There is a fascination with storytelling: Tanuja Chandra

With four established writers in her family — brother Vikram Chandra, sister Anupama Chopra who is a published writer, her niece Zuni who recently became one as well and her mother Kamna Chandra, who hasn’t just written great film scripts, her short story book in Hindi was published long before any of them could write — it was only a matter of time that filmmaker Tanuja Chandra turned to writing as well. Her debut book, Bijnis Woman, is full of quirky, bizarre characters, inhabiting some wild tales from Uttar Pradesh. “You could certainly say there has been a fascination with the written word, but primarily with storytelling. I guess the larger family from both sides has been full of very interesting and colourful storytellers and that’s the rich soil that this book sort of grew out of,” Tanuja told us. Excerpts from a conversation with the filmmaker-turned-author:

What was your brother’s reaction when he read your book?

This is my first book and my brother was its first reader. Since he’s a genius and an amazing literary writer, I was obviously nervous sending him the manuscript. The stories thrilled him (his words, not mine) and that thrilled me! Yes, I got a lot of feedback from him, which was extremely helpful. But I would say, as a book writer, my journey has just begun.

Why and how did you decide to write about these quirky, yet familiar stories for your first book?

These are stories that surrounded me in my childhood and as I grew up, they never left me. My mausis, chachas, buas, parents — all knew such intriguing, fascinat- ing people and these were characters distinctly from Uttar Pradesh. These stories could only come out of Uttar Pradesh. And so, when the commissioning editor at Penguin, Swati Chopra asked me if I’d like to write a book for them, this idea that had been germinating within me for so long was the first one I proposed. It was something I had always wanted to do — create a record of these people, because as I’ve said in the book, histories of nations aren’t only of ‘great’ events; histories are as much about ordinary people and the lives they’ve lived. The stories are full of quirky characters.

Is there any character that intrigued you the most when you heard about them?

Difficult to single outone, they’re all sounique and special, eachin his or her own way. Don’t forget, these stories aren’t just about the protagonists in each tale, but also about the narrators, that is, my family members who nursed them, cherished and enjoyed them, and finally told them. The storytellers are as interesting as the characters they speak of. So for me, this was not just an organic process but also a greatly pleasurable experience.

What do you think is the takeaway for the reader, specially the younger reader who may or may not have had similar experiences?

This is a world from the past; younger readers wouldn’t be familiar with its unusual fragrance and sounds. And that I imagine, should make it all the more special to read. Books are meant to transport us to places we haven’t travelled to. In this case, places not possible to go to anymore because our country has changed so much. And yet, do human longings change? Emotions don’t change, laughter and tears remain. So even the youngest reader, who will find these places belong to some fascinating foreign land, will surely know what it’s like to love, to lose, to desire, to envy, to be lonely, and to be happy. As long as these emotions live in our hearts, stories don’t become redundant.

Are you working on your next book? 

I actually began working on a novel some time back but needed to move away from it because I was struggling with it. I needed to come back to it after a break and will resume work on it soon. That is a story very close to my heart. I can only hope I tell it well.