On 14th July, Smt. Prabha Venkatakrishnan launched her debut novel ‘Trial By Marks’ surrounded by her close friends and family. She gave birth to the book at the very place that it was conceived, Pagdandi Bookstore, Pune. 

“Trial By Marks‘ is a book that was long due for an educational system like ours and the consequences of it. Prabha herself believed that things have changed, and chose to not release the book. But a headline in a newspaper “31,089 students ended their lives in 2021” showed her why the book is needed now more than ever before. 

The novel follows the life of Anthony and his two best friends. Similar to many students across the country, Anthony falls victim to marks and the toxic education system and what follows is not a pretty site. 

Prabha Venkat explains in the conversation below, her procedure of writing, challenges she faced during the process, and what changes she hopes to see in the Indian Education System and our society as a whole. 

What prompted you to write the novel? 

I was always more interested in reading, writing and literature. I have terrible handwriting and this was the era before computers, so if i had written long english essays in any exam i surely would have flunked the paper so i wisely chose a subject which requires very few words and 

that is maths and i became a maths teacher. 

You 

may have had so many different experiences teaching the junior college students and the dramas, plays, and skits, teaching the little ones as well. Did the students inspired you to write this book? 

Actually, we had to put up a play for the annual day and we had a very good library. It had thousands of books from all over the world. And there were no books that had indian plays, everything was about benty, mary had a little lamb sort of things and that would not appeal to the indian audience. So out of necessity I started writing plays for children. I wrote one for the first standard, one for the twelfth standard and those were usually performed on an annual day. My journey of writing began then. I also wrote short stories quite often but the novel happened here in Pagdandi Bookstore. We were a group of people who wanted to write, 

become writers and all were involved in various ways of writing like journals, and newsletters. We all met on Sundays and would write for an hour or two, we learnt a lot from each other. There were a few people in the group that took up the challenge of writing a novel of 50,000 words in one month. I knew that I couldn’t do this challenge, there was no way I would do it. But then I decided that I would at least give it a try. That is how the whole thing started. It took me some more time, a lot more for me. The novel started this and evolved further. That is also the reason why I wanted my book launch at Pagdandi. 

you follow 

Did 

any schedule or any kind of habit while writing the novel? There was no schedule. I am retired, and so I do things at my own pace, at a pace which makes me happy. I had no pressure on me and I am also not the kind of person who writes thousands of words in one day, I just can’t do that. There are days when I write more and there are days when I don’t want to do it. Everyone has their own pace. 

Could you share a few challenges that you faced while writing this book and how did 

you overcome them? 

To be honest, there were not too many challenges. I am used to writing mostly shorter versions but I was writing for most of my adult life so the writing part specifically didn’t pose any challenge as such. 

It is easier to write short stories. The characters just have to stick to their characteristics for a 

few 

pages. When it comes to a novel, the character has to sustain over two hundred odd pages and it has to come out well and it has to gel with other characters. So there you need a lot more thought and planning. 

You have had so many experiences in life. Right from school, college, teaching, home, children. Do you think your personal background has influenced the book in the slightest? 

I think the book is influenced by most things in my life. I have taken bits and pieces from my life and others lives and included it in my book. 

You must have been a voracious reader back in the time. You must have read 

innumerable books and those books must have influenced you and made you think that maybe someday I will also write my book. Can you name a few authors that have influenced you? 

The influence is subconscious, I never tried to write like someone, I have to write like myself. And the influence changes over the years. In my teenage years I was an idealistic Indian, I read 

Tagore and I read Mahatma Gandhi. In your twenties, you experience the world, the reality and then your reading pattern changes. Of late, I have found many Indian authors who write brilliantly. I like Chitra Banarjee, Amish, and even Jhumpa Lahiri and there are many more who have evolved beautifully. Among foreign authors, I grew up on a staple diet of P.G Wodehouse, I like Asimov and Gerald and many other authors. My all time favourite is Agatha Christie followed closely by Aurther Conan Doyle. Their stories are still as intriguing as the 

first time I read it. 

Before and while writing the book, you must have thought that this character is going to behave this way, they are going to talk this way, with certain mannerism, and you are going to present them a certain way. So, how do you develop the characters with the plot? 

There is no method to this madness, you just go with it. As you write a certain picture comes 

to your 

mind and if it is a character you just know how they are going to react to some 

situation. 

Even personally I don’t plan so much I just let things flow. 

Which is your favourite character from the novel? 

Difficult to tell, because as you write to develop a bond with each character. You are 

sympathetic towards them and you know their problem. 

By far, the most charming person in the novel I think is our hero Anthony’s close friend Karan. He was a naughty rascal, he was always getting in mischief but he was brilliant and he didn’t have to struggle to get good marks. Later on he evolves into a very good human being. He helped all those who were affected by the tragedy, and helped them come out of it. He was better at facing it. So I think Karan is my 

choice. 

What do you want the readers to take away from the novel? 

Throughout the book you will meet many wonderful teachers who have done so much for the children, they are kind, they are compassionate. They know what is happening in the child’s life and they are willing to help. No robot can do this and no robot can have the empathy to know what a particular child needs. So AI should not be here to stay. 

Second thing is, strong arm tactics don’t work with children. They just rebel or they just lose what is most precious. So it is long due that parents try to understand their children, give them their freedom of choice, and do not put any pressure on them. 

The third and most important point to me is that we need examination reforms. As we see now-a-days, everyday a student ends their life. What is wrong with our examination system? 

And more importantly, what do we need to change in the curriculum? So, it can be more broad and inclusive, where talent is recognised not just in studies but other fields as well.