smith says it’s time for him to catch a short afternoon nap ahead of a promotional event in the evening, and the next morning he is off to the Corbett National Park for three days. “Isn’t it ironic that most hunters turned to wildlife conservation later in their life,” he asks. Maybe they feel guilty, I reply. Is it something he plans to do as well? “You can’t take the hunter out of me,” he shakes his head as we walk off.
As we leave I ask him which of his books he likes the most. “I can’t answer that because all of them have been close to my heart and for all I feel that maybe I could have done a little bit more,” he says. It is something a lot of his critics also say about his books.
