Sutapa Basu is dedicated to reviving
history through fiction, and her latest offering is a narrative on Genghis
Khan. Here is a chat with the author, where she tells us about the importance of historical fiction and its value in contemporary thinking, and gives us an insight into how one should consume history.
What got
you into writing? What was your journey like?
I have been a voracious reader since
childhood and I have been writing plays and stories even as a child. It has
been my dream to write books and have people read my books. Also I have been so
inspired by books of other authors and have always wished I could do likewise.
Though I have been writing
continuously since childhood, hardly anything was published except in some
magazines and school textbooks. I have been busy juggling a teaching/publishing
career along with raising a family, travelling with my army officer husband and
carrying out the duties of an army life. All of it was very satisfying and
provided endless content to write about, but being so busy I could not sit down
to write. It was only in 2014 that I decided to chuck a well-paying corporate
job in the book publishing sector and buckle down to serious writing.
Since then I have not looked back.
In 2015, I won the First Prize at the the Times of India Write India contest
under Amish Tripathi which took care of my apprehensions about whether my
writing had the required value. The next year Readomania published my debut
fiction called Dangle (2016), a
psychological thriller, a year later, Padmavat
i(2017), a historical fiction and this year, The Legend of Genghis Khan (2018). My books have been well
appreciated by readers. I have thoroughly enjoyed my writing journey so far and
am eagerly waiting for new vistas.
Having
been a teacher, one of the most significant tasks you've been involved in was
to mould mindsets. Could you share a bit about that?
When I was teaching my primary aim
was not so much to mould mindsets but to make learning fun. I always wanted my
students to enjoy lessons and to find them an extension of their daily lives. I
would think up activities, games and innovations though my students were mostly
pre-teens and not kids. Most subject areas at that stage become serious study,
so I wanted them to enjoy the English classes and let their creative juices
flow by reading and writing tales, poems and plays. Over time many of my
students have returned as adults to tell me that I had made a major difference
in their lives. Most of them are successful career people with families of
their own. If they have felt that it was worthwhile to get back to me with
accolades, somewhere, sometime, I must have done something good. And their
happiness and confidence in themselves has become the greatest gift from my
students to me.
At a time
when we're seeing so much hate and twisting-of-facts just to spread an agenda
of hate, how important is historical fiction?
Historical fiction is important because,
I expect reading stories about the past will take people out of their narrow
world of old beliefs, misunderstood sense of morality and superstition to see
the historical events and figures in a much more wider and meaningful
perspective. The deeds were performed by people who were ordinary men and women
then but considered heroic today. What set them apart is their extraordinary
strength of character and courage to fight dire circumstances and win over
them. Instead of making them into untouchable icons, we need to be inspired by
them to do the same with our lives today. I believe historical fiction will
help people see great historical figures as men and women of flesh and blood
not statues cast in stone and take lessons from their lives.
You've
already written one piece, called Padmavati - that too, at a time when the
controversy was at its height. Could you tell us a bit about the book, and also
a bit about any backlash you faced and how you dealt with it?
My basic aim in the book Padmavati was to explore the character
and personality of Queen Padmavati. I was stunned by the fact that a teenage
girl who was apparently not an Indian, not even a Rajput, had the courage to
willingly walk into fire. Where did that courage come from? Why did she do it?
While sketching her life from birth to death, I have attempted to delve into
the reasons for her actions and showcase a personality subject to all the human
frailties and shortcomings which she had to overcome. Only then could she rise
to such mythical heights.
Let's talk
about your current one. What's it all about?
My latest is another historical
fiction called The Legend of Genghis Khan.
The same reasons have drawn me to Genghis Khan as it did to Padmavati. What
does the world really know of both these historical personalities other than
the obvious? Hardly anything. That is what triggered my research into both. I
was adamant to know what made them tick; what made them into the
superhero/heroine that they have been on the stage of world history.
Specifically, Genghis Khan has been
only known as a brutal plunderer and a world conqueror but why did he do what
he did? That was the question I was seeking an answer to. And I uncovered a
treasury; the closer you get to Genghis Khan’s life, the more fanatic a fan you
become of the man. And world conqueror! Does the world know what that actually
means? At the zenith of its power, Genghis Khan’s Empire controlled one sixth
of the world’s total land area! No wonder he is worshipped as a demi-god in Mongolia,
China and Russia!
I would like my readers to never
accept historical interpretations at face value. There is always more to what
meets the eye. Readers, if really interested in history or its figures, must
seek evidence themselves and form their own opinions. Also, do not judge
history, historical events, historical figures by today’s standards and ideas.
There is always some logic for what happened in the past. Understand the causes
and consequences with an open mind. The other important takeaway from my books
is inspiration. I want to put forward the fact that personalities like Genghis
Khan had to fight great odds to grow to the heroic stature that they have.
Readers should be inspired to tackle problems in their own lives in a similar
manner.