IN CONVERSATION
Secular vision
SUCHITRA BEHAL
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David Davidar on his second book, Solitude of the Emperors, and how he juggles two hats.
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PHOTO: M.MOORTHY
David Davidar
He is the successful president of Penguin Canada. But David Davidar really made a name for himself as the man heading Penguin India. Before he took charge, Penguin India was regarded as just another publishing house. Davidar’s rise, becoming one of the most influential people in the Indian publishing industry, was phenomenal.
Somewhere along the way the writer in him beckoned. Davidar “had a story to tell” and tell he did with his first book, The House of Blue Mangoes. His second and latest work, titled, Solitude of the Emperors, is a slim volume which dwells on the murky subject of religion in India. Excerpts from an email interview.
Your new book describes Bombay through its riot- torn period… Were you present in the city at that time?
No, I wasn’t in the city during the riots but many friends and acquaintances, both Hindu and Muslim, were. I talked to a number of them about their experience of the riots to recreate that time.
Has the impact of the riots stayed with you over the years and did this compel you to write Solitude or is the book actually based on events in the country over the years and in a larger context?
It’s a bit of both. I was devastated when the riots took place and I have been deeply disturbed every time there’s been a communal riot or incident. I used the riots as an entry point to examine the larger issue of communalism.
Who does Vijay represent? The educated urban Indian?
Vijay is educated and urban all right but more than these, he is uncompromisingly secular — and you don’t need to be a city dweller or have a Ph.D. to possess that trait — it’s a matter of upbringing, influences and the like. A plural society like India cannot do without those who profess secularism.
Is your novel autobiographical at all?
No, not at all, although I did start my career with a little magazine called Himmat that was edited by Rajmohan Gandhi and Kalpana Sharma and was deeply committed to fighting for what was right. The Indian Secularist magazine in my novel takes its inspiration from Himmat.
Does Rajan, the businessman cum politician, represent a growing tribe of people in India whose misplaced sense of patriotism actually ends up harming the very country they profess to love?
Sadly I think that is indeed the case. A misplaced sense of patriotism or perhaps nationalism to use a much-used slogan does have the capacity to create a lot of damage, especially if it excludes large numbers of Indians and has a narrow vision.
What is it you hope to convey through the book? Are you saying that religious strife has always been part of society?
If there is a message in the book, it is that we have no option but to be secular; if we allow communalism to gain the upper hand, India will be India no longer. The three emperors in my book qualify as perhaps the greatest Indians of all time because they tried to rid the country of sectarianism (which has been with us for a long, long time) through an astonishing breadth of vision and a very deep humanity.
Writing and publishing — how do you manage both?
I write for a couple of hours very early in the morning before I go to work and I’m fortunate that I’m able to keep the publishing and writing aspects of my life in separate compartments. And my wife Rachna provides the inspiration and enforces a certain discipline upon me, so the job gets done.
Who are the writers who have influenced you?
Oh, for an overtly political book of this sort J.M. Coetzee and George Orwell. I greatly admire the work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Orhan Pamuk as well.
Do you agree that today writing is only 60 per cent of the job? The rest is up to management and publicity skills?
Marketing and publicity are crucial to bring a book to a potential reader’s attention. However, no writer can afford to slack off where the writing itself is concerned. If you don’t try your best, no amount of marketing will be able to save your book because the average reader is an individual with a keen sense of discernment and will not buy a second-rate work.
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