Following the light
Humra Quraishi

A meningitis attack had left Ved Mehta visually impaired at the age of four, yet this setback has not come in the way of his writing. This 75-year-old writer has written 26 books, along with numerous short and long stories. Also, for over three decades (1961-1994) he was a staff writer at The New Yorker. And along with those inputs and outputs to his writing prowess there’d come along steady splashes of his rather unconventional and colorful lifestyle till, of course, the time he’d decided, "to settle down." Marrying in 1983, at the age of 49 along the strain of Aristotle’s philosophy that for a marriage to be happy and going, a man must marry a much younger woman.

As one gathers more information on Ved Mehta, his seems a rather offbeat survival story. He got early education at the Arkanas School for the Blind, and then at the Pomona College, Balliol College and finally at Harvard University. What seems amazing is that he managed these shifts, including the major one of his moving to the West in his early teens. He got American citizenship in 1975 and visits India regularly. His current visit, which came after a gap of six years, also saw the release of two of his books — Daddyji and Mamaji recently. Published by Roli Books, these books focus on the life and times of his mother — Shanti Devi Mehta; and his father – Amolak Ram Mehta. With their stories he takes the reader to a different era. These two books were released in New Delhi recently where the author shared his views on life and his writings. Excerpts from an interview:

Yes, I wrote these books decades back but I feel our history is important for today’s generation. People who live without history are no better than animals. History is important for today’s generation as it adds a dimension to life, just as children and wife add that extra dimension to a man’s life. Also, I feel that we should realise that our parents are not some authoritative figures but are as human as you and me. My parents were very private people and I wrote these out of affection for them and focused on the everyday life of a family in the late 19th and early 20th century India.

I am writing a new novel but I don’t like discussing my work till it is published. As of now all that I can say is that the protagonist is an Indian settled in the US.And no, it isn’t along autobiographical lines.

America should get out of Afghanistan, and Iraq was a total disaster, totally a fantasy of a kind, along the lines of what the US did in Vietnam and in Korea. I’m for non-violence and all for the policy of tolerance and I do believe in Aristotle’s philosophy vis-à-vis democracy, "You can only have democracy if a majority of people belong to the middleclass"

We are living in an odd world. In the publishing world the editors are playing musical chairs and as regards writing, I’m from the old school and thoroughly believe in the principles of integrity and honesty to oneself and to one’s readers.

I Married late when I was 49 years old and Lill is almost 20 years younger to me.

Actually, Lill is a friend’s niece and I had first met her when she was about 11 years old. Years later I had met her again at a party and this time I was drunk and kissed her. The very next morning, however, I wrote an apology note to her and she told me that from her side, too, there were feelings involved. It is then that we decided to marry. We married in 1983. And today she is my one and only wife and we have two daughters.

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