KATHMANDU, Feb 17: Shillong-based author Janice Pariat, currently in Pokhara for the Nepal Literature Festival, remarked during a conversation that writing a book is not merely about words; it also entails a transformation in one’s own life.

In a discussion moderated by Prateebha Tuladhar, Pariat shared how writing a book has impacted her life, focusing primarily on her novel "Everything the Light Touches: A Novel."

“I believe writing a book should alter one’s life because you are not the same person you were when you began writing,” said Pariat. “You have been moved and challenged.”

Pariat added, “I aspire to always change while writing a book. It challenges me to become a new person and a new writer.”

"Everything the Light Touches" is recognized as a historical novel delving into themes such as taxonomy, colonialism, post-colonialism, and indigeneity. It delves deeply into nature and indigenous science, which holds significant relevance for contemporary society.

Pariat expressed, “Writing 'Everything the Light Touches: A Novel' was also a process of unlearning many of things how I had been taught to perceive the world.”

In discussing the novel, Pariat highlighted how the two characters, Gerta and Shai, offer different perspectives on viewing the world.

“Gerta and Shai, who hail from Northeast India like me, provide an alternative way of seeing the world, one that resists the Eurocentric and Western-centric analytical and competitive approach,” she explained.

Pariat emphasised that "Everything the Light Touches: A Novel" poses numerous questions, with one of its central inquiries being “How do we perceive the world?”

“For me, this is a crucial question because how you learn about something determines your relationship with it,” she remarked.

Pariat concluded by stating that how one learns about a person, plant, or place determines how one relates to it.