Once upon a time Deepti Kapoor was a journalist. Now, like many of her tribe, she has written her first novel. However, it is neither chick-lit nor a thriller, but a dark take of love — but not a love story — and much more. And like almost all journalists, she understands the urgency of deadlines and the need for responding to e-mails asap! Excerpts from an interview:
How does it feel to be shortlisted for The Hindu Prize?
It’s unexpected, to be honest, but very welcome, especially because it’s such a respected prize. So I’m honoured to be on the shortlist, and to be surrounded by such a diverse and interesting set of books and authors, which really shows off the depth of talent and variety of experience that make up India.
How did this book come about? Where, how, why a novel about love in Delhi?
I worked as a journalist in Delhi for many years, but left journalism and moved to Mysore, then Goa. While I was studying yoga in Goa, I started to think about writing. I had the time and space to start thinking about things… I was interested in Delhi, the experience of the city, about violence, grief and a relationship. So I began to write.
It’s not really about love, though, as much as about memory, gender, trauma, creation. It’s an open text, purposely loose. It’s open to all kinds of interpretation. Personally, I’d never call it a love story. It might masquerade as one, but it’s not one to me.
In A Bad Character , love is not a ‘nice’ feeling. Does this in any way reflect your opinion?
‘Nice’ is such a mediocre, wishy-washy word; so I’m glad you think love isn’t a nice feeling in the novel. I wouldn’t wish ‘nice’ on anyone. In the novel, love has, and should have, a sense of urgency, jeopardy, danger, a sense of despair. But that’s just the novel, not ‘love’ itself, and it doesn’t reflect my opinion of love exactly. Love is too vast a concept to pin down.
You said in an interview that you used episodes from your life as a ‘jumping-off point’ in your book. Could you explain?
I’ve turned what happened in my own life into literature. I had a boyfriend who died when I was 21. He was charismatic, ugly, smart; he’d been in the U.S. He introduced me to all manner of things in life and, after he died, I was extremely reckless. It just wasn’t in the exact order and manner as in the novel. The novel is a constructed thing and an amplified one, with more than just my life in it. My own life has been used to illustrate things beyond.
You lived and worked in Delhi. What was that experience like for you?
Delhi’s not the easiest city to live and work in but it’s incredibly interesting. I did it for as long as I had to, and learned a lot from Delhi. When I had the chance to leave, I took it, because as interesting and exciting and challenging as Delhi was, it was also killing me.
There is a darkness in your story, as dark as ‘hero’s’ skin. Where does that come from?
What you refer to as darkness is all around us. It’s just how life is. But it’s always mixed with beauty and light. It doesn’t mean I’m always going to write like this. It was appropriate for the novel. Another novel may be much lighter; it may be a comedy. Although I think even with comedy there is an edge and a black tinge. It’s just how I see the world, I imagine. I choose to focus on these things instead of pretending they don’t exist.
You have said that one writer who has influenced you is Marguerite Duras. In what way? Is your work coloured by influences of Indian writing?
She influenced me in directness, perspective, and structure. Also in her filmic language, the way in which a novel can be spare, like stage direction, leaving gaps to fill. She freed me from worrying about chapters too. But then, so did many other writers. I don’t really have any Indian literary influences in this novel. I love Manto, I love Narayan, but in general I have an inclination toward foreign literature, I always have had that.
Are you working on another book?
Of course. Several. And several short stories. I just have to decide what’s next.
The Hindu Prize 2014 will be awarded on January 17, 2015, during The Hindu Lit for Life (January 16, 17 & 18, 2015). For more updates, see >www.thehindu.com/litforlife , >www.facebook.com/TheHinduLitForLife ; >www.twitter.com/hindulitforlife ; >www.instagram/hindulitforlife ; >http://thne.ws/playlist-litforlife
