On Stories and Settings

Madhulika Liddle
I write different types of fictionand some non-fictionbut what most people associate me with is
historical detective fiction. The detective I invented is Muzaffar Jang. Hes a 17th century nobleman, a
man living in the Delhi of the Mughal Emperor Shahjahans time. Thats 1656, for the first Muzaffar
Jang novel, which was The Englishmans Cameo.
Ever since The Englishmans Cameo was published, Ive been interviewed dozens of times, and one
question which I am always asked is why I chose to write detective fiction, and why specifically did I
decide on a Mughal detective. My answer is that the combination of mystery and history is
something I really like, because history fascinates me. Not merely Delhis history, but history as such.
Not political history, but the history of how people lived: what they ate, how they dressed, how they
sent letters or what technology they used, things like that.
And I chose to set my historical detective series in Mughal Delhi because Delhi is the city I am most
familiar with. And because setting is so very, very important when youre writing a story.
The setting for a story is of two main types. One is the chronological setting, and the other is the
geographical setting.
The chronological setting is, of course, the time in which the story is set. The chronological setting of
Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes stories, for example, is the late 19th century and the early 20th
century. The chronological setting of George Orwells 1984 is a specific year1984. The Muzaffar
Jang series have a chronological setting of the 17th century.
When you set a story can mean a lot. The chronological setting, after all, can be either of three
types:
1. The past
2. The present
3. The future
For the writer who wants to focus completely on his or her characters and plot, the easiest
chronological setting is probably the present: all you have to do is give the reader a sense of here
and now, and thats it. Especially if your target audience are people already familiar with the
settingso, for example, if Im writing a story set in todays world, I dont have to describe how a
telephone works, or what the Internet is. I can assume that my readers know it already.
With the future, you have the freedom to use your imagination quite a bit, especially with the
further in the future you place your story. A story set a hundred years from now can have a very
different setting from the present. Look at Star Trek, for example, and all that Beam me up,
Scottie, stuff which they thought up back in the 1960s, when the TV series began. And, more than
fifty years later, its still science fiction: we still cant instantly transport people across a room, let

alone across galaxies. The crux of the matter is: we dont know what lies in the future. When I was a
kid, in school, wed just about started using computers, and we had to learn DOS commands to make
them work. If back then Id read a story in which a character was typing something into a computer
and someone else across the world was reading it almost simultaneouslyor if two people, one in
India and the other in Europe, were having a conference, seeing each and talking well, I would
have thought it was really smart.
The third type of chronological setting is the past. The past is history, and setting a story in a
historical period means that, if you want to be accurate and authentic, you need to do your
homework. You need to do lots of research. And the research isnt just the sort of things most
people remember about history: not just how the Bastille was stormed or who were the first six
Emperors of the Mughal dynasty or who was the first man to find a sea route to India. You might, of
course, write a story about an important historical event, but stories need believable settings and
believable charactersand unless you can describe, accurately, or mostly accurately, the details of
everyday life in another period, a historical story can fall flat. Or, worse, a knowledgeable reader can
tell that you havent done research. For example, the other day I was reading a novel set in ancient
India, and there were mentions in it of tea, and of somebody making a meat curry with potatoes.
And, because I am interested in history, and Ive done a lot of historical research, I thought, Oh, this
writers got it all wrong. Thats because potatoes originated in South and Central America, and
didnt arrive in the Old World until Christopher Columbus had made his epic voyage. And tea was
introduced in Indiaand became so very popularby the British, who brought it from China.
So. Weve discussed the three types of chronological settings. As I said, theres another type of
setting, and thats the geographical setting.
As its apparent by the name itself, the geographical setting refers to the place where the story is
set.
Now, when we talk about place, it can mean several different things. First of all, the place can be
either real, or imaginary. For example, JRR Tolkeins Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is
an imaginary land. Its a land where trees can walk and rings can turn you invisible and there are a
range of very varied creatures, all the way from orcs to elves to dwarves. Or theres Stephen Kings
Dark Tower series, also set in an imaginary land, where theres a pink train racing along, which will
stop only if youre correctly able to answer the complex riddles it asks you.
The good thing about an imaginary setting is that you can let your imagination run wild. Fantasy can
be really fantastic. You dont have to really stick to facts or even any rules. You could create a world
where water is responsible for photosynthesis, or plants are the chief predators, or mud is a more
precious commodity than diamonds. You arent bound.
On the other hand, when youre writing about real life, you are bound. You have toat least to
some extentfollow some rules. You cant set a story exclusively in say, Melbourne, and then talk
about characters walking down the Champs Elysees to have ice cream. You can still, of course, take
some liberties. For instance, you can (and almost certainly will) invent a shop, houses, even
neighbourhoods, villages, towns and cities in some instancesbut there should be a semblance of

