PW: Is Bunker 13 your first book? If so, what made you decide to write it? Your press kit suggests one particular story you covered for Tehelka triggered this.
Aniruddha Bahal: Not really. In 1991, as a 24-year-old I published a work of fiction in India. I think all of 500 copies were printed. Every writer has to perhaps go through half a million words before writing anything of merit. I paid my dues with early, unpublished writing and, of course, my reporting career. Though Operation Westend, the undercover defense investigation that exposed corruption in defense procurement in India, broke before I finished the book, I didn't really borrow from it, though I was tempted to do so. That would have been surreal, but perhaps too much for the Indian judicial officers to swallow.
PW: Being jailed for reportage seems extreme by Western journalistic standards. How would you compare Indian and American journalism? How does book publishing compare between the two countries?
AB: Well, I wasn't jailed for Operation Westend. It was more a case of the system trying to find an excuse to teach me a lesson. An officer from the Central Bureau of Investigation, which has been trying to frame us in an Official Secrets Act case for a story that we did in October 2000, came to my office to interrogate me and some staffers. I asked him to serve us with some written notice first as that was the way our lawyers had advised us. But he failed to do so and instead lodged a complaint that I had manhandled and threatened him. They arrested me the next day, but the judge saw through the case and granted me bail within a few hours. Fortunately, the entire Indian media expressed their solidarity with me around the incident and labeled it a witch-hunt. I still have to take permission from court to travel abroad. I have to surrender my passport after I return home. As for book publishing, there is no comparison at all. The Indians are nowhere on the map. A bestseller here would be 10,000 copies!
PW: How much time did you spend undercover working on the story for which you were incarcerated?
AB: The undercover investigation lasted from August 2000 to January 2001. It led to the resignation of the defense minister of India, the BJP and Samata Party presidents, and enquiry proceedings against some officers of the Indian army.
PW: When will Bunker 13 be published in India? What has been the pre-publication reaction there to the book? Is the government pressuring you on this?
AB: It will be released in June so the reaction is yet to be seen. But the Solicitor General of India in a commission of enquiry alleged that the advances I got from Faber and Faber and FSG for Bunker 13 were illicit gains that I had made abroad and was now channeling through to India with the aid of these publishing houses. A fantastic theory and one which is an example of how excruciatingly dumb and malign institutions can become even in very stable democracies.
PW: What is the rights situation of Bunker 13? U.K. rights, book clubs, film, etc.
AB: It's already sold Italian and Spanish rights and some more are in the wings. My agent would be the right person to answer the question.
PW: Did your journalistic background help you in your search for a U.S. publishing contract? Did you go through other countries first?
AB: I don't think so. The sale was swift. Gillon Aitken, my agent based out of London, sold it first to Faber and then, within a fortnight, to FSG. I am lucky to have an agent like him. He represents Sir V.S. Naipaul and used to represent Salman Rushdie as well.
