In an ideal world, Anushka Ravishankar loves to write what she enjoys most, pen nonsense poetry and create pink monsters with nail-like teeth. In the real world, she does all of the above and is now attending the ongoing Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. Sayoni Basu, on the other hand, is at the New Delhi World Book Fair. Part of her job there is manning the Duckbill stall, an exercise which, according to her, is essential to build character.

Why did the monster (of Ravishankar’s latest book, Moin The Monster Songster) return after you wrote Moin The Monster? Was it planned?
Anushka: No, not at all. In 2006, when I wrote Moin The Monster, I didn’t want to end it on a clichéd note or a happily-ever-after. I didn’t want to give it closure. A lot of readers thought the monster should help with a problem and ‘go back’ to where it came from, but he didn’t. By the time Sayoni and I launched Duckbill in May last year, I already had the rights to the book, so I decided to take it ahead. Moin The Monster Songster does not have a plot; it is episodic. The monster doesn’t even have a back story, so no one really knows anything about him. I wrote the sequel because I thought I’d enjoy writing it. That’s how I always write.