Dr Kumar Mahabir

1. Describe yourself in three words?

Creative, committed, cool.

2. If you were an animal, what animal would you be?

A Humming Bird.

3. What is your favourite food?

Curried cascadura cooked in coconut milk.

4. Are you superstitious?

A little.

5. What is your philosophy on life?

Life is short; make the most of it in a positive way.

6. What was your childhood dream?

To be an independent, full-time writer.

7. What does happiness mean to you?

Visiting new places with my family

8. What song is stuck in your head?

The theme song from the Hindi-speaking movie Kal Ho Naa Ho (Tomorrow May Never Come)

9. What are the things you cannot live without?

Books, computers, phones, MP3 player, air condition.

10. Whom do you wish to emulate in life?

VS Naipaul.

11. What traits do you find most attractive in a mate?

Humility, compassion, ingenuity.

12. What is the most interesting person, place, or thing that you have had the opportunity to meet, learn or experience?

Being invited by the1992 Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Derek Walcott, to a workshop on poetry writing. He urged me to draw upon my ancestral heritage in my writing.

13. What is an interesting facet of your personality that most people do not know about you?

Artistic. I represented Trinidad as an artist in a workshop organised by the Caribbean Conference of Churches a long time ago. I hope to return to painting in the next few years.

14. Do you have any vices, flaws or weaknesses?

Obsession for pineapple, popcorn, a good movie, and literature to read.

15. What was your most embarrassing experience ever?

I prefer not to say.

16. What is your pet peeve?

A Trinidadian with a fake foreign accent bad-mouthing our country.

17. Do you have any regrets?

Not being able to pursue an art degree at UWI at the time.

18. What is the one thing you would like to accomplish before you die?

Having at least one of my books reviewed in the New York Times.

19. What is the best compliment you have every received?

That, over the years, I have persevered in writing about the anthropology of Indians in Trinidad against all odds.

20. If you could live your life all over again, would you choose a different path?

No.

But had I grown up under different circumstances, I would have preferred to be a film-maker or singer.