Anita Nair

OT The birth of your latest novel, Alphabet Soup for Lovers, happened while you were in Italy. What did you like most about it
Anita Nair There is very little I don&rsquot like about Italy. But what I love the most is the light and how it enhances the colours be it the foliage, a ruined wall or the gelato.

OT Where is the book set
Anita Nair Valparai is in the Anamalai hills in Tamil Nadu. But the location of the novel is in the outskirts of Valparai, close to Shekalmudi and Murugally. It still is quite unspoilt by tourism and has a wild untamed beauty to it. There is also a sense of inherent danger as it is surrounded by large tracts of shola forests with lots of wildlife.

OT Which place in the world do you most enjoy visiting
Anita Nair My home in Kerala.

OT What is your idea of a perfect holiday
Anita Nair On my own but with friends or companions I can meet up with at the place to share a glass of wine, a chat or walk on the beach together. Wake up late. Eat breakfast on my own. Go back to bed with a book and set out at noon to walk around or to meet up with thefriend or companion.

OT Is there any book you really liked the location of Do you want to write a travel/city-based book soon
Anita Nair Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. Yes, I would very much like to do a travel book on a city. I would write about Buenos Aires if I could.

OT Where have you not travelled and really want to
Anita Nair Antarctica. I have always been fascinated by the thought of a monochrome land. Of what it would demand of me and knowing I have to push my limits to survive.

OT Do you shop at all during travel If yes, what do you usually bring back from your holidays
Anita Nair I dislike shopping. At the most I may buy one little fridge magnet and one objet d&rsquoart that captures for me the essence of the place I visited.

OT 5 things you always carry when you travel
Anita Nair A cashmere scarf, a bar of chocolate, painkillers, sunglasses and a notebook.

OT What sort of books do you like to read usually when you travel
Anita Nair I usually take a book which I have been putting off reading for various reasons. Most notable of these is Schindler&rsquos Ark by Thomas Keneally. Given the nature of the book, I felt guilty when I read it lying in bed or during meal times or in a comfortable chair. It seemed like cultural voyeurism at its worst. Eventually I realised the only place I could read it in was in near-punishing circumstances&mdashso I read it over several flights as I sat squeezed into a narrow seat.