Can you tell us a
little about yourself, your growing years, education and work?
As a cherished daughter of traditional Tamil parents, I grew
up in a warm, cosy and protected environment in Chennai. I followed my father’s
footsteps and completed my chartered accountancy at the age of 21. However, I found
the practical side of chartered accountancy did not give me the fulfillment
that the academic part of it did.
Was there a conscious
decision to step into writing? Did you envisionmuch of what you are doing now,
or was it an organic process that grew asyou walked into it?
I have always been writing, right from my childhood years,
and I have also always shared my work with anybody who would be interested to
read it. I had my articles and poetry published in the school journal and
college journal. I also wrote the script for a few plays during this period.
However, I started writing seriously when I was a new mother in a strange city
without a job or any friends. Writing gave me the solace that I needed. My
initial articles and stories were about marriage, motherhood, Mumbai and the
Arabian Sea. I sent out these pieces and many of them were published. During
this period, I also wrote various financial articles, which were published in
the leading newspapers and magazines. Still I hadn’t considered writing as a
career. I was intent on getting a degree in art from the JJ School of Arts, a vision
that I still cherish. However, all these publishing credits had launched me on
my writing journey and I started dreaming of publishing a novel. It was another
8 years before that dream came true.
Let's talk about
Birds of Prey. What was your thought process behindcreating the novel? Could
you also weigh in on how you personally evolvedas a writer while working on the
piece?
Before writing Birds of Prey, I had written two non-fiction
books and three novels. However, they all remained as first drafts. A first
draft is just like a jotting in a journal – raw and unpublishable. Birds of
Prey was my first book that I took to completion. I had Neil Gaiman’s quote
taped to the wall in front of me: “You have to finish things — that’s what you
learn from, you learn by finishing things.” Birds of Prey gave me confidence.
Writing further books does not seem daunting any more.
Coming to your work
as a writer, you talk about difficult themes like marital rape. Can you tell us
a bit about some of your key milestones in this space?
I strongly believe that we can convey important social
messages through the medium of fiction. Birds of Prey was an attempt to give
voice to the society’s silence on the abuse of children within the supposedly
safe confines of home. During a recent visit to a coffee plantation in Coorg, I
was shocked to see that the hourly wages for men and women were still
different, though legislations proscribing this have been around for quite some
time. I wrote a piece of flash fiction based on this incident and it was widely
circulated online. Many of those who read this were oblivious to this practice
and were shocked to know about it. Fiction can be used effectively to convey
the truth. I have a long way to go in this.
You've broken quite a
few stereotypes in taking on some of the restrictions culture and society has
put upon women. Can you share some thoughts on this with us?
Birds of Prey is a dark, psychological crime thriller. The
immediate reaction that I received from friends and family was a shocked
surprise as to why I hadn’t written in a more ‘womanly’ genre, like romance or
chick-lit. When women are the victims of most crimes in society, isn’t it
natural that we are better armed to write crime when compared to men? Womenare
attuned and equipped with sensitivity and sensibility to express the issues
surrounding a crime.In my opinion, the only restriction for a woman is the one
she puts on herself; all others can, and must, be shattered by her.
Interestingly, as much as women are out there breaking glass
ceilingsand are phenomenal writers and authors, they are not given as much
respectas men - lit fests are still peppered with more men, our book
storespresent men's books more prominently than women's books. How have
younavigated the route as a woman in an otherwise male-dominated world?
Initially, the thought did come across as to whether I
should position myself with a male alias name, especially since I was writing
thrillers. However, I couldn’t think of myself as anyone else. Add to this, the
fact that some of the greatest mystery thriller writers in the world are women
– Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, P.D. James, Ruth Rendell and so on – and
that made me rethink. Closer home, we have the likes of Anita Nair, Ambai, K.R.
Meera, Kalpana Swaminathan etc. It is true that litfests and bookstores are
peppered with more men authors than women. The recent incident of Vir Sanghvi
mansplaining a woman author at JLF comes to my mind. As Shonda Rhimes says, a
woman needs to work twice as hard and twice as long to achieve what a man can.
I told myself that I would even do that, if that is what it takes!
What have some of
your key challenges been, and how have you addressed /dealt with them?
My biggest challenge has always been finding the space, time
and peace to write. A man working from home is accorded a different respect
compared to a woman working from home. Though I have a study completely devoted
to my work and although it has a door that I shut, neither family nor outsiders
respect it. So, I have trained myself to work in all surroundings. Still,there
are days when the words don’t come easily, and I need solitude and silence.
Those days, either I run away from home or lock myself in the bathroom with my
laptop.
What inspires you?
I stumbled upon this poem by George Banks during my school
years. From then, this has been my inspiration.
I live for those who
love me,
For those who know me
true,
For the heaven that
lies above me
And awaits my spirit
too;
For the cause that
lacks assistance,
For the wrong that
needs resistance,
For the future in the
distance
And the good that I
can do.