Novels are great opportunities to build an atmosphere, the canvas is wide and there's so much scope to explore a journey, reveals author Lavanya Shanbhogue-Arvind , who's revelling in the success of her first novel The Heavens We Chase. Set against the 1920s of Bombay, Lahore and Calcutta, the tale presents a personalised dimension to the nationalist movements of the pre-Indepedence era.
Lavanya went past many British civilians’ accounts on their stay in India to get the detailing right; that helped her understand their basic lifestyle.
The Heavens We Chase intersperses poetry, love, violence (physical and emotional) in a deliciously constructed drama.
“I have always been a story writer, I began with short stories. The more I wrote them, I felt that I was putting a break to a larger story.”
Then there were intermittent journalism stints too which she felt were topical and succinct, nevertheless enriching for her writing skills.
“In novels there's so much you can do to push your creative and emotional pursuits.
The Heavens We Chase was partially inspired by my great grandfather's story, you can find references to his character in Satya who's an Educational Inspector of the Bombay Presidency.”
Being a fan of poetry (though she can't write poems, she says) helped her construct the poetic atmosphere in Lahore with authenticity. Lines from Baba Waris Shah and Kabir's poetry and patriotic songs lend a metaphoric quality to the story.
“Poetry is so lyrical and gives you the highest aesthetic feeling in comparison to any other literary form. No wonder you can find a lot of poetry lovers in all my stories. It'll be too much to say that they're my signature trait, but that's something I inherently like.”
Another motivation behind The Heavens We Chase is her interest to go beyond the nationalised version of history that she read as a child.
“We've mostly read on nationalism through a military lens. I wanted to know how a normal civil society would look and how the common man lived. I wanted answers to questions like 'What toothpaste did they use?','Where did they go for shopping?' and 'What did they do for entertainment'.”
It doesn't matter to Lavanya if drama or melodrama comes in the way of storytelling. “In the first draft I write, I just let the story flow even if it sounds dramatic on paper. It's to see where it can take me. I take a reality check only when I begin feeling that something like this could never happen.”
Lavanya's fondness for a period setting extends to her next novel too. Set in the Emergency era, that novel explores the relationship between a social activist grandmother and a granddaughter.
“I have been working on it for about 7-8 years now and continue to read a lot about the period. I don't want to get into the political side of the story. It's written as a second person account,” she says.
Pursuing her Integrated doctoral course in Women Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, reading/writing is pleasure as much as work for her.
“Sometimes I find my stories when I eavesdrop on conversations. I'm observant of the world around me.”