Explorations of the unknown
| Anita Desai talks about how challenging it was for her as a writer to step out of her comfort zones. Excerpts from an interview with a writer who has quietly but consistently practised her craft for over 45 years. ZIYA US SALAM |
‘I never go back to a story once it is in print. If I did, I would want to re-write it entirely...’
Anita Desai: Brings a quiet, unhurried quality to her writing.
There is an unhurried, laidback quality to her work that draws the reader in, like a flame attracts a moth. In the age of quick-reads, Anita Desai still draws attention with the same unwavering quality to her work that she first displayed when she penned Cry The Peacock, back in 1963. Nothing has changed her life. Neither three Booker nominations, nor being a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature or the Padma Shri she was conferred!
At one time, Desai, now with 16 books under the belt, said her life was not big or broad enough as it was all about family and neighbours. Now, people see a window into their life through her works. How gradual or pleasurable was this transformation?
Risking a break“It was important to me. I could have chosen to remain confined within the limits of my world or to risk a break and step into the unknown. I chose the latter. It was challenging, at times frightening, because it separated me from what I knew intimately and well, but for the most part it was exhilarating and stimulating.”
An air of melancholy runs through most of her works. If in In Custody there is a brooding darkness, in Fire on the Mountain, she talks of estrangement and a sense of loneliness in solitude. Isn’t the work a bit dark? more
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