She began her career as a model. After earning considerable fame in the world of glamour, Shobhaa launched into the field of journalism and she founded and edited three magazines – Stardust, Society, and Celebrity. Besides, she has also written scripts for such soap operas like Shanti and Swabhiman. Similarly, her creative endeavors in the world of literature have earned her worldwide fame. An author of impressive 18 novels, Shobhaa De is an eminent name in the world of books.[break]
Bikash Karki
In a recent chat with The Week’s Roshani Dhamala, Shobhaa De talked about her experiences so far.
How’s Kathmandu treating you? How did you find the Literature Festival?
Kathmandu is very charming, warm, and beautiful. Participating in the Literature Festival today was great. The audiences I got to meet and engage with were absolutely fabulous. So, it was a fantastic experience.
What inspired you to write?
I think that having been brought up in a family that highly valued education and having siblings around whom one could share and discuss books with have played a major role in determining my professional journey. I wrote as a child, but I didn’t know this would turn out to be my vocation. I was into writing from very early. I started editing at the age of 23 and that makes me the youngest editor in India. I wrote my first book ´Socialite Evenings´ in 1989, around the time when Penguin India was formed. And since then, there has been no turning back.
How do you get ideas for your books? Is there a message in the book you write that you want your readers to grasp?
I get ideas from life. Life has innumerable things to tell you. And a writer has to be, in any case, interested in life. No, I don’t write message books. Yes, my books may have a point of view, a perspective, or a picture of life, culture, or politics that might get across my readers. But I don’t aim for messages.
Have you ever hated something you wrote?
Yes, a lot of times. But I haven’t hated them to the extent that I would disown them. But sometimes as I look back at things, it strikes me that I could’ve written things in another way, or in that case, in a better way.
You’re an author of several books. You’ve been writing columns regularly and have also written plots for soap operas. Which among these do you find more gratifying, and why?
Writing, I believe, completes me. I’m so immersed in it. But I haven’t compartmentalized writing into any forms.
Have you ever experienced writer’s block? How do you deal with it?
No, not at all. Instead, I suffer a lot from writer’s panic. I have so many ideas that I’m anxious about that I think I can write on. At any given moment, random people walking around, their lives, and histories can contain interesting stories to be told. I think life offers countless possibilities and it’s hardly possible to run short of ideas.
You have always been highly opinionated and sometimes that has also landed you in controversies, like the recent twitter issues. Despite it all, you still hold rigid stances on many things. How do you do so?
I highly value having an independent voice. And whenever it comes to writers, it’s a writer’s obligation to stand up to bullying or criticisms. And if you aren’t to be expressing opinions, you might as well have to be choosing another profession. I’m rarely afraid of reactions. I don’t like playing safe and I think it’s worth the risk.
In one of your books, you talk about how a salwar kameez is one of the most unflattering garments for a woman and how a sari highlights the right curves. That generated quite a few comments from female readers who thought it was a very anti-feminist as well as derogatory comment. And on the other hand, you have a book titled “Surviving Men.” So what does feminism mean to you and how do you draw a line?
That was a personal expression and a personal choice. It’s my husband’s opinion about salwar kameez which is banned at home. Feminism, to me, also means choice. For example, if a lady chooses be a homemaker, I don’t think feminism has to have any problems, as long as it’s an active choice. And it all depends on who is the underdog. If men are the underdogs, I would speak out as much for them as I do for women.
In the Literature Festival of today, you appreciated the calling of regional and small town movies. What do you think they bring into Bollywood or larger Indian society?
Until recently, Bollywood was hugely dominated by a certain kind of formulaic film. The stories of small towns, of their lives and aspirations, as marginalized they were, wouldn’t even attract producers. But now the game has changed. These small-town stories tend to be more real than the exclusive fantasy mainstream Bollywood movies had previously thrived on. They were nothing like the way even Mumbai or Mumbaikars (people) are.
You say “Journalism/writing can never be objective, and one always has a personal investment in it.” Why do you think so?
That’s true. One isn’t paid to sit on fences and be neutral. One is expected to be honest, and credible and trustworthy.That’s the responsibility as a journalist, as a writer. The facts, the statistics, can be drawn by anyone. The comments one makes on/about those facts can never be 100% objective. Everything is subjective. The whole point is to make people think.
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