Bombay Times - Highway to India
Deepa Suryanarayan

   Dressed casually in faded jeans and a black shirt, 31-year-old New Zealander Will Marks does not strike you as the typical excited firang out for the ‘Indian’ experience. Instead, he looks calm, almost serene, very much at home where he is, which right now, is Mumbai.

   Marks’ very first novel The Highway has been recently launched and that’s why he’s in the city. But this is not his first visit to India. Marks has spent over two years on the sub-continent, has travelled 16,000 kms on his Enfeild Bullet across the Himalayas on the Karakorum Highway to Nepal, has paraglided of 50 kms across the foothills of the Himalayas and attended a number of 10-day Tibetan Buddhist meditation retreats, where he spent time in splendid isolation. And last but not least, Marks has worked as an extra on the sets of Raj Kumar Santoshi’s The Legend of Bhagat Singh!

   There is a distinct similarity in the life of Zac Goodman, the hero of The Highway and Marks’ life. It is unmistakeable, for Zac too has done all the things that Marks has done in his own life. Is The Highway an autobiographical work then?

   “No,” clarifies Marks, adding, “It’s pure fiction. In fact, a lot of the ideas came before the novel was written. And then I decide to try them out in my own life. I am a writer who travels, rather than a traveller who writes. Which means I had the ideas, and I wanted to develop them by living them. For instance I wanted Zac to be a paraglider, so I learnt paragliding myself in Australia,” explains Marks. Technically, Marks started on his novel and living the live of his hero in 1998.

   A traveller since the age of 21, marks has been to more than 50 different countries in different continents. “New Zealand is an isolated country, cut off from the rest of the world. That’s probably why New Zealanders commonly love to travel,” he says. Marks has lived in Hong Kong, London and Sydney, working on a contractual basis in IT, finance and marketing industry, which gives him time to take off and travel. “I love travelling on the bike. It gets you off the beaten trail and leads to the not-so-preferred destinations,” he says.

   So which part of India did he like travelling in most? “Undoubtedly, the Himachel. Ironically, I wasn’t really interested in India, but once I came here I found I had no choice but to keep coming back,” says Marks. India beckons! Now if only the BJP had tried that slogan!

The Economic Times - Road Scholar
Gouri Shah

   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 Griffin 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.

The Statesman - Indian Summer
Mario Rodrigues

   Itinerant writer Will Marks was besotted with India the moment he landed here. The New Zealander who has been to at least 40 countries all over the world swears none of them seized all parts of his imagination as India did. Mario Rodrigues caught up with him

   Talk about real life imitating fiction and Will Marks will tell you how it so eerily came true in his case. Even as he kept spinning out fictional encounters and incidents for his youngish characters while fleshing out his debut novel The Highway (published by Frog Books), a lucid otherworldly trip on the undulating road to nirvana and self-discovery across the Indian subcontinent, some of them had the unerring knack of coming true down the line. “I would write something and years later it would happen (like his character Zac Goodman falling in love with a yoga teacher, for example). It was as if I was not writing the book but the book was writing me,” says the 30-year-old New Zealander.

   For Marks, life is all about the lure and the romance of the long and winding road. He works for six to nine months a year, in Hong Kong, London and Sydney in IT, finance and marketing, just to scrape enough to finance his expedition to some exotic city or a lonely, hazardous trip to the middle of nowhere for the next six months. “My passion is to travel and work in different places,” he states, matter-of-factly.

   He has travelled across Asia, from Myanmar to Taiwan, Western Europe and East Africa. “I didn’t have a lot of expectations of India but when I finally landed up here in 1998 it affected me in a stronger way than the 40 countries that I visited ever did. None of them seized all parts of my imagination as India did,” he confesses.