reality about them. For example, the English writer Elizabeth Gaskell invented the industrial town of
Milton when she wrote her novel North and South in 1855. But, while Milton was fictitious, it was
based largely on the town of Manchester, where Elizabeth Gaskell spent many years of her life.
Unlike Tolkeins Middle Earthwhich was supposed to be fantasyGaskells Milton was supposed to
be real.
Therefore, when I write about Delhi in the time of Shahjahan, Im writing about a real place. When
Im writing a contemporary short story set in Delhi, Im still talking about a real place.
Let me give you an example. Ill read out an excerpt from a short story I wrote some years back. Its
called One Nights Work, and its about a girl whos an orphan and has been pushed into some very
unsavoury business by two men who control her life. Heres a little bit describing a part of Old Delhi,
near Chandni Chowk:
Outside, the road from Jama Masjid to Matiya Mahal was beginning to stir, preparing for another
evening during Ramzan. Opposite the kebab sellers, a halwai was boiling syrup for jalebis while his
assistant swatted flies with a grubby napkin. Further on, a grizzled shopkeeper was setting up a stall.
His son was emptying cartons of Tupperware, hair clips and skullcaps for the father to arrange in
regimented rows. A skinny boy with a prominent Adams apple had spread a scrap of bright blue
tarpaulin beside the road. On it was a jumble of odds and ends pressure cooker gaskets, mens
handkerchiefs, cell phone covers, screwdrivers. Near the sellers haunches was a lacy white dupatta,
embroidered in gold thread.
And now, Ill read out a description of the same area, around Jama Masjid and Chandni Chowk, from
a Muzaffar Jang story. This is Delhi in the 17th century.
For want of anything better to do, Muzaffar walked away towards the wide steps of the Jama
Masjid, and seated himself there. He was aware of the surprised looks he drew from the motley
crowd that milled about the entrance to the imperial mosque. A nobleman, sitting on the steps, was
a novelty. There were jugglers here, and petty magicians who performed simple tricks for the
amazement of the easily pleased. There were beggars and sellers of kababs. There were travellers,
staring up in awe at the most magnificent mosque in the city. But the noblemen who came here
arrived on horseback or in palanquins, made their stately way up to the mosque itself, and thought it
beneath their dignity to sit among the riffraff.
The time period has changedthe chronological setting has changedbut the geographical setting
is the same, even though (because of the centuries in between) a lot of other things have changed.
But the setting is real. Incidentally, that description of Jama Masjid in the 17th century is based on
travellers accounts from that period. Several European travelers, like Francois Bernier, Jean-Baptiste
Tavernier and Niccolao Manucci visited India during the 17th century, and left very detailed accounts
of Delhi and its people.
But, back to settings. And, especially, back to the concept of geographical settings. Ive talked about
real and imaginary settings, but theres also another related concept. Its what I call concentric
settings. Its like concentric circles, you see: a series of circles, with different diameters, nested

