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INTERVIEW

Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

Mining memory: Ameen Merchant.

I’ll try to keep this as short as possible as there is a whole novel in the back story. Sometime in the 1970s a Tamil novel was being serialised in a popular weekly. I’d read the first few pages of the opening chapter, and I must say this, back then, my proficiency in Tamil was absolutely dismal, and it would take me hours to read just one page! I never read the novel beyond those first few pages. In 1997, when I returned to India after seven years in Canada, those five pages came back in full relief in my memory. What I remembered of those pages I’d read years ago, there was a character named Janaki, the older of two sisters, running away. The author didn’t give any explanation why Janaki left her family, and I didn’t know if she came back in the later part of the story, for, I never read beyond those first few pages. This bit became a constant nag at the back of my mind, and soon turned into an annoying obsession. I had to find out why Janaki left her family, and what happened to her.

I contacted the author in Chennai and asked her out to dinner. Halfway through our meal, I mentioned her serialised novel from the 1970s, and asked her what happened to that character named Janaki. She said that she had no clue, for the novel was about Janaki’s younger sister and her struggle to become a writer. I was devastated. I asked her for a copy of the novel and was told that it was out of print! I hit all the second hand bookstores in the city in the hope of finding a copy. I didn’t.

I went back to Canada and started to write what I thought had happened to Janaki. Rather naively, I thought I would work Janaki out of my system in five pages... she married an accountant and moved to Dubai, that sort of thing. Well, that was not to be. It took me 400 plus pages to fully exorcise her!

In one word: Memory. I kept going back to all those smells and sights of my childhood in Chennai. I made all those things part of Janaki’s life, and the more I lingered, the more I (rediscovered). It turned out to be one hell of a journey into the past, and I emerged richer for it.

Not necessarily biographical, but definitely remembered elements. For instance, in one chapter, Mallika, the younger sister, describes her father’s shaving ritual, and that bit is about my own father and my memory of how leisurely he’d shave on Sunday mornings. In that same chapter, the sisters follow their father into the slums, and that bit is also biographical. I remembered that my friend and I had once followed our neighbour on his way to the local arrack shop, and I used everything I could remember of that incident — only, from Janaki’s and Mallika’s point of view.

That’s really nice to hear. As a writer, one is constantly trying to achieve some semblance of authenticity, especially when one is standing outside and looking in. My guide was my memory; and my mission was to be as truthful to it as possible. There is a lot of truth in what Emile Zola said: All art is a corner of creation seen through a temperament. I am really pleased that the novel worked for you on an emotional level. That’s a solid endorsement!

While the novel’s locale and setting is culture specific, the story is universal in many ways. I mean, aren’t notions of love, family, loyalty, betrayal and reconciliation part of every human culture from Chennai to Mexico City? Here’s something that will address your question in a concrete way: The Silent Raga was published in Canada in September 2007. In October 2007 it was chosen as The Book of the Month by Canadian Living Magazine! That’s a long way from South India, and you don’t get more mainstream than that!

All of the above. Writing is a bit of everything, but especially those intersections of things remembered and things forgotten. Fiction is what cements the un-remembered part. How does it work? I have no idea. Sometimes everything comes together beautifully on the page, sometimes it is havoc. Most times it is just a matter of patience and perseverance, and learning to work with a blank page. The possibilities are endless, as are the risks and dangers. But when you find that moment of fulfilment on the page, nothing’s a better high.

I work every morning from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. and I forget about it for the rest of the day. Some days are discoveries, and some are disasters. I try not to get too excited or too depressed about my output. I’ve learned that staring at the blue screen of the computer is also rewarding. It makes you stronger. You learn to make friends with boredom.

There are two: Gayatri Chitti and Zubeida. I like the former for her ability to live life on her own terms, and the later for the determination to live life without regret.

Ah, that dreaded question! All I can say is that it involves Bharatanatyam, Ghosts, Diaries, Colonialists and........ mix it up!

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