Hi Khushboo, congratulations on the launch of The Mildly Chaotic World of Chi Kenny!
Readomania: The cover and title of your book are both intriguing. Tell us something about it? What is this world like?
Khushboo: The Mildly Chaotic World of Chi Kenny is a satire. So, the title is a sarcastic take on Chi Kenny’s super chaotic world, which is really a depiction of our world as well. The world in the book consists of animals, who are the consumers, and ape-man-like humans called ‘homins’, who are being reared for dairy and meat and leather and wool and everything else that can be obtained from their body parts. Like in our world, there is greed, commercialism, politics; and also suffering, guilt and love. All of these make this dystopian tale very real.
Chi Kenny, the protagonist, is a bespectacled, mild-mannered chicken with googly eyes. He wants to see only the good in people, rather, he chooses not to see the evil at all. Sometimes, that is an escapist tendency, as he tries to ignore the wrong that is happening right in front of him. But then, a time comes when he is directly affected by the factory farming industry and his pet ‘homin’ family gets taken from him. For the first time in his life, he is exposed to raw reality—the truth behind the Homin husbandry business. And he has no choice but to fight it. He is not the strongest, the smartest or the wealthiest of the lot. He is just a common neighbourhood chicken, who decides to take on the system in a legal battle, with the help of a crew of oddball members—a sassy hippo lawyer, an acerbic news channel reporter cat and an owl photo journalist among others.
Readomania: Why this unusual genre- Dystopian satire?
Khushboo: The whole story stemmed from a single point: That a lot of our indifference and cruelty comes from the fact that we, humans, as a species, ‘can’. That we are superior to the other animals—physically, mentally, emotionally, evolutionarily. So, a dystopian ‘flip’ would let the reader walk a mile in the animals’ shoes. That was the reason I chose dystopia.
And satire, because, I truly believe, the only way we could ever accept our mistakes is by laughing at them. By using dystopian satire, I’ve tried to do two things: One, make characters ‘real’ enough for the reader to identify with them. And second, by making the characters ‘animal’ enough for the reader to feel detached—for them to see our world as it is today.
Readomania: This is an unusual topic? How did you decide to write on it?
Khushboo: I was reading a book called Why we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows? by Melanie Joy, and this one question popped up in my mind—What would happen if we switched places with animals? Would the world be any different? I realised, our perspective would change. And then, I decided to spin a story around this theme. It is not the intention of the book to do any kind of propaganda. All I started out to do was show my readers how things really are, and nudge them to ask the right questions, to themselves. If a few of them ask these questions aloud, my job is more than done.
Readomania: The characters in your book have intriguing names. Tell us more about them.
Khushboo: I was trying to create a world which every reader, whether in India, the US or anywhere else, would identify with. So I needed names with universal appeal. At the same time, it is a whole new world, with a mindboggling number of characters. There is this whole factory farm ecosystem with a million workers, and a million homins. If I were to name them Mary, Lucy, Jack or Jitendra, they would be confusing to the reader. So, I came up with these ‘puny’ names, which give instant recognition and recall value. It could be the species of the animal—like Judge Tie Grrr who is a tiger, or Chi Kenny himself, who is a chicken; or it could be a personality trait—like Bull Dozer is an insanely strong bull, and Ca Hoot is an owl who gets all inside gup-shup! Then there are the buffalo brothers who supervise the factory farm—Buh Fellow, Buh Loon because he is loony and Buh Foon because he is rowdy. Then there is Ram Bow, a sophisticated ram business tycoon and his fried Mr Hiss Hyde who is a toxic leather baron-cum-pharma giant, and a snake.
But my personal favourites have to be the pigs and the sows who are farm factory workers. There is Sow Kind, and Sow Meticulous, Sow Secretive and Sow Vile, to name a few.
Readomania: This book talks about an imaginary world, with hard-hitting issues that also exist in our world. What kind of research goes into writing this kind of story?
Khushboo: I read a whole lot of non-fiction books on how animals are treated on the farm—most prominently the works of Jhonathan Safran Foer, Poorva Joshipura and others. I saw a lot of documentaries and that was a gut-wrenching, eye-opening experience. There is this documentary Ma Ka Doodh on YouTube, I think everyone must watch it. To get a grasp on what dairy means in the Indian scenario. I also read fiction Barn 8 by Deb Olin Unferth, which particularly affected me.
