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Campus notes
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First-time author Soma Das on why she opted to write on JNU
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Student’s reflections Soma Das makes JNU her muse
Writing a novel turned her from self-conscious to self-sufficient. “Sumthing of a Mocktale” by Soma Das is a campus novel that highlights the virtues without ignoring the flaws of JNU. Now pursuing a doctorate in geography and teaching at
New Delhi’s Miranda House, Das used JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University) to fulfil her literary cravings. Initially very self-conscious, she held reading sessions of the book with select friends.
Sceptical
She wanted to ensure that the parts she intended to be funny, were actually funny! “I was sceptical about reactions,” she confesses, “But when I saw people enjoying what I read, I felt reassured.”
She reveals, “JNU is a fertile ground for ideas. But I found no form of literature that explored JNU. I was doing my Masters at that time. And I wanted to write. I did not know much on anything else. So, writing on JNU suited me fine.”
Written in a wry humorous tone, the book follows the personal and scholarly journeys of Kaya, Shubhra and Ragini. Das says she chose the genre of fiction and an easily understandable tone to avoid alienating any of her readers. But she was careful not to make this book a paean to JNU. “People enter JNU with rosy ideas,” she says, “But no institution is infallible. I have highlighted the flaws, and in some ways, I have underplayed the virtues.” She is judicious in her criticism. But she does question the escapism and the protest culture of the campus.
Campus writing is big business in today’s Indian book market. But Das makes it clear that a book can be written only from an inner impulse and not by following themes in the market. With writers becoming younger, campus books are the obvious genre of choice, says Das. “While JNU and IIT are as different as socialism and capitalism, the books themselves are very different.” While she does play into the stereotypes of JNU, she says that reading between the lines the stereotypes are broken.
While this might be her first book, Das says that it was only when she met other authors that she realised that it hadn’t been too hard for her to get her book published. Srishti Publishers only edited her original manuscript of 280 pages to 206 pages.
She is already working on her next “extremely different” book. “I am writing this one for myself. I am writing without caring about peoples’ reactions,” says this scripter of JNU tales.
NANDINI NAIR
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