The Economic Times
Road Scholar
GOURI SHAH
TIMES NEWS NETWORKSUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2004
Dressed in a sleek black leather jacket, rugged jeans and boots to match, Will Marks looks more of a tough biker than he does a writer. However, when you leaf through his first published work of fiction - ‘The Highway’, you realise that the dashing New Zealander has more than just biking and writing up his sleeve.
A 16,000km motorcycle journey across the Himalayas , paragliding with a flock of Himalayan Griffon vultures, lazing on the sun-kissed beaches of Goa and moonlighting as a Bollywood extra, feature on his list of ‘have -dones’. While most would consider him as a seeker of experiences, Marks’ claims to have sought these ‘peak experiences’ to flesh out the characters in his book. “I am more of a writer who has travelled, as opposed to a traveller who decided to pen down his experiences. When my character took up paragliding, I had to make sure that I knew what I was writing about and decided to try it out myself,” he said.
Set in picturesque India , ‘The Highway’ is a book about Zac Goodman, who is lost in the Himalayas . While no one knows if he is dead or alive, the only clue to his being is a manuscript found by Grant, his estranged travel companion. The manuscript tells of his experiences of motorcycling with Grant in Northern India , where they met a rider strongly resembling his dead brother Sam, only minutes later to witness his violent death. Zac suffers a blow to his head during this accident, but continues to co-star in a Bollywood movie. Visions in meditation and an affair with a French yoga teacher propel him on a relentless journey through India , from paragliding over a Manali full-moon party, to mystical encounters in the sacred cities, to a violent reunion in Goa . Grant reads Zac’s narrative during his search in the mountains, and is drawn into its increasingly vivid and disquieting version of reality.
The book primarily addresses the physical and spiritual experiences of the characters in India , which Marks considers ‘the perfect background’ for his book. “ India is a country with huge contrasts which create conflict, integral to the creative process. In the book, I wanted to highlight the conflict between materialism and spiritualism. This is evident in India - a surging economic power, which manages to retain the spiritual element. Unfortunately, a concept like spirituality is very poorly understood in other countries, and no other country would have been able to provide a suitable background for these characters,” he said.
The book is also a collection of his favourite experiences in India . “This book highlights all my favourite moments. I have sought peak experiences - like my characters who are on the lookout for their next adrenaline rush. Which might be a dangerous route to take, but I’ve take nonetheless,” he states.
But, before you can slot him , Marks is quick to clarifying that his two-year stay in India , “had more to it than motorbikes and jumping off hills”. Marks also packed in varied experiences including meditation camps at a Buddhist monastery among other things.
While the former served as a profound learning experience, his short stint in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s, The Legend of Bhagat Singh packed a lot of punch. “It was a fun experience and I felt really cool sneaking around trees and shooting blanks. However, I could barely keep my eyes open while firing the shots and on other occasions I would simply knock-over the tree, which was a prop,” he laughs. Marks enjoys the typical Bollywood fare. “Some of the bad movies are really good and the mindlessness quite refreshing,” he states.
