In a new light

In Lucknow Diaries, Partha Sarthi Sen Sharma presents the contemporary realities of the city of nawabs

Twist in the tale: Partha Sarthi Sen Sharma

In his latest book, author Partha Sarthi Sen Sharma follows the Bildungsroman genre to create the laidback lanes of Lucknow where his three characters, Feroze, Dinesh and Rahul, take physical and spiritual shape. Described as a tale of love and longing, Lucknow Diaries (Rupa) present the socio-political complexities of the city where Partha has spent many years.

Edited excerpts:

What propelled you to pen Lucknow Diaries ? How is it different from your previous works?

Although the title of the book carries the name Lucknow and the book is very substantially set in Lucknow, it is a novel about contemporary India. Of my previous books, “A Passage across Europe” and “Every Mile a Memory” were travelogues. Only “Love Side By Side” was a novel and was read and liked by many. I wanted to write another novel but this time I wanted to write a novel about multiple parallel characters and their life stories intertwined into each other, unlike “Love Side By Side” which dealt with one principal protagonist. I decided to base it in Lucknow because I have lived many years in Lucknow and could realistically base my events in the lanes and by lanes of the city. Also, I felt that there was a dearth of fiction in English that had been written on contemporary Lucknow, as opposed to Nawabi or colonial times.

What are your memories of the city?

The city has showered a life full of love, friendships, experiences, hospitality and memories. The memories of listening to an old ghazal singer – a disciple of Begum Akhtar – in a haveli in old Lucknow, sitting under a full moon on open terrace with friends to the new shining cafes and hangout places in new Lucknow. Then there are memories of riding a tonga through the heart of Hazratganj, lined with small paan shops and walks through the Chowk.

The story is set in the turbulent years after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. Is there a reason for choosing that time period?

Actually, I never named any real life politicians or characters, but the reason why I chose to begin my novel with that event was that I wanted to conveniently slot the events of the novel in a particular time frame that the readers could instantly recognise. So as soon as the novel begins, the reader knows that the novel starts in 1990s.

Does the character of Feroze represent the fear of Muslim youth?

It has nothing to do with any contemporary debate and the so called fears of the Muslim community. Feroze is a very normal, boy next door kind of young man who happens to be Muslim and lives in old Lucknow. His best friends are Dinesh and Rahul. Naturally, some communal events or fears would affect him in a different and perhaps a deeper way than others and he might feel insecure as a result but that is only one of the points of his otherwise normal life as a student and as a journalist. I really don’t think when we generalise all Muslims as taking a so called – ‘Muslim stance’, we are doing full justice to the fact that the real state of affairs is more nuanced, more granular and can’t be easily put into neat types.

Tell us about the three characters. They go through similar experiences despite their class differences...

They all belong to the middle income group. Dinesh is definitely richer, being the scion of an old zamindar family and son of a cabinet minister, but ultimately none of them are filthy rich and none of them is hand to mouth. I think in the India of today, if one belongs to this middle class, there is a good chance that one would grow up in varied ways and have different sets of experiences. So, Dinesh becomes a politician, Feroze grows up to be a journalist and Rahul becomes an IAS officer.