Valley of the Rats: Interview with author Mahtab Narsimhan

 

Valley of the Rats

Written by Mahtab Narsimhan
DCB
978-1-77086-628-7
232 pp.
Ages 9-12
September 2021 

Reviewed here

 

This week I had the privilege of interviewing 

author Mahtab Narsimhan about her 

most recent middle-grade novel, Valley of the Rats, 

for the Ontario Library Association's Superconference. 

Because that interview could only be attended 

by conference delegates, I am posting that essential Q & A here.  

Enjoy!

Author Mahtab Narsimhan

 

Helen Kubiw:   The setting of Valley of the Rats is both a little creepy and a whole lot of fascinating. Is the actual valley a myth, a reality or a figment of your imagination?

Mahtab Narsimhan:  The valley and village of Imdur is pure imagination but the roots of it lie in fact, as is often the case with storytellers. I saw a National Geographic documentary on YouTube about the Karni Mata temple in Rajasthan which houses 20,000 rats. They’re revered instead of reviled and that fascinated and horrified me.

I’ve lived in the city for most of my life and recently moved to a rural community. There’s a lot here that scares me. Grass snakes, geckos, frogs and mice…basically anything that creeps, crawls, or flies. The best stories are where you’ve channeled your fear into words and so was born…Valley of the Rats.


HK:  I think one of the strengths of your books is that you showcase cultures and places with which all young readers might not be familiar. You definitely do this in Valley of the Rats both with Krish’s family and the village of Imdur. What do you think the benefits are of exposing children to different cultures?

Mahtab Narsimhan:  Thank you, Helen, I try. It’s important for children to be exposed, at an early age, to literature which serves not only as a mirror but as a window or a sliding door. It creates empathy and acceptance of the Other. I can only hope that in the future this word (Other) is extinct and that no one notices differences between people and cultures, only similarities.   

HK:    Have you ever had to deal with rats, individually as a pet or on a larger scale, like an infestation. If so, when and where, and how did you cope?

Mahtab Narsimhan:  True Story: While I was editing Valley of the Rats, a tiny mouse found its way indoors. I discovered it, shivering with fright on the steps leading down to my office, at 5.30am which is when I write. I screamed for my husband to put it back outdoors. I wish I’d taken a picture to share with the students! My imagination is much larger (and braver!) than reality. I could never have lived through some of the stuff that I put my main character, Krish, through.

While growing up in Mumbai, I lived in an old neighbourhood which had rats the size of kittens. And during the monsoon season, they’d be out and about. If you recall, they even made an appearance in Mission Mumbai.

HK:   At its heart, Valley of the Rats is about survival: survival of a people abandoned by their government, and a young boy enduring challenging circumstances. What strategies of survival do you think kids could apply to their own lives to ease them through difficulties?

Mahtab Narsimhan:  Great question, Helen. I truly believe that each of us has the strength to deal with whatever comes our way. We need to believe in ourselves, dig deep for courage, and most important, ask for help when we need it. 

Krish is a germophobe but he’s trying to change and bond with his father, which is the reason he asked to go on this camping trip. Krish has always relied on his father to be the leader but when things go wrong, he knows it’s up to him to get them both out of this dangerous situation. By seeing the Other, more clearly, he learns to control his fear and take help from an unexpected source. (I’m being a bit vague here so as not to give spoilers for those who have yet to read the book).

What I hope readers will take away from this story is that no situation is hopeless. There is always a way out if you try hard enough and are willing to try something new. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. It’s not a sign of weakness but a sign of courage. You only fail if you stop trying.

HK:    Another theme of Valley of the Rats is conflict and all the kinds that kids learn about in school are present here: man vs. self, man vs. man, man vs. the environment, and even man vs. society. Which do you think drives the story most?

Mahtab Narsimhan:  Conflict is the engine that drives a story and one of the exercises I do when plotting is to list all the ways I can include conflict. I believe many types of conflict add depth and breadth to a story. They will work as long as they are well paced, and the reader has pockets of respite between the drama and the high-stakes action.

HK:   In addition to an action-filled plot, Valley of the Rats is very much a character study. First and foremost is Krish whose anxiety is almost crippling though he has found ways to cope, like using hand sanitizer constantly and chewing candies to calm. Why choose to have him deal with anxiety?

Mahtab Narsimhan:  These days, almost all of us have anxieties. Most of us have learned to cope with them and carry on. I’m a bit of a germophobe myself and always worry about bathroom doorknobs and grocery cart handles, among other things I have to touch in public spaces. When I’m anxious, I chew gum to calm down. So, there’s a little bit of me in Krish.
 

Most readers invest time in reading a story because they care about a character and by the end of the story a character must change, must grow and/or learn something new. If the character is the same at the beginning and at the end, it leaves the reader dissatisfied and feeling as if they’ve wasted their time.   
 

I wanted to show character change and how better to show it in a story than to have a character hate something in the beginning and then accept it in the end. Or a person deathly afraid of something and then accepting of it at the end.

