The Journey That Changed Me: Vaseem Khan

The Journey That Changed Me: Vaseem Khan

Award-winning writer Vaseem Khan tells us how India's 'City of Dreams' turned him into an author

There's no denying it: Vaseem Khan is a high-flyer. Born and raised in Newham (one of the most deprived areas in the UK), Vaseem studied at the London School of Economics, one of the top universities in the world.

He spent a decade on the subcontinent, building a chain of high-end hotels, before returning to Britain to write The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, the first in a bestselling series of crime novels starring Ashwin Chopra, a demanding Mumbai inspector. and his unlikely sidekick, a year-old elephant named Baby Ganesh.

In 2020, after five Baby Ganesh novels, Vaseem released Midnight at Malabar House, the first in a new series starring Persis Wadia, India's first female police officer. In the meantime he has received a number of awards, including the coveted Historical Dagger from the Crime Writers' Association.

In his new novel The Dying Day, Persis is on the trail of a 600-year-old copy of Dante's Divine Comedy that was stolen from the Asiatic Society in Bombay.

Here, Vaseem tells us why India makes such a compelling backdrop and why it left a lasting impression.

You are a born Londoner. What do you like to do most in the city?

I'm a huge history buff and I find no place more inspiring than the British Museum. I like to grab my notepad and scribble notes as I stroll through the different galleries. My favorites are the ancient Egyptian exhibits and the clock section – I love old clocks.

Songquan Deng/ShutterstockThe British Museum is Vaseem's favorite place in London

You moved to the subcontinent for a decade in your mid-20s. Tell us about the adjustment period.

I went to India essentially as a Westerner. I still remember leaving Bombay Airport (as it was then called) and spotting a group of lepers and beggars milling around the taxi stand... India is an assault on the senses and at the beginning it was all a big adventure. It was only later, when I experienced some of the darker sides of Indian society, that I saw beyond the city's glittering exterior.

I went to India on a three-month contract and ended up spending a decade there, watching the country evolve from a semi-developed, post-industrial nation into a near-global superpower. When I returned to the UK, I decided to put all these incredible memories into a novel and so I wrote The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, in which we are introduced to a tough, honest police officer who only retires from the Mumbai Police in his late forties and realizes that he cannot give up his desire for justice in an inherently unjust society. He also has the unusual dilemma of caring for a year-old elephant that he inherits.

These books chronicle my own experiences of modern India and show the light and darkness of a rapidly changing nation. That first book became a Times bestseller, was translated around the world, and allowed me to write four sequels.

Both of your crime series are set in India. Why is this a compelling take?

We in the West are guilty of mythologizing India at times; to treat it as a land of swamis and snake charmers. The truth is that the country has so much more to offer, layers of gray amidst the bright colors.

Aiko3p/ShutterstockThe city of Mumbai turned Vaseem into an author

India is so big that it is more of a collection of cultures - and Mumbai represents a crossroads in its cosmopolitan nature. There are so many fascinating stories to tell in the city, and my books try to use as much of that diversity as possible to shed light on aspects of the country that we may not be as familiar with.

For example, in Bad Day at the Vulture Club I investigate the murder of a wealthy Parsi gentleman. The Parsis are a small but wealthy and influential community in Mumbai. They do not bury or burn their dead, but leave them in stone buildings called Towers of Silence for vultures to eat. What a perfect setting for a crime thriller!

Let’s get to the journey that changed you. Which region or journey influenced you the most?

I can't get past Mumbai/Bombay. I am an author today because I lived in India’s “City of Dreams” for years. The city got under my skin so much that I'm now working on my second series set there: historical crime novels called the Malabar House series.

The first book, Midnight at Malabar House - now an international bestseller and winner of the Crime Writers' Association's Historical Dagger Award 2021 - introduced us to India's first woman police officer, Persis Wadia.

More importantly, these books examine a key period in India's history, just a few years after independence, the horrors of Partition and the assassination of Gandhi. I feel like a documentary filmmaker chronicling the changes that took place in Indian society when the country took back the reins from the British. Everything packed into hopefully gripping crime stories!

Which trip would you like to repeat?

I went to Beijing over a decade ago and worked there for a few months. It was incredible. Interacting with the Chinese and understanding how they saw the world was something special. Most Chinese people I met back then were quite happy with their government.

A photo story/ShutterstockThe Great Wall of China

Of course, things may have changed since then as the country has opened up and people have become more aware of how other nations operate. My best memory is riding a camel on the Great Wall of China. I don't know what exactly a camel was doing up there.

Do you still have a dream destination that you haven't seen yet?

Resolute Island in the High Arctic. Years ago I wrote a historical crime novel set on a series of islands known as the Queen Elizabeth Islands. The book focuses on a small community of islanders known as Inuit.

CC BY-SA 3.0Resolute in the High Arctic is Vaseem's dream destination

I put the book there because I was amazed by the surroundings: temperatures below forty, crashing icebergs, polar bears. In the end, I decided not to submit the novel because I felt I needed authentic, first-hand experience before I could do the story justice. One day...!

Are you a planner or a spectator?

Anal holding planner. I'm that sad person who spends more energy creating itineraries for a vacation than the actual vacation. Even if we never stick to it, fulfilling a plan laid out on paper—a plan that mathematically optimizes the number of sights visited in a given period of time—is its own reward.

Hotel or hostel (or camping)?

I've worked in the 5 star hospitality industry for 10 years and have had many opportunities to sample the goods, so I'm a bit spoiled. Nothing beats a good hotel. Tip: The first thing you should look at is the toilets. If they shine, you've come to the right place.

What was your most important travel experience?

I married an Indian man and my family traveled from England for the wedding. Afterwards they accompanied us on our honeymoon. (Yes, we are very Asian.) We visited the Taj Mahal, then Jaipur, and finally flew down to spend a week in beautiful Goa. The trip remains a valuable memory of my late parents.

Abhisheklegit/ShutterstockHawa Mahal in Jaipur

After all, why travel?

Imagine if the first humans decided not to leave Africa. Traveling is built into our DNA. We are a restless, curious species. If this curiosity to seek new places, new wonders, new experiences died, then we would effectively die. This also works on an individual level. The day I decide I don't want to travel anymore is probably the day I should cash in my chips and take the final trip we're all supposed to take.

old=““>

For over a century, one of the world's greatest treasures, a 600-year-old edition of the Divine Comedy, has been safely housed in the Asian Society of Bombay. But when it disappears, the case ends up on Inspector Persis Wadia's desk along with the man charged with looking after it. The Dying Day evokes an era of darkness and pits Persis against her brethren, a changing India, and an evil with limitless intentions.

Main image: AIKO3P/Shutterstock

      .