I first came across Bapsi Sidhwa’s work, when as a young book enthusiast I decided to delve into South Asian literature, hoping that it would serve as a refreshing departure from the usual English literature which we were force fed in school and which I felt I had read all too much of. My first Sidhwa was The Ice Candy Man, a persuasive and poignant account of the partition of India and Pakistan through the eyes of a young Parsi girl. To say I found the writing remarkable and inspiring is an understatement and that’s why my recent meeting and conversation with Bapsi Sidhwa was nothing less than surreal. Sitting in the vibrant home of the even more vibrant Nuscie Jamil, I spoke to Bapsi Sidhwa about her work and her inspirations and about how the city of Lahore has consistently served her as the ultimate muse. The towering shelves upon shelves of books lining the walls of the room where we sat paled in comparison to the stature of this seemingly frail woman- a stature she has acquired through the sheer power of words and one that reverberates through all her novels.
Bapsi is visiting Lahore after more than three years to participate in the Lahore Literary Festival, which is to be held at the AlHamra Arts Council on the 23rd and 24th of February, 2013 where she is not only a panel speaker, but will also be launching three new books Junglewallah Sahib, an Urdu translation of her beloved The Crow Eaters, Shadows and Silver Linings, and Their Language of Love.
Her are some excerpts from our conversation:
How does it feel to be back in Lahore a city that’s inspired you personally and professionally? When was the last time you were here?
BS: It feels so energising to be in Lahore. I’m just contacting my friends. Four of them came to meet me yesterday. I’m in touch with them on email, but face to face is so much better. The last time I was here was over three years ago. I was in much better health then.
What particular aspect of Lahore do you draw strength from when you’re writing?
BS: Just meeting my friends and being here in Lahore with its lush greenery and so much more. Lahore is where I grew up – I get energised here, so my writing is almost always about Lahore. I went to America much later – I’ve been there now for about 20 years but I keep visiting Lahore, I keep coming back here. I’m not American at all yet. I’m just a Pakistani.
How do you think Pakistan literary tradition has evolved over the past few years?
It has suddenly blossomed. There are so many writers now. When I was writing there was nobody writing in English. I remember that Ahmed Ali wrote one book a long time before and then I started writing and then about 10 years after, I noticed that a lot more people were writing here. I noticed a similar trend in India as well. And what’s more, people suddenly started picking up from ‘Ice Candy Man’ and ‘The Croweaters’ -what I had written was becoming a cliché. Other people would use the same words, the same sentences. But you know that’s how writers write, they pick up from each other.
(…And they call it inspiration)
Yes well it is inspiration also, but its how it works. My inspiration came from books instead. As a child, I read a lot. I didn’t go to school, so I had no companions as such. Instead I just got into reading. I read and read and read and that’s what made me a writer basically.
If you weren’t writing what would you be doing with your life?
When I was not writing, I had a lot of sadness. Writing was an act of great joy at the time and it was just something that I so enjoyed. Like a catharsis. If I had not been writing I would have gone mad. So writing was a very big release. And the sadder you are the funnier you write. So I wrote The Crow Eaters and that is one of my funniest books and also my favourite because its so funny.
So what do you think makes a good writer?
I believe that reading is vital for people who want to write. But I also feel that you have an innate gift. I’ve taught creative writing quite a bit and I’ve found that a good writer has the gift of continuing and telling a story. Everybody now knows pretty good English, they can write pretty sentences but they cannot sustain a story. So the main thing is to have a story to tell, to learn how to create suspense, to create dialogue- that is very important and that is a gift.
Then there is imagination combined with your experiences. One has to dig into their lives to tell their stories – like with The Pakistani Bride, that was a story I heard. And I wanted to tell it because it touched me so deeply. How this little girl had grown up in Punjab and suddenly transported to the Kohistani wild area. And married there, and how she had run away. And I came back and wanted to tell the story. Thats how I started to write. Without having written before and without knowing any writers. I just wanted to tell her story. I wanted to write a short story. But without my knowing it became into a novel. And I do feel that each person within them has a side. Some are short story writers, some are novelists. I can write short stories but I am long winded when it comes to writing. I want to go into every detail. I don’t want to skip anything. So I’ve become a novelist.
How do you feel about new writers like Mohsin Hamid and Daniyal Mueenuddin? As a seasoned writer, what do you think about their ideas and their quality of writing?
BS: I know that Mohsin Hamid has now written his third novel. I have not yet read that but I love his writing. Daniyal is doing very very well by just writing about his experiences. I think Mohsin is also writing from his experiences of his stay in America. I think that his book The Reluctant Fundamentalist was in a way a very brave book because it showed his perceptions of America, how as a Muslim he was treated in America. It was a very honest book and I liked it very much.
So who are some of your favourite authors from Pakistan?
Well the ones you’ve named and Mohammed Hanif, the author of A Case of Exploding Mangoes. Although I must say that I don’t have favourite authors, rather I have favourite books. Like Naipul’s House for Mr Biswas. I loved it. I love his earlier novels. I love his writing.
Do you think Pakistani literature and art can flourish given the current socio-political landscape which is becoming increasingly oppressive?