   Marks returned for six months and then for a year. The result was The Highway — a purely fictional but universal depiction of what happens to a lot of people (westerners) who visit India. Marks’s “escapades” in the Indian subcontinent include a 16,000 km motorcycle journey across the Himalayas from Pakistan’s border with China on the Karakoram Highway to Nepal, flying a para-glider 50 km across the Himalayan foothills before spiral-diving over the Dalai Lama’s abode in Dharamshala, visiting the site of Buddha’s birth in Lumbini, a series of 10-day Tibetan Buddhist meditation retreats, studying hatha and ashtanga yoga at Rishikesh, Mysore and Sri Lanka, getting “ecstatic” on trance in Goa and a fortnight’s stint as a Bollywood extra in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s The Legend of Bhagat Singh.

   “India is an assault on the senses in more ways than one. In Africa it is mostly a primal state of existence but here you have the grandeur of the Himalayas, a galaxy of deities and religions, jungles and beaches — a lot of diversity in a small space,” he said. In New Zealand things are just 150 years old. So Europe, where buildings are 500 years old, was a revelation. But India, with its monuments and civilisation going back some 2000 years in time, is mind-boggling.

   To one who didn’t have much of a religious upbringing and was only exposed to the intellectualism and materialism of the West earlier, getting familiar with Buddhist concepts like karma and reincarnation in India was a major help with self-discovery, at a more multi-dimensional level than he had been brought up with. In short, he has travelled the distance and bridged the gap.

   Marks writes occasional travel pieces but still swears by fiction. He is constantly reading while on the road — in fact, reading forms an integral part of his journey. India will be a recurring theme in his future plans, he insists. “Ever since I came to India I have been coming back again and again. India is a place I want to continue coming back to for the rest of my travel life,” he concludes.

   Mario Rodrigues is The Statesman’s Mumbai-based special representative.

The Indian Express -The Highway Star
Prerana Thakurdesai

   AUTHOR Will Marks wanted to experience what the characters in his first book did. Namely, paragliding over Manali, an affair with a yoga teacher and motorcycling across India. So he packed his bags and came where the just-out novel, The Highway, is set. Two years later, he has been here and done it all.

   ‘‘I covered only 12,000 km, I spent 2,000 km going the wrong direction and 2,000 km getting back to where I started,’’ laughs the 31-year-old, recounting his escapades with contradictory directions.

   The New Zealand-based Marks came to India first in 1998, before penning the book. When he returned in 2001, he signed up as an extra in The Legend of Bhagat Singh. ‘‘The funniest were the blood packs bursting. They looked like tomatoes,’’ he smiles.

   He identifies with two characters (Grant and Zac). One believes in physical truths, the other embraces spirituality. Marks even believes in reincarnation and wishes to return as a sadhu. ‘‘It’s unique that a society can support someone at such an extreme end of spirituality,’’ he opines.

   Yoga also brought him closer to existentialism. How else would he write about Zac’s affair with a yoga teacher? ‘‘I met a yoga teacher, close to the book’s character,’’ reveals Mark. And as he travelled all over southern India, Marks realised that ‘‘it can’t be such a big coincidence.’’

The Free Press Journal

Where there is a Will, there is a Highway to understand India
V Gangadhar

   New Zealand-born travel writer and novelist Will Marks whose first novel “The Highway” was released in Mumbai on Friday by publisher Frog Books could be mistaken for the long-lost brother of Australian fast bowler, Brett Lee.

   But Marks, who has spent months in India had had a more varied and interesting life – a 16,000 kms motorcycle journey across the Himalayas, para-gliding, spiral diving, scuba and two weeks in Bollywood playing the role of a British police officer in Raj Kumar Santoshi’s “The Legend of Bhaghat Singh”. Attracted by Buddhism and Indian mysticism, he spent weeks in Dharamsala, meeting the spiritual leader, Dalai Lama.

   That was quite and experience for a History and Literature graduate from Wellington University, whose knowledge of Information Technology, Finance and Marketing got him jobs in Australia, Hong Kong and London. “I work for about six months, save money and travel,” he says. “No luxury travel but only the cheaper variety, and then I write.” He gets commissions from travel magazines for articles.

