Award-winning author of children's books Payal Kapadia was at a writer's workshop when the character of a school bully came to her mind and her search for the perfect school for the bully led to her new book 'Horrid High'.
The book, published by Puffin India, is an adventure in the world's most horrid school. It tells the story of 11-year-old Ferg Gottin, whose parents look for a school to dump him and forget about him.
At Horrid High, everything is downright horrid, from Chef Gretta's cooking to Master Mynus's truly mental maths classes. But Ferg finds four friends with extraordinary skills, and they make a series of startling discoveries about their horrid school.
'Horrid High' and its sequel, 'Horrid High: Back to School', are about "coming of age, freedom and rebellion, and about how you can survive the toughest odds by staying strong and sticking with your friends," says Kapadia, adding both books are "rowdy, rambunctious, rollicking adventures set in the world's most horrid school".
"I was in a writer's workshop when the character of a school bully called Volumina Butt came to my mind, the sort of bully who demolishes her victims by sitting on them! Of course, before too long, my imagination had galloped off in search of a school where Volumina Butt could feel at home," the winner of the Crossword Book Award 2013 for Best Children's Book for her debut novella "Wisha Wozzariter" told PTI.
"Voila, Horrid High! Admittedly, being a mother of two girls myself, I felt quite tickled by the idea of a school where you could dump your children and forget about them," she adds.
Her characters have very interesting names. Asked if there was any particular reason for this, she says, "I like to base my books in an entirely fictional world, and I wanted my characters' names to reflect the essence of who they are, rather than where they are from.
"For instance, Dr Bloom, the science teacher in 'Horrid High: Back to School', is obsessed with flowers. Colonel Craven, the sports teacher, is a man who is easily spooked. I thoroughly enjoyed the alliteration and the word-play in conjuring up these names - my absolute favourite is Fermina Filch, because not too many kids (or grown-ups) can figure out right off why I named her Filch. I like keeping them guessing.
On whether a bad side of anything is essential to conjure
up one's imagination, Kapadia says, "Well, I think horridness taken to an illogical extreme is just so much fun to work with! On a more serious note, though, real life is complicated, and I think that children are sophisticated readers who can appreciate that.
"Exploring the 'bad side' is about acknowledging that even childhood is more complex than we assume it to be. Schools can be tough places and I think everyone has a school memory of a bully, or a mean teacher, or an embarrassing moment. By using comedy, you can grasp at the truth of things."
Kapadia relishes the imaginative freedom that comes with writing for young adults and children.
"It's an incredible way to revisit my own childhood and to grow up again with my two daughters. I think writing for young adults is challenging and exciting because it demands so much originality of voice and boldness of imagination to write something that can hook them right away. Besides, the feedback after 'Horrid High' was published was terrific. I had so many letters from young readers asking me my favourite question: What happens next? How could I not write the sequel? I simply had to," she says.
