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BALI RAI (Meet the Author)

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1.- Ask the writer these questions. Then, read what he says and find the answers.

1. Place of birth.

2. Date of birth.

3. Where he lives.

4. Where / what / study.

5. What he did before he became a writer.

6. Name of his first book.

7. What he has been doing since his first book was published.

8. Favourite writers.

9. Music he likes.

10. Football team he supports.

Before his first book was published

I was born in Leicester in 1971 and have lived there for most of my life apart from the five years I spent in
London, doing a bit of uni work and a whole lot of other stuff. I eventually graduated in Politics (I think my
professor took pity on me ) from Southbank University in 1994. Upon leaving uni I decided that I had to get
a job and join the real world. This led to a period in which I did some really boring jobs, like selling random
things over the phone,managing the stacking of shelves and letting people into a cinema ( all roles which
obviously required a deep knowledge of Marxist philosophy ).
I came back to Leicester in 1995 with no money and a distant dream about becoming the next Sue
Townsend and eventually found myself managing a bar and then a nightclub.
Now I'm not saying that it was particularly hard work - it was fun - but at the same time Istarted to write the
story that would become (un)arranged marriage, my first novel for teenagers. I spent the next eighteen
months cultivating a conversational relationship with my neighbour’s cat, insomnia and the rather fetching
bags under my eyes that the publishers tried in vain to hide on my author photograph.

After his first book was published

Since then I have been frantically trying to justify my existence with a whirl of interviews and appearances
at schools and libraries.
My own influences are wide-ranging. My favourite writers are Roald Dahl (Charlie and the chocolate
factory), Sue Townsend (The secret diary of Adrian Mole) and crime writers such as James Lee Burke,
James Ellroy and Walter Mosely. I'm an avid fan of Reggae Music and artists such as Bob Marley, Burning
Spear and Dennis Brown,amongst others. I love football. I´m a supporter of Liverpool F.C.

Glossary

Uni = university (short form, colloquial) Take pity on someone = feel sorry for someone
Stack shelves = put things on the shelves, e.g. in a supermarket Insomnia = you can’t sleep
Rather fetching = attractive In vain = without succeeding
Downside = disadvantage Rant = shout angrily
Wind somebody up = irritate or annoy somebody Avid = enthusiastic
Bollywood = centre of the Indian film industry Exploits = adventures
 BALI RAI
BALI RAI WAS BORN IN IN LEICESTER (ENGLAND EAST MIDLANDS).

HE WAS RAISED IN A TRADITIONAL PUNJABI FAMILY, IN A PUNJABI NEIGHBOURHOOD.

HE BEGAN WRITING IMAGINATIVE STORIES AT THE AGE OF EIGHT. HE WAS THE FIRST MEMBER OF
HIS FAMILY TO GO TO UNIVERSITY.AFTER GRADUATING IN POLITICS, HE FOUND A JOB AS A NIGHT
CLUB MANAGER, BUT HE ONLY DREAMED OF BECOMING A WRITER. WHEN HE WAS THIRTY, HE
PUBLISHED HIS FIRST NOVEL, “(UN)ARRANGED MARRIAGE”, WHICH WAS A GREAT SUCCESS.

WRITINGS

(Un)arranged Marriage, Dream On, The Crew, What's Your Problem?, Concrete Chips, Rani and Sukh,

His works have been translated into eight languages.

THE PLOT

On the morning of his marriage, which also happens to be the morning of his 17th birthday, Manny looks back
on his rebellious teenage years.

From the age of 13 he has found that the values of the Leicester Punjabi community from which he comes have
little relevance to him. He has nothing in common with his brothers or parents. Manny's older brothers appear
to him as ignorants while his father is a hypocritical, violent drunk. His mother is a remote figure who appears
only to ask what he wants to eat or to cry hysterically at his disobedience.

When his father arranges his marriage to an Indian girl he doesn’t even know, he determines to behave like a
“bad boy”,smoking and drinking and hanging around with his black friend, Adri. But he goes too far, and he is
expelled from school.

His family gets very upset. They take him to India with them. What he sees there, in the land of his parents,
makes him decide what he will do with his future. He doesn’t want to get married! He wants to be with his
girlfriend, Lisa. He wants to go to University and become a writer.

He doesn’t want to be like his family!

 LEICESTER

IT IS THE CAPITAL OF LEICESTERSHIRE, COUNTY IN THE

MIDDLE OF ENGLAND. IT HAS ABOUT 285.000 INHABITANTS.
THERE IS A UNIVERSITY AND AN IMPORTANT ENGINEERING
INDUSTRY.

LEICESTER HAS A LARGE ETHNIC MINORITY POPULATION, MAINLY

FROM INDIA. THE CITY IS FAMOUS FOR ITS RESTAURANTS OF
REAL INDIAN FOOD.

THE PEOPLE FROM LEICESTER ARE KNOWN AS “CHISITS”. THIS IS

DUE TO THE WAY THEY PRONOUNCE THE QUESTION “HOW MUCH
IS IT?” IT SOUNDS LIKE: “I’M A CHISIT”

PUNJAB

IT IS A REGION IN THE NORTHWEST OF INDIA. IT WAS CREATED IN 1947. IT IS DIVIDED IN TWO PARTS.
THE MUSLIM PART BELONGS TO PAKISTAN AND THE SIKH PART, OF HINDU RELIGION, CONSTITUTES
THE INDIAN STATE OF PUNJAB.

INDIA GREAT BRITAIN