 

This change is part of my plotting process using the seven-point story structure. My method is to plot backward and write forward. With Krish, I knew the change I wanted in him by the end of the story, and so, he had to be the exact opposite, in the beginning. Once I have the beginning and the end, I plot the incidents in the middle which lead to that change. 

HK:   Because of Krish’s anxiety and his relationship with his father, the boy’s self-confidence is sadly lacking. In fact, he is always comparing himself to his cousin Anjali–as does his father–whom he sees as brave, outgoing and optimistic. What would you say to kids who feel bad about themselves when they compare themselves to others?

Mahtab Narsimhan:  I would say don’t. It’s easier said than done because even as adults we suffer from “comparinitis.” Unfortunately, this also starts with adults who constantly compare their kids to others (family or neighbours or school friends), instead of focusing on what their kids are good at and nurturing those qualities. 

 

To kids who feel bad about this comparison, I would say:

• Find the things you’re really good at and appreciate those qualities.
• Write down a list of goals you’d like to achieve. This could be for a day, a week, a month or a year.
• At the end of that period see how far along you’ve come. If you’ve achieved those goals, celebrate. If not, see what else you could have done to make them happen.
• Above all, try. You only fail if you stop trying. (As you can tell, this is my own mantra).
  

It truly is a matter of mindset! I love this quote by Thomas Edison, one of the most successful innovators in American history. “I have not failed 10,000 times—I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”

HK:   Early in the book, Krish recalls a bit of wisdom from his dad: “Argue for your limitations and they’re yours.” How would you explain this to kids?

Mahtab Narsimhan:  If you constantly tell people why you cannot do something, or why you’re bad at it, you start believing it yourself and you will continue to be bad at that activity. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. You believe it and therefore you don’t try hard enough and hence you fail at it. 

 

Instead, if you tell yourself that you’ll get better at something with practice, that’s what you will do. You’re no longer making excuses for why you’re bad at something, you’re trying hard to get better at it. And practice always makes you better. 

 

Great example: I hate math and for the longest time I’ve told anyone who’ll listen that I get an allergy when I do math, I’m so bad at it, etc. Since I had a ready made excuse, I didn’t try to do well and I continued to do badly. 

 

Fast forward to the present when I have to run my own business and now I have to be good at numbers to make sure I’m doing it right. I stopped making excuses, learned what I had to, and asked for help when I needed it. I no longer say I’m bad at math or numbers. I just tell myself I’m getting better at it each day.

HK:    If there is one character whom I liked the least, it would have to be Krish’s dad. He’s willing to lie and be deceitful just to get what he needs and wants. Then he tells Krish he expects him to keep his word and doesn’t do so himself. Not only does he deceive his son, he is especially disrespectful of the people of Imdur who had rescued them. Worse yet, he acts like Krish is a disappointment to him. Though this is really his dad’s issue, Krish has to find a way to deal with a less than honourable dad whom he struggles to please. What advice do you have for kids on dealing with parents who are less than we expect of them? 

Mahtab Narsimhan:  In Indian culture we’re taught to always respect our elders. That they’re always right. In this particular instance, Krish’s Dad was a perfect character to showcase that sometimes adults make the wrong decisions too. That is the time to follow your own instincts and do what is right. If you believe it’s the right path, others will follow. When Krish finally took charge of the situation and told his Dad how the plan would go, his Dad not only followed but was proud of him. Krish managed to do all this without being disrespectful and standing his ground. This is what I hope readers can do too. Kids have very little agency in life, but they have their beliefs and a sense of right and wrong. If they hold on to it, others will have no choice but to follow. 

HK:    Though I don’t want to give too much away, there is a supernatural element to the story. Why did you add this? Also, do you believe in the supernatural?

Mahtab Narsimhan:  I love the fantasy genre. Adding a supernatural element was fun and it added another layer to the story.

I, personally, don’t believe in the supernatural though ghost stories, the occult, etc have always fascinated me and they’re great reads. In fact, I’ll be releasing a trilogy this spring which can best be described as Goosebumps meets Asian Mythology and the third novel in the series is called POSSESSED: The Ouija Board.

HK:    You’ve written picture books, early readers, middle-grade and young adult novels. I think your middle-grade novels, whether for younger readers (ages 8-12) or older ones (10-14), are especially well-received, as was The Third Eye which won the Silver Birch Award of the Forest of Reading. Do enjoy writing middle-grade fiction?

Mahtab Narsimhan:  It’s my absolute favourite age-group to write for. I'm currently working on another middle-grade trilogy set on Mars. Wish me luck because it’s one setting I will need to research online rather than visiting.

🐀🐀🐀

It was a wonderful interview 

and lovely to chat with Mahtab Narsimhan.

 

Many thanks to Mahtab Narsimhan 

for the pleasure of this interview 

 

and to Chantelle Cho, Sales & Marketing Assistant 

at Cormorant Books/DCB, for facilitating this event.

🐀🐀🐀

The video of this interview is now available at Mahtab Narsimhan's channel at https://youtu.be/Y_rIDTmiXDE.