   “The Highway” is not autobiographical,” Marks explained. “It is about two separate guys who are separated in the Himalayas and then go in search of each other. Of course, it has experiences from my life, like my Bollywood stint and time spent in Goa.” Yoga, mysticism and Indian philosophy were other important themes of the book.

   Marks took about three-and-a-half years to finish his first novel. How difficult was the writing? “There were times when it was easy, when ideas flowed,” he recollected. “It was an intense process with not-so-productive periods in between.” A voracious reader, he admires the works of the Russian writers, Hemingway and Salman Rushdie. Marks is also planning a second novel, the plot of which is set partly in India.

   He admitted that India was ‘physical’ (the crowds, the heat, the smells), but one could not ignore the undercurrent of philosophy and mysticism. Though not overtly materialistic, there were glaring gaps in areas of poverty and opulence. “When you interacted with ad guys and MBA’s, you could never think of India as poor and backward,” he explained.

   We talked of Australian politics. Marks is not an admirer of Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his Right wing politics. Like George Bush, Australia has a strong conservative streak. “But many young Australians are keen to learn about the rest of the world, there is a lot of respect for India,” he said. “There was a good response for a recent Bollywood film festival in Australia.”

   “The Highway” came to be published through the ‘Internet’ friendship between Marks and Frog Books managing editor Sunil Poolani.

Financial Express - On The Highway Trail
Bella Jaisingani

   While India loses singer Lucky Ali to New Zealand for part of the year, it receives Indophile Will Marks from that country for a similar period of time. Mr Marks, an IT and finance consultant, works on contracts in Hong Kong, London and Sydney so he can finance his stay in India.

   In fact, the 30-year-old has even gone on to release a book, The Highway, based on his experiences in India recently. The book is a fictional narrative about two friends with distinct personalities who go their separate ways in life. “Zac Goodman is the adventurer, the kind who is lost in a search for the self, while his friend Grant is one who is rooted in reality,” says the author. Exploring typical Indian ethos, it is a “story in which spirituality fights materialism.”

   Incidentally, Mr Marks did tour India with a friend for about four months but insists there is no real-life similarity to any of his characters. Given that he has used a number of his own experiences like motorcycling and paragliding in The Highway one can only take his word for it!

   Indeed, he has assimilated all the experiences of the Great Indian Traveller in his periodic visits since 1998. All that a foreigner might be captivated by — spirituality, Nature, adventure sports, cinema — he has seen and enjoyed. “Thanks to the fact that the people here are friendly and hospitable,” he commends.

   Mr Marks actually hired a motorcycle and rode no less than 16,000 km, from Pakistan’s border with China to Nepal, and then down to Goa. No mean achievement that! And not only has he taken lessons in yoga, he has also done a Vipassana meditation course that involves being silent for days on end. Fortunately, with his taste buds yearning always for the hot and spicy, what could have been the one big problem was easily avoided. “I am partly Indian already,” he quips.

   It must be karma. Given the national obsession for Bollywood, it is uncanny how Mr Marks even did a puny role in the film The Legend of Bhagat Singh. “I was supposed to fire a shot from a gun, but no training was imparted to me prior to the shooting, so I just went ahead and did what I thought was right!” he laughs.

   The avid sports enthusiast has gone paragliding over the Himalayas and dropped down over Dharamsala in Himachel Pradesh which is the refuge of the Tibetans. But Mr Marks’s golden moment remains the meeting with the Dalai Lama, never mind that he was part of a large congregation. “I still recall his energetic handshake,” he says.

   One thing leads to another and keeps making him return. “For instance, I wanted to go paragliding, so I went to Australia to learn. Then I came back to India to try it out over the Himalayas. I have never revisited any country as much as India,” he endorses. Considering he has traveled extensively to Europe, Africa and other parts of Asia, this is a compliment.

   Published by Frog Books, The Highway is priced at Rs 150

The Hindu - Traveling Writer
V. Gangadhar

   In jeans and T Shirt, 31-year-old Will Marks looks a college student. A part-time globetrotter, travel writer, Marks' first novel, The Highway, was recently launched by Frog Books, Mumbai. He talks to V. GANGADHAR.