You know Pakistan does not have a very favourable impression abroad. I don’t know about England so much but in America, there’s this very anti Pakistan slant because they feel there is too much terrorism going on here. They have a very different impression of Lahore. I told them when you come to Lahore, you don’t feel the least bit frightened because when I said I’m going to Pakistan they said ‘oh God, will you be careful’. And I said I don’t need to be careful because Lahore particularly is a very peaceful city. Karachi has always had a criminal side but Lahore is very different, it’s very welcoming. I remember this one time I was in Karachi for a talk at the Agha Khan University and there had been a bomb blast near the Teen Talwar area and I though my gosh how will I get there but everyone said this is normal here. And I said no I’m frightened. But they said we will send you an armoured car with an armoured guard. So a small Suzuki came and there was a guy with what seemed like a pop gun in his hand who took me to the university where I gave my talk to about 500 people and they were delighted. I mean things don’t stop because of what’s happening there- which is very brave. I think that the people in Pakistan are very are very resilient. They are lovely people. There is so much hospitality so much warmth, so much grace. People are so polite here. It’s not everywhere that people are so polite and courteous as in Pakistan.
As a literary scion, literary festivals and book fairs must hold considerable significance for you. How do you feel about Lahore’s debut literary festival?
Lahore is really the cultural, educational, literary capital of Pakistan. Lahore has produced all the major poets of our country, not only Faiz Ahmed Faiz or Allama Iqbal but also a whole heap of other writers. And poetry particularly is so alive here- in regular conversations people quote a sentence from some verse, like a couplet from Mir or Iqbal and its wonderful. I’ve previously attended the literary festivals in Karachi but yes, I am very excited about this one here in Lahore. The last fest is a unique instance for Lahore. The lahore literary festive is itself evocative of something. It’s a very very brave attempt. Its a large scale attempt and I don’t think they realise what a large task they’ve taken. Anyway, I hope it goes well. Its a wonderful event and I hope they have one every year.
So what are you most looking forward to at the lit fest? And are you excited to attend any particular panel discussion?
Yes I am, I’ve forgotten the title because honestly I’m still a little jet lagged.
I know that my friend Nasreen Rehman is going to have an interview with me during one of the panel discussions and we will talk about the various aspects of my writing. I’m quite looking forward to that.
Have you attended a lot of lit fests around the world? Which one is your favourite?
Yes, oh my goodness, I have attended so many. My books have been translated into German, Italian, French, so I’ve been so all these places. Germany is where I met this Vasanji. And what happened was that my passport was stolen at the airport and amidst quite a few rookie writers like myself, Vasanji was the one who very gallantly offered to help me. We had to go to Bonne, Berlin was not the capital at the time- and he spent two days with me while I got my affairs in order. Neither of us could give our readings, he sacrificed his own just to help me. And now that he’s coming to America, I want to do something for him and so I’ve organised two readings for him. So I think yes, that was my favourite Lit fest. I’ve been to many literary festivals in Italy as well. And they were all amazing. It’s just the impression, i suppose that I had that people don’t do any work. They just go from one opera to the other, from one reading to the other, from one concert to the other. I mean they are just flocking to these events. It’s wonderful. I’m sure they work, otherwise how would a country run, but they spend a lot of time for literature, music and the arts. There’s a lot of creative energy. After all Michelangelo was there, the huge artists were there. There is this element of creativity there, which is also present in Lahore by the way. And that is why I am quite hopeful about the Lahore Literary Festival.
In your opinion, what sort of other similar initiatives would be beneficial in encouraging literature and reading, especially amongst the youth of Pakistan?
I think one of the things that is already happening here in Pakistan is that we have a lot of publishers here now. I think we are very lucky that way. I don’t know how many English publishers but there are a lot of publishers. The more books get published the more people start reading and that’s how the love of literature spreads. There’s more written work – and if books sell the publishers are even more encouraged to continue their work. I feel that reading is still alive here in Pakistan. In America, I taught a number of creative writing courses, I taught at Brandiese, Mount Holyoke, and at Columbia I taught the graduate class. I was surprised when at Brandiese, when I would assign them books to read, a young man protested and said we’ve read enough. They were just 21 years old, how much could they have read! And I said no you’ve got to read a lot because reading gives you the nutrients to write- it’s like a vitamin for your brain and without the words, a whole bunch of words swimming in your subconscious, you cannot write. So you have to do a lot of reading to become a writer. And there are many more people perhaps who are reading here in Pakistan compared to America, whether its in Urdu or English, there are more people here who are fond of reading. As for the youth, I feel that the Internet has taken over. They are either playing video games or they are indulging in little snippets of reading. They are not reading too well. And of course, there’s the kindle and everybody has an ipad. I also use the kindle. Because how many books can you keep buying and keeping.? And I find it saves you space. I’ve got a library but I now prefer to read on the kindle. Because it can be clearer, it can be enlarged and its to easy, to carry around. For a while I thought I want to have a book in hand to read, but you know now, with age I find it difficult to read the fine print. Sometimes books have really fine print. So it’s so easy for me to read on the kindle.
