Amazing always
Humra Quraishi

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s latest novel, One Amazing Thing, explores
human responses and connections in times of catastrophe

CHITRA Banerjee Divakaruni is the Betty and Gene McDavid Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Houston. Author of 15 books, her works have been translated into 18 languages and two of her novels have been made into films.

This winter, she was in New Delhi, where her latest novel, One Amazing Thing, (Hamish Hamilton — an imprint of Penguin) was launched. It is an ‘amazing’ tale of nine persons trapped in the visa office at an Indian Consulate as an earthquake hits an American city and these stranded men and women and the visa officers begin to offload their own stories and much more .

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni says the new novel was inspired by her own experience of facing a hurricane
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (left) says the new novel was inspired by her own experience of facing a hurricane

Excerpts from an interview:

You are a professor of creative writing and you write books, both for children and adults. Then, you have a family and home to look after. How do you cope with your writing in the midst of this presumably rather hectic schedule?

Time management is always an issue. I work long days, often writing at night after the family sleeps. I’ve had to learn to prioritise. From the beginning of my writing life, I decided to cut back on things such as entertainment and socialising. I try to keep my life simple. Also, I am blessed to have a supportive, non-demanding family memebers, who are happy with simple meals and help me with housework.

Novel writing needs a certain detachment from the realities to get lost in the world of fiction writing, it requires a certain discipline for the mind not to go wandering from the storyline. Comment.

I agree. When I’m working on a novel, I immerse myself in the world of my novel. It becomes as real to me, in a way, as my everyday reality. I think I go around in a bit of a daze sometimes, as I’m thinking of my characters and their world.

Your latest novel — One Amazing Thing — focusses on a small group trapped in a visa office at the Indian consulate after an earthquake in an American city. How much of the it is autobiographical ?

What is autobiographical was that in 2005, I, too, faced a natural disaster — Hurricane Rita was headed toward Houston, Texas, where I live, and we had to evacuate the city. There was a lot of panic, huge traffic jams, etc. It made me contemplate how human beings deal with catastrophe and the fear of death, and how we might be able to connect with strangers under such circumstances.

Would you agree that there’s just about a very slim dividing line between fiction and reality.

Yes, often fiction starts with reality and then the transformative light of imagination shines on it.

As an Indian residing and teaching and writing in America, what changes have you been witnessing in these last few years, that is, post America’s war on Iraq.

Post 9-11, which is something that keeps coming up in my novels, such as Queen of Dreams and the current one I’m working on, Oleander Girl, Indians in America faced a new kind of suspicion and some prejudice and violence related to hate crimes. We, as a community, had been used to being considered a model minority, so we had to get used to this and also had to protest against it. I think of my books as a kind of protest, too, a way of saying: look at who we really are.

You write for both adults and children. What is more satisfying?

Both are satisfying and challenging in very different ways. With adult books, I can be more subtle. With children’s literature, I can have more fun with an exciting plot.

Your works have a wide range — women, Asian migrants and even mythological tales ... tell us what touches or moves you the most?

I think my heart is most in writing about women. The woman’s story is a complex one. Her position in society, at many places, is still a fragile, changing one. I delight in creating strong, complex, brave women fighting against odds.

Does creative writing work as a therapy? If so , why don’t we extend creative writing classes to jails, prisons, reform centres, refugee centres, etc.?

In many places, creative writing is used in prisons, refugee camps, etc. There is something very freeing and healing about telling one’s truth, sharing it with others. But that is only one aspect of writing. The other aspect is, you are an artist, creating a thing of beauty and joy (even when you’re dealing with tragedy). And you’re exploring the nature of the world.

As a writer, do you feel that with all this commercialisation human emotions have got bypassed and sidetracked?

There has always been a commercial level to society— perhaps because of the media it is more widespread now. But serious writing and art still exist. Just look at the great contemporary writers from India, or of Indian origin, publishing today — Anita Desai, Amitav Ghosh, Arundhati Roy, Rohinton Mistry, Aravind Adiga, Kiran Desai, Mahasweta Devi, Mallika Sengupta — and so many others.

What is that 'one amazing thing' of your life that you’d like to share with the readers?

The fact that I’m an author. I never planned to be one, especially when I was growing up. I never went through a formal creative writing programme. Yet, here I am — writing books that touch people’s lives. I find that quite amazing.

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