The soft-spoken sardarni gets agitated when talking about how no one understands her love for literature. In an interview, Bajwa tells The Mag why it took her so long to write her second novel. Excerpts:
‘I’m not a memsaab at heart,’ claims Rupa Bajwa, whose second novel Tell Me A Story comes eight years after The Sari Shop. The soft-spoken sardarni gets agitated when talking about how no one understands her love for literature. In an interview, Bajwa tells DNA why it took her so long to write her second novel. Excerpts:
Why did it take you 8 years to write your second novel?
Technically, this is my third novel. After The Sari Shop, I started writing my second novel. But somewhere along the way, I felt like I was falling into the trap of a formula, like some Bollywood films. I want my writing to be honest. The Sari Shop was highly flawed, but it was genuine. I had a lot of anger that translated in the novel. That it was well received was a fluke. I believe that just because something has worked, doesn’t mean you should recycle your emotions for another book of the same kind. If I had wanted, I could have cashed in on the success of The Sari Shop and belted out a novel every 2-3 years. But I wouldn’t be a very sincere writer if I did that. Moreover, even while I was writing, life was going on around me. I had a baby and that took up a lot of time. Earlier, I could write for 14 hours at a stretch. I don’t think that’s going to be possible again.
How did you put yourself in your characters’ shoes?
Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t do research or anything before I start writing. And I can’t categorise the people I meet, put them in boxes, label them, and then treat them accordingly. I actually connect well with people I’m talking to. For instance, before I started writing The Sari Shop, I used to visit this shop in Amritsar with my mother. I watched shopkeepers lay out saris on mattresses covered in white. And there was this errand boy, whose job is to take out the rolls of material and then stack them back. When talking to these people, I wasn’t thinking of writing a book about them, I was just interested in them — not as shopkeepers, but as people. I’m not a memsaab at heart.
What are you working on next? Is your next novel also set in Amritsar?
Main next khud khushi kar rahi hu! Don’t write ‘suicide’ — it doesn’t have the same Sufi ring as ‘khud khushi’. Really, think of Kafka, if people understood what he was about, then maybe he wouldn’t have to kill himself. To me, he wasn’t just a melancholic writer — he was a real person with real issues. I didn’t have a literary education. So my relationship with literature is a very personal one. Nobody wants to believe that I care about literature. Everyone’s become so cynical these days.
And no, I’m not going to kill myself. I have a baby to look after. My next novel is still in its nascent stages. I don’t know yet where I’m going to set it. All I have so far is the structure of the story and the outlines of the characters.
Who are the writers you look up to?
Anton Chekhov — I have had a poster of him in my room in Amritsar since I was 17, as if he were a rockstar. Other writers I admire are Leo Tolstoy, Rabindranath Tagore, Mark Wells, Dostoevsky, Kafka, Ismat Chugtai, Manek Bandopadhyay, RK Narayan, Manto. I like Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, but I prefer Sentimental Education. PG Wodehouse is my go-to writer when things go wrong. Gerald Durrell’s My Family And Other Animals is another favourite of mine. Lately, I’ve also started enjoying Sarah Waters and Margaret Atwood.
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