Reading all of this altered me in a very basic way, yes. And my endeavour has been to magnify this impact on the reader through fiction.
Readomania: How is your book different from George Orwell’s Animal Farm?
Khushboo: Orwell’s book is iconic! And I am hugely flattered to be even mentioned in the same sentence as him! Animal Farm is dystopian, yes, because the farm animals drive out the humans and occupy the same ecosystem and eventually become greedy and power hungry like the very humans they drove out. It makes us look at a certain political scenario and through satire look at what a fool we are making of ourselves.
On the other hand, in The Mildly Chaotic World of Chi Kenny, it is us ‘humans’ who are stepping into the animals’ shoes. We are being cultivated for our milk, meat, leather wool and what not. Meanwhile, the humanoid animals, with their quirks and scathing satire, make us reflect on what we are becoming, and where we are headed.
Both books aim to convey harsh truths through humour. Chi Kenny’s world is here to paint a picture of our world in its most raw form, and yet let the reader not take it personally. It is an attempt to jolt the readers out of their indifference, while ticking them.
Readomania: Who is your target audience? Who should read your story?
Khushboo: Everyone 13 years and above is my target audience. You love fiction, grab the book. You love non-fiction, grab the book. Fantasy? Grab it. Humour? Grab it! You care about our world? Grab it! Don’t care about our world? Most certainly grab it! You are a vegan/animal lover? You will love it. You are NOT an animal lover; you think all of it is hogwash and humans are the superior species and evolution chose us to rule etc.? You will most certainly want to read it!
Readomania: Which is your most favourite character from The Mildly Chaotic World of Chi Kenny?
Khusbhoo: I see myself in a lot of characters. Be it Ma Hen’s protectiveness for her son, or Fie Esty’s sass as a lawyer in a man’s, ahem, male’s world. Or even in Dr Doll Fin’s concern over the ethical issues in her research. But I guess nothing beats Chi Kenny—his awkwardness, his I-will-continue-to-wear-my-rose-coloured-glasses attitude, his vulnerability and eventually the courage he summons, to fight for his loved ones makes him a favourite. I would say the narrator gives him tough competition, but, well, I cannot reveal the secret of the narrator, right?
Readomania: How did writing this book change you? Also, you are an eye surgeon and a writer. How does your profession as a medical practitioner influence your writing?
Khushboo: Every story I write changes me. It helps me find my voice, just a bit more. But this book, in particular, changed me in a major way. I turned vegan after I finished my first draft. In fact, I was stuck with the courtroom scenes in the climax. And it would just not go ahead. I turned vegan, and Voila! The story wrote itself! I believe it brought more authenticity to my narrative.
For the second part of the question, I believe it is my privilege to get a peek into the lives and the vulnerable side of my patients. It helps me be more self-aware and write with greater sensitivity.
Readomania: Your book has travelled places. You had the chance to meet Mrs Maneka Gandhi and discuss your book. Tell us something about that. What is your vision with this book?
Khushboo: Ah yes! Mrs Maneka Gandhi has graciously reviewed my book, and nothing makes me more proud. She is a dedicated animal rights activist over and above the other million things she does, and her sincerity shines through every word she speaks. Our meeting was an enlightening experience, and I am grateful I had a chance to discuss my vision for The Mildly Chaotic World of Chi Kenny with her.
I want this story to trigger an internal dialogue in the reader’s mind. I have no intention of propagating any ideology. I want the reader to question himself/herself, our set beliefs, our system and ultimately, our conscience. And this with sarcasm, so that it stays with the reader long after shutting the book and emerging out of Chi Kenny’s world.
Thank you for speaking to us, Khushboo. We wish you and Chi Kenny continued success!
Khushboo Shah is an eye surgeon by day and a maverick storyteller by night. Balancing her roles as both healer and wordsmith, she navigates between the worlds of medicine and literature by drawing inspiration from her patients and regaling them with generous doses of anecdotes.
Her writing style, characterised by a blend of prose and poetry, is infused with a touch of wry wit and introspection.
Khushboo’s superpower lies in her desire to change the world, one reader at a time, through her writing. Her narrative universe thrives on stories with unusual settings, blended genres, whimsical characters, dark humour, and unexpected endings.
Comments