   YOU seem to be doing a lot of things. How do you organise your life?

   I graduated in History and English from Wellington University, New Zealand, then studied Marketing and Economics at Victoria University, Wellington. With these qualifications, I can handle assignments in Information Technology, Finance and Marketing for firms in London, Sydney, Singapore and so on. I work for six months, save money and travel the rest of the time. Mind you, I travel cheap. And then I write.

   Where have you traveled? What kind of writing have you done?

   All over Africa, Asia and Europe. Two years in the Indian subcontinent and I did a 16,000 km motorcycle journey across the Himalayas from the Pakistan border with China on the Karakorum highway in Nepal. I also learnt, and am now constantly practicing, paragliding, spiral diving and scuba diving. I get assignments from Indian and foreign travel magazines but I am keen to become a serious writer. Hence the novel.

   Any special memories of India?

   So many. India is special. The Dalai Lama's abode at Dharamsala has special appeal for me. I spent time at several Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, visited the sites of Buddha's birth at Lumbini as well as Sarnath and Bodh Gaya. I am interested in Zen Buddhism. Of course, Goa, Kerala and Bollywood showed me different aspects of India.

   Bollywood?

   Yes, I spent two weeks working as an minor artiste in Raj Kumar Santoshi's "Legend of Bhagat Singh" with Ajay Devgan in the lead. I was a British police officer. I sported a moustache, carried a gun and was involved in some shooting scenes. What an experience!

   What kind of novel is The Highway? Is it autobiographical?

   Not really, but I have narrated some of my personal experiences in the book. It is about relationships — two men who are friends, fall out get separated and then go about in search of each other. I conceived the idea about four years back, and now it is over. I had to write it, because the idea appealed to me, and it was time to sit down and do some serious writing

   Coming back to India, did you find the country more commercial rather than spiritual?

   India is such a huge, diverse nation that it is difficult to draw any conclusions. You can't escape the "physical" aspects — the crowds, the heat, the smells but one is impressed with the underlying feelings of spirituality and mysticism. Poverty and opulence exist side by side. While talking to ad executives and MBA's, you get a different picture of India. Then you have a glimpse of scenes of wretched poverty everywhere. But India is not totally materialistic

   What are your views of Australian politics? How do Australians view India?

   I am not an admirer of the Aussie Prime Minister John Howard, with his right wing policies. As in the U.S., Australia has a strong Conservative lobby, which is happy so long it is able to make money and influence national politics. But a lot of young Australians are keen to know more about the world and India in particular. Your culture and tradition has many admirers in Australia. The recent festival of Bollywood films in Sydney was a big hit.

   How was your book published in India?

   Thanks to the `Internet' I became friendly with Sunil Poolani, managing editor of Frog Books. He liked the book and was keen to publish it.

The Tribune - Masala Travelogue

   Zac Goodman and Grant are in India to act in a Bollywood production. They ride their motorcycles all the way to a Buddhist monastery situated just a few kilometers away from the Indo-Tibetan border. At the monastery they’re supposed to train in the ways of the monks as preparation for the role in the movie. On the way they meet a blonde who resembles Zac’s dead brother Sam. As the threesome race up the Himalayan highway they meet with a terrible accident. The blonde dies while Zac’s injured but not too seriously.

   The narrative is peppered with exotic paranormal experiences. It also has longish descriptions like the one of the accident, "and all I can do is brake and jack-knife my handlebars, turning ninety degrees into the cliff just to get away but then the back kicks-up and I’m bucked off into a trajectory that, even as I fly through it, has an unaccountably joyful beauty." Travel is this novel’s theme — both as a spiritual experience and a temporal event.

   Marks, a New Zealander, has spent two years in the subcontinent, motorcycling across the Himalayas to the South and Sri Lanka. He’s put his experiences to good use while writing this book. Yet, the narrative, occasionally disjointed, is a travelogue with adventure, humour, sex, spiritualism and suspense thrown in. Khichdi, anyone?