The Hip-hop Novel

My conspiring friend and fellow lunatic recently got covered by Financial Express for his hip-hop style opera. Here's an excerpt from the story:

“My friends call me Marwari Mujahid,” he quips, letting out a hearty laugh, which sort of compliments his appearance. Someone who has a knack for changing jobs (four in the first six months), Fadereu is a quintessential storyteller. But his stories are not the kind you would expect your grandmother to tell you. Fadereu’s stories begin from circa 1910, when electricity first arrived in Bombay, and have names like Akkad Bakkad Bombay Boss.

It was a few years ago when Fadereu decided to change the format of a book that he was writing to something which would enable him to turn into a book himself. “I converted the novel into verse and adopted a hip-hop style narration,” says Fadereu.

The first version included 400 sonnets, put in nine chapters of one hour each. The second version of his text contains 20 songs. Since he is from Rajasthan, he tossed in some elements of the ancient storytelling technique from the desert, known as Babooji ki Phad (Babooji's screen). Fadereu then began to perform in front of small groups of students and corporate executives. The language he uses is pidgin—a mixture of Hindi, English and Rajasthani. But his training as an engineer has really not been left out. Fadereu is currently experimenting with a technique called Camera Obscura. It involves sitting in a dark box, lit up by one lamp. In this way, he won’t be visible to the audience, but they can see his shadow on a screen and hear his voice."

His weirdness and knack for absurdity keeps him in media almost on a permanent basis, and his blog is one of my favorites. If you ask him politely, he might even give you a copy of his novel. Though, remember, the best way to read it, is by inviting Fad for drinks, or to a party!