For Indian-American author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
, telling stories is a way of life. But her stories are not just, simplistic tales of love, longing or rootlessness told through one-dimensional characters. Her narratives are multi-layered; they are about complicated relationships and characters who battle homelessness and issues of identity, and they are all populated with strong women characters.
Divakaruni’s latest novel Oleander Girl is the story of one such strong and independent young girl Korobi Roy, who travels to the post 9/11 US in search of her identity and, in the process, plunges into a new world, far removed from a cocooned and protected life in present-day Kolkata.
“An entrancing storyteller with an unerring moral compass,” Divakaruni started writing stories and poems only after her grandfather, a defining influence in her life, passed away. Arranged Marriage, her first collection of short stories, published in 1995 won rave reviews and a clutch of honours, including the American Book Award and PEN Josephine Miles Award. Her debut novel paved the way for a prolific literary career, with more than 16 novels to her credit translated into 29 languages. Her two novels, Mistress of Spice and Sister of My Heart have been adapted to the screen. Divakaruni, who lives in Houston, Texas, also writes for children. Her first children’s picture book, Grandma and the Great Gourd, hit the stands recently. After the promotional tour for Oleander Girl, Divakaruni will go back to teaching – she teaches creative writing at the University of Houston — and the one thing that she loves: writing.
In an interview to India Writes (www.indiawrites.org), Divakaruni tells Meenakshi Kumar about the emergence of India as a global player, the conflict between religions and classes in her new novel, the mingling of the mythical and the mystical in her narratives and the changing world of diaspora writing.
(Excerpts from the interview)
Q. How did Oleander Girl come about? Is this one of those stories that you have been wanting to write for a while?
A
. Yes, indeed, I have been wanting to write this story for the last several years. Each time I visited India I was aware of how rapidly India is changing. Each time I would see major physical changes, lifestyle changes and changes in thinking processes. India is becoming more and more important as a global player, but it is also a place where many are still connected to ancient customs. These two – the past and the present – are often in conflict as they try to co-exist, and at other times they mingle in positive and interesting ways. In Oleander Girl, I wanted to explore this phenomenon through the portrayal of two very different kinds of families – the traditional, ‘Old Bengal’ family of the heroine, Korobi Roy, and the glamorous, entrepreneurial family of the man she falls in love with, Rajat Bose.
Q. I believe that the character of Bimal Roy is drawn from your grandfather. How much of the book is autobiographical – after all, even you left India, like Korobi, for the US, though for entirely different reasons?
A. The character of Bimal Roy is influenced by that of my grandfather, who was a stately and powerful character, respected by his entire village, and he ruled his household quite autocratically! He and I had a very close relationship, so that is similar to Korobi’s relationship to her grandfather. But there the biographical parallels end and imagination takes over. Korobi comes to America in search of a family secret, while I came for a more mundane reason: to continue my studies.
Q. In this book, as in some of the earlier ones, the themes of identity, rootedness, displacement and traditions recur. Are these issues close to you because of your own experience as an immigrant or they come from the experiences of other immigrants?
A. These are issues that are important in the lives of most immigrants, though the details will be particular to each individual. But a new theme that is important in Oleander Girl is the relationship and tensions between people of different religions and classes.
Q. In today’s world, when we are so easily connected, do these issues of identity and homelessness matter so much? Isn’t technology bridging cultures and bringing people and nations closer?
A. Technology bridges certain gaps, but generally for the more wealthy and educated immigrants or specialised visa holders. For the relatively disadvantaged, working at minimum wage jobs or in illegal immigrant situations, the chasms still exist. These people are not necessarily internet savvy, nor do they fly back and forth often to India like the other group. They still miss their home cultures; they are still not fully comfortable in America. Even those who thought they were secure find themselves in jeopardy after a terrorist tragedy such as 9/11, which plays a big part in Oleander Girl.
Q. Dreams with messages and secrets feature regularly in your books. What’s your fascination with them? Also, there is this magical, mystical world that your create – is that a conscious writing style?
A. I am fascinated by the supernatural and mythic worlds. I believe that the logical level of existence, the one experienced by our senses, is only one of many that exist. Oleander Girl, however, only touches the edges of the mystical world, unlike my novels such as Queen of Dreams, where one of the main characters is a dream interpreter, or Palace of Illusions, which is set in the time of the Mahabharat.
Q. How easy or tough has it been to write Oleander Girl?
A. Oleander Girl presented me with several new challenges. Two of the major narrators here are male. (This is not my normal storytelling mode). One of them, Asif, a young Muslim who is Rajat’s family chauffeur, comes from a background quite different from mine and required a lot of thought and research. I also had to do a lot of research on the aftermath of 9/11 in America and the Godhra riots in India.
Q. Over the years, and especially since the time you have been writing, how has the Indian diaspora writing changed? Are the issues/themes being taken up in the stories same today or have they changed?
A. They have changed a lot. Many younger writers have a completely different take on writing. They aren’t necessarily interested in issues of immigration or family. They write non-Indian characters. I think all these changes are good and give Indian- American literature more diversity.
Q. Your next book is reported to be a modern-day narration of the Ramayana from Sita’s point of view. Tell us a little more about it. Why did you choose Sita’s viewpoint?
A. As with Palace of Illusions, which is seen through Draupadi’s eyes, I wanted a woman’s take on an epic tale. Sita’s character is particularly interesting. She has had such an influence on the Indian culture. What do people venerate when they venerate the character of Sita? When they want women to be like her? Do her actions in the Ramayana, particularly Valmiki and Krittibas, my two main sources, show her to be meek, obedient, patient and long-suffering, as some have interpreted her to be? These are some questions my novel will raise.
Q. Women are the centre of your books and these are no ordinary women – they are strong, independent and liberal. Also, they can be complicated. Are you able to create such characters because you are yourself a woman or because you have been influenced by such women in your life? Or is there any other reason?
A. All of the above reasons are true! However, please note that I have tried to show all kinds of women, those that triumph over odds as well as those who have been destroyed by the challenges they faced. And there are women who have survived, but have been hardened by their experience. All these portrayals are necessary. Otherwise, it would not be a complete and complicated fictional world, which is what I’m trying to create.
Q. What does writing mean to you? How many hours do you write and what are your inspirations?
A. Writing is very important for me. I try to write a few hours every day when I don’t go in to teach or when I am not on book tour (like right now, with the American edition of Oleander Girl). I tend to revise a lot. Writers such as Tagore, Tolstoy, and more recently, Toni Morrison, Anita Desai and Margaret Atwood, have been my inspirations. I also get ideas from reading news stories and eavesdropping on conversations!
Author Profile
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