one inside the other. Settings are often like that too, especially in longer stories and novels. You
could set a novel in a particular city, and youd then describe the city, give the reader a feel of what
the city is like. Then, scenes of the novel would be played out in certain neighbourhoods, and youd
describe those neighbourhoods. Then, there will be particular houses or buildings, or even outdoor
spaces like parks and gardens in which the action takes place. And within those, especially related to
buildings, thered be specific rooms where youd set scenes.
Each of these is a setting. The room is a setting. The house of which the room is a part is a setting.
The neighbourhood in which the house stands is a setting. The city of which the neighbourhood is
a part is a setting.
Let me illustrate this with an example. The third Muzaffar Jang novel, Engraved in Stone, is set in the
city of Agra, in the year 1657. The excerpt Im reading describes a room in a noblemans house:
Each successive room was equally magnificent, even oppressively so. The dalaan into which Muzaffar
was finally shown was painted and inlaid in shades of muted red and blue, with a rich Persian carpet
in the centre and urns of blue-painted Chinese porcelain on either side of the arched doorway. Haider
fussed over Muzaffar, seating him on the thick mattress along the right wall and pulling the brocaded
bolsters closer. He carefully moved a large vase of full-blown white chrysanthemums off to one side
as a servant entered, bearing a salver with cups of Chinese porcelain, a small bowl of sugar, and an
ornate silver pitcher.
So that, when Im talking of concentric settings, is the innermost circlethe smallest setting, the
room.
Then, here is a description of the haveli, the mansion in which the room is situated.
Mumtaz Hassan Khans haveli stood along the riverside, ringed by a wall, an orchard abutting it on
one side, a garden now barren and dead in the winter on the other... Muzaffar and his escort
stepped through the gateway and out of the drum house. Muzaffar shivered. The short stretch of
paved path till the main entrance of the haveli was flanked on either side by a grove of mango trees,
now enshrouded in a clammy grey mist. Torches had been inserted into stone rings set on either side
of the path.
And so on, all the way from rooms to cities. Youll see these concentric settings in most stories.
Now that Ive talked about the types of settings, let me move on to why settings are important.
Its quite obvious, of course, that without a setting a story cannot really take place. Your characters
must exist in some time, and some place, in order for a story to be written. Whether that setting is
as simple as a patch of sand on a deserted island, or as complex as a space station many thousands
of miles above Earthor a palace in ancient Rome, lets saythe setting is absolutely necessary for
the story.

But thats not the only reason why settings are important. There are other reasons, too. Settings, for
example, can reflect your characters personalities. And in turn, they can affect your characters
personalities. As an example, there are Arthur Conan Doyles descriptions of the rooms that
Sherlock Holmes occupied at the fictitious 221 B Baker Street. There are frequent impressions of
rooms with drawn curtains, stuffy and closed and dark, filled with fumes. Messy, cluttered. They are
the rooms of a man who is so intensely wrapped up in whatever hes investigating that he cannot let
the outside world intrude: the clutter, the closed curtains, the fumes are all reflections of Holmess
genius, even his arrogance, because hes not concerned with what the world thinks of how he lives.
And, as I mentioned, settings can, in turn, affect your characters personalities. If youve read
Charles Dickenss Oliver Twist or have even a vague idea of what the novel is about, youll know that
Oliver was a little boy who spent the first few years of his life in an orphanage. Dickens describes the
orphanage, and its a rough, gloomy, oppressive place. Not surprisingly, Oliverwhos a timid little
childis easily oppressed. Hes very unhappy. Then, later in the novel, Oliver gets away from the
orphanage and is befriended first by a rich and kindly old gentleman, and then later, after some
more adventures, by a pair of well-off ladies. Its not just these peoples personalities which allow
Oliver to develop some self-confidence and feel loved; its also their homes. Their homes are airy,
clean, openeverything that the orphanage was not.
On a broader level, the setting itself can be an important plot element in a story. Weve all read
stories or watched movies about people whove been shipwrecked, or are going on long journeys
through deserts or junglesin all these cases, the setting becomes especially important. I
remember, as a teenager, I used to read a lot of Louis LAmours books. Theyre all set in the
American Wild West, and almost every book had some character having to travel through the
desert. There would be problems of running out of water, there would be intense heat, people
nearly dying because of thirst. The desert was the enemy. It was not merely a setting; it actually
became more like a character in the story. It helped the story move forward: it made a protagonist
look for ways to survive, it made himor hertougher, it created situations that were an important
part of the plot.
And that isnt something which just happens in Louis LAmours books. It can happen anywhere, in
any genre. The setting can be a friend or an enemy. It can allow a character to blossom. It can
oppress a character. It can also do other things. It can create atmosphere. Again, as an example, the
books of Dickens, which create a very real, very stark image of how dreary and polluted the poorer
parts of London were in the late 1800s. You read his books, and even now, over a hundred years
later, you can imagine what it must have been like to have lived in London back then.
Now that Ive talked about all of thiswhat types of settings there are, why settings are important,
and so onlet me say a few words about how effective settings are written. I remember, when I
wrote the first Muzaffar Jang book, Id written a paragraph describing Chandni Chowk, which was, as
it is even today, a major market. Id described the shops, with their canopies and all the exotic goods
they sold. Id talked about the water channel in the centre of the street, and the crowd moving
about. When I gave my manuscript to my editor, one thing she said was, If I close my eyes, I can see
what youre describing. But I cant hear it. I cant smell it.

