There is another America that lies just below the surface of myth, adrift on a sea of illusions and imprisoned by implacable ideologies that strangle reason and compassion.

We are not in this together — reads the introduction of a soon-to-be-released book, A Thousands Shards of Glass (published by Simon & Schuster India) a highly critical polemic essay collection about the United States. Interestingly, it has been written by an American himself and somebody who is known for travelling, photographing and chronicling vast geographies and cultures. Michael Katakis is best known for his extensive work in China, West Africa, Cuba, Hungary, Morocco, Turkey, Korea, Philippines and Taiwan among others. The author and photographer was in India recently and we caught up with him.
His latest book is a cautionary tale for people and leaders around the world who romanticise an America that never was. The book has been in the news for his stand that the US is not a country but a store where everything is for sale, every ethic and principle and friend.
Elaborating further, he says, “I contend that the American people are to be blamed for what the country has become. I originally thought I was writing a farewell to my country and imploring my fellow citizens to change course and become something more humane and conscious, something more than a store disguised as a country. ”
Travelling to India for the first time, Katakis points out, “I am always looking for places to narrate me their stories and India has proved to be really interesting in that arena. I do not travel with expectations, I arrive with an open mind, hungry for stories of people’s lives. I have travelled by train from Delhi to Benaras and then from Benaras to Kolkata. Two things have become amply clear about India — if you wish to learn about the country you must travel by train, and India is almost like a book that can never be finished.”
One of the important reasons for him to visit India recently was also to discuss the future of Hemingway e-books here since Katakis has represented the Hemingway estate for more than a decade. “Ernest Hemingway’s work has universal appeal and he is one of the most iconic authors of the 20th century. Many ardent readers want to go back to his important works. So I am looking forward to make many of his works available as e-books. Also, as we move through time it is often necessary to give gentle reminders about things that have perhaps been taken for granted or forgotten,” he says.
The word globetrotter doesn’t really go down well with him as he finds it a little frivolous. He says he is a writer who happens to take photographs also. “I have been an ethnographic and documentary photographer but really I am a writer who happens to take photographs. My late wife (noted anthropologist Kris L. Hardin) and I spent much time in West Africa, Sierra Leone, and her extensive work with the Kono people was a template of sorts for the way we travelled and worked throughout the world. We were trying to understand the world through the stories of people’s lives and cultures. We covered much in our 25 years together and had many books published including the popular Photographs and Words,” says Katakis.
As an author, he believes that reality serves as his biggest inspiration. “Einstein supposedly said that ‘The greatest miracle is reality’. I believe this to be true. I am constantly inspired to write as I meet and listen to people in different countries from varied cultures. I keep a journal and write constantly about the people I meet and of course people and geography are intertwined,” he explains.
Talking about his future plans, he reveals, “I am interested in the extraordinary changes that are happening around the world and I wish to talk to people about them.”
The author concludes, “Of course many of these changes are happening in the Middle East region. I hope to go there before too long.”