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Home and around

The India Habitat Centre recently saw a reading of filmmaker and writer Nilita Vachani's first novel "Homespun", published by Penguin. The evening commenced with the reading of the first chapter by the author. This chapter deals with the wedding preparations of Nanajee and Nanijee-the two main characters.

Spanning three generations since the 1940s and a myriad characters, "Homespun" is a tale of war and peace. There are no protagonists in the story, since each character plays a vital role in a particular chapter. The characters include a Mumbai movie producer with a love for pakoras; a fighter pilot who never should have been one; a young girl in a deeply fractured quest for her family and a war correspondent whose search for the truth brings her full circle. Their lives criss-cross and affect each other in unlikely ways.

"History only beams through the ordinary lives of the characters, it does not cobbler over one's head," says the author. The book's title stems from the fact that the stories all revolve around the home. They are all interlinked.

Since the author is primarily a filmmaker she was able to visualise a montage while writing the book. "I do plan to turn it into a movie some day," says Nilita. The novel came about at a time when she was unable to shoot documentaries as she was engaged with her two young children. But since she wanted to keep her creative spirit alive, she decided to write a book; as then she would be able to devote herself equally towards home and work. Nilita always wanted to be a writer but says she turned out to be a filmmaker by default. Apart from filmmaking and writing, the author also enjoys cooking and travelling.

She looked onto many archives for information pertaining to both the pre- and post-independence era. "Working at the National Archives in Delhi and the British Library in London did help me immensely during my research work," says Nilita, who has just started on her second novel.

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