I’ve been my family cook for 30 years: Amitav Ghosh

Thirty years ago, author Amitav Ghosh made his debut on the literary scene with his novel The Circle of Reason. The fact that the first book that he wrote is still in print today, feels great by itself, says the man who will be conferred the Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award for 2016 on the 20th of this month. “I feel really blessed that I have been able to write several books, the books have found readers, they have connected to them and that the books live on. That’s really the greatest reward of a life of writing,” the author shared, when we met him over a cup of tea at a city hotel.

He is honoured and privileged, he says, to receive an award whose past recipients include literary giants like Kiran Nagarkar, MT Vasudevan Nair, Khushwant Singh, Sir VS Naipaul and Mahasweta Devi. “It feels wonderful to have this recognition. At the same time, I don’t think awards should become a part of your way of thinking. The reason I write is because I love to write. That’s the one thing I know how to do,” he said. Last year, he completed his Ibis Trilogy consisting of Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke and Flood of Fire, but the author said that he’s not finished with characters yet. “I think in some way, anything I write in the future, specially in fiction, will be in some way connected with the Ibis Trilogy,” he reveals. Excerpts from a candid conversation with the acclaimed author:

What are your earliest memories of writing?

I loved to write school essays and poems, so writing is something that I’ve loved to do all my life. And the reason for that really is that I loved to read. I was a big reader as a child. That has sort of stayed with me.

Who were the authors you read in your teenage years?

Well, I read all the usual children’s books that people read. People always talk about Enid Blyton but I particularly remember another writer who I used to love to read, a writer called Richmal Crompton. She who used to write books about a character called William. This writer was a very interesting person – she was a political activist and so on. These books were written and set around wartime England. They were quite unlike other kids’ books, so I enjoyed reading those. But I read very widely. I read not just in one language, but also in Bengali. Satyajit Ray wrote lots of wonderful children’s stories. Bengali has a great wealth of children’s literature and I was very fortunate in having access to that as well.

You have travelled to so many places in the world. Which is the one place which has had a profound effect on your writings?

I certainly think Calcutta has played a large part in my writings. It’s a part of almost everything I’ve written in one way or another. Calcutta enters my writings in many different ways, unpredictable ways often. Even though I haven’t spent a long time in that city, but it’s a very interesting place in the way that Bombay is a very interesting place.

Now you shuttle between Brooklyn and Goa. What is it about these two places that made you settle here?

Like most things in life, this too is largely by accident. But now that I do, I find that both Brooklyn and Goa have some strange similarities. Both places are filled with alternate ways of thinking. Both places have an interesting intellectual climate.

You wife Deborah and you are both writers. Is there a lot of give and take involved? Are you each others’ fans or critics?

Of course, we both read each other’s works, but I won’t say at all that we’re each other’s editors or critics. I love her work, she loves my work. (Thank God for that, we remark) Yes, otherwise, life would be very difficult. (laughs) We know a lot of writers, we have lot of friends who are writers and we talk about books and writings all the time.

Photography is something that finds its way in a lot of your writings. Were you interested in photography as a subject?

That’s true. I love taking pictures and I have doing that since my teenage years. I used to take lots of pictures in school from an old black and white camera. Amongst my circle of friends, I’m the person who has takes pictures. Now, my friends always ask me for pictures of their children because I have them! My children are always getting tired of me because I keep taking photographs. I have a lot of photographer friends, too. That’s why I can tell you that I’m not a good photographer (laughs). I don’t aspire to be a photographer. I just take snapshots.

What’s a typical day for you like?

I’m usually at my desk early in the morning. I no longer work at a sitting desk, but at a standing desk and I find it’s really great. Then I work through till lunch time, again work till I’m done. What I like to do at the end of my day is to play badminton with my son, often with my wife and neighbours.

Do you like watching movies?

I used to watch a lot of movies. But I find that I do less and less of that as years go by. Maybe my tastes have changed. Also, when I was coming of age in the 70’s and 80’s, it was a very exciting time for films. There were lots of experimental films being made. That aspect has changed now, of course, with many honourable exceptions. Films have become much more formulaic. That’s why Aamir Khan’s films are so interesting. He’s one person who constantly pushes in all directions. He is able to depart from the standard in some way. Filmmakers like Vishal Bhardwaj and Mira Nair are people whose works I follow.

What about music? What are your favourite genres?

I love music. My favourite genres are Hindustani classical, specially vocal. I also like Jazz and Western Classical music. So I have a pretty eclectic taste in music.

Are you fond of cooking?

Yes, I love cooking. I’ve been my family cook for 30 years. I cook for my family. I’m pretty eclectic when it comes to cuisines. My general approach to cooking is maximum flavour for least effort (laughs). I’m not one to slave over the stove, that’s not me. Also, another aspect which interestingly interests me is growing food. There are many writers who say now that the most important thing you can do, enviromentally speaking, is to pay attention to your food, where it comes from, how you make it, whether you waste it et. I have a garden where I grow vegetables, fruits and even spices. I think the pepper from my garden is the best pepper you will ever taste (smiles).

Is there any compliment or incident you remember which made you feel really thankful for being a writer?

Many people write to me saying that my work has influenced them etc. What was particularly interesting for me was a letter I got many years ago from someone in Bombay, called Sudha Shah. She wrote to me after reading my book The Glass Palace and she said that the book had really got her interested in writing about the kings of Burma. Then she wrote her own book which I really enjoyed reading. So it was really great to think that my book had launched another’s writer’s quest.