My responsibility is to be the light bearer: Anita Nair

After reading Anita Nair’s book, Eating Wasps, author Twinkle Khanna posted on her social media, that she had to put it away after the 30th page as she felt ‘a visceral pain’. However, she finished it in one go the next day. Khanna’s comment is bound to resonate with other readers of the book. Starting with 30-year-old Sreelakshmi’s suicide, the stories take you through the lives of 10 women, who want to live life on their own terms, without an apology. The society, however, has other ideas, rebuking them for even having desires. 

The critically-acclaimed novelist admits that Eating Wasps is not an easy read, but then, she has never written along conventional lines or chosen easy themes. “In fact, what I write about brings to the fore a deviation from conventional thought and forces the reader to accept the brutal reality of how life can be. And a writer writing about this takes a risk in that they may alienate a reader. But I have always believed that nothing worthwhile can be achieved without an element of risk. What is immensely gratifying is that my readers recognise this about me and are up for the challenge,” she states. The author tells us more about the book, where she finds inspiration for her characters and why most of her stories are open-ended.

Your characters are quite unapologetic about their decisions and their consequences. One might agree or disagree with them but one doesn’t end up judging them. How is it that you are able to bring out this aspect and how difficult is that for you? 

With Eating Wasps, I had to look within and gaze at my own darkness to understand what my characters were going through and then use it in my writing. Each of these stories address a different dimension of what women have to put up with. In that sense, it appeared very organically for me. I definitely wasn’t seeking to make an impact but there is no escaping that women have to deal with many of the challenges I have woven into the book. The unflinching gaze took a huge toll and this book exacted a heavy price. I found that it was impossible to detach myself from the writing of the book. I took ill and took a while to recover.

It’s refreshing to read about these characters, simply because you don’t often find such narratives in literature. How do these characters come to you? Are there references you pick from women you know?

I observe people. I talk to them. The stories emerge from there and are fleshed out by the imagination. Like most writers, all my characters have something of me in them. A quirk or a point of view or a character flaw or a certain predilection for something. Similarly a personal experience would be the foundation for a specific event or situation in a book. But I wouldn’t model a character around another person or me or bring in an experience precisely as it happened to them or me. I wouldn’t feel right about doing so.

Most of your narratives are open-ended and quite a few don’t end happily. What is the intent behind doing so? Do you think it serves your purpose better as a writer of these stories?

Writing, like any art, can have an immense consequence only if it can trigger change. But that would be a polemic. What art can make us do is reflect while turning our gaze into alternate ways of thinking. That is the role of the writer too — to creep into the reader’s mind and pave the way for whatever change. As a writer, I think my responsibility is to be the light bearer, while the reader finds the way. Which is why I leave most of my stories open ended. I want the reader to arrive at the conclusion in the way that suits them best.

What are you working on next?

I have the next Inspector Gowda in my head demanding to be written. I am also working on a children’s book which I had to stop mid-way. So I will resume that soon.