From that I learnt an important lesson: that settings are described with all five senses. In that
particular case, I rewrote the paragraph and added details, like the call for prayer from a mosque, or
the clip-clop of horses hooves for sound. The pungent smell of fresh marigolds being sold outside a
Hindu temple, or the bitter fragrance of coffee coming from a coffee house. Or the flavour of juicy
kababs, the fat sizzling as it dropped onto hot coals from turning skewers. Settings are not just
visual; theyre also auditory, olfactory, related to taste and touch.
And, settings are best not described in one go. A few lines here, a few more there. This helps
prevent overload: all of us have, sometime or the other, been bored because a writer has gone on
and on about describing a setting.
Have I gone on and on? Ive nearly finished what I had to say about settings, but there are a few
things Id like to share as I wind up. One question Ive been asked several times is whether my
fondness for travelling influences my writing. I do travel quite a bit, both within India, and whenever
I can afford it, abroad. Every time I travel, I maintain a daily journal. I write down extensive notes
about every place I visit, down to the sights I see to the people I meet, the conversations I have with
them, the food I eateverything. I also take a lot of photographs. And, because I love going to new
places so much, I absorb everything, I keep my eyes and ears open. And yes, somewhere or the
other, sometime or the other, perhaps those places will be settings in a story. Its because I feel a
place, I can describe it better, more convincingly. If Im setting a story in the Himalayas, I can actually
draw from my experiences and write about things which Ive seen and smelled and heard and
tasted. I can write about the smell of pines when you roll down a car window, or the sight of yellow
ears of corn drying on slate-roofed village houses. Or the sound of little children laughing as they
play cricket in a fallow field.
And that brings me back to Delhi, really. I chose to set the Muzaffar Jang series primarily in Delhi
because I know Delhi so well. Of course, Delhi has changed a lot in the 350 years since Muzaffars
timein fact, if Muzaffar were to suddenly find himself in todays Delhi, he would be utterly lost
but theres still a thread of continuity running through the city, especially the older parts of it. There
is a lot of history to it. Delhi has been around for more than 30 centuries. It has over 2,000 historical
monuments. It has three World Heritage Sites. It was the homeduring Shahjahans timeof the
richest royal court in the world, beside that of the Ming dynasty in China.
I like many things about Delhi: the fact that parts of it are very green, for example. Or, since I am
very fond of birds, the fact that, after Lagos, it is the national capital with the largest population of
bird species. I like Delhis cultural traditions, its festivals, its food.
And there is a lot that I hate about Delhi. I hate the heat and dust, the way the city clogs up during
the monsoon. I hate the dirt. I hate the lack of civic sense, the rudeness, and the insularity of so
many Delhiites. I hate the corruption.
Why then, do I write about Delhi? Shouldnt one love a place to be able to use it effectively as a
setting? No. Because I think its impossible to find a place which is absolutely perfect in every way.
Imperfections make for a more real setting.

In the Red Fort, there is a plaque which reads Gar firdaus bar rue zamin ast, hamin ast o hamin ast
o hamin ast. Its by the medieval poet Amir Khusro, and it means, If there is a paradise on earth, it
is here, it is here, it is here. I dont agree with that; I dont think Delhi is paradise. But a mixture of
Paradise and Hell and something in between is what makes for a good setting. And that is why so
many of my stories are set in Delhi. Thats why I write about Delhi, both past and present.