
BENGALURU: Dr Deepa Narayan is an independent international poverty, gender and development advisor and writer, who has authored or co-authored more than 15 books. Her previous works include Voices of the Poor studies that brought together the experiences of 60,000 poor women and men from 60 countries to re-examine core assumptions about poverty. Her latest book, Chup, is based on 600 detailed interviews with women and some men across India’s metros, wherein she identifies seven key habits that may dominate women’s everyday lives, despite their education, success, financial status and family background. Excerpts from an interview:
What was your trigger for writing Chup: Breaking The Silence About India’s Women?
After the Nirbhaya rape I asked myself what I could contribute and eventually it became clear that I needed to explore culture. The public debate was focused on law and the police and everyone would say it is also because of our culture, but the conversation would stop at that. Culture is a big word that is difficult to grab. So I decided to explore culture by asking what it means to be a good woman or good man. I couldn’t believe the answers of highly educated students from India’s best colleges. So the motivation of writing the book was to break the silence about the lives of women in modern middle and upper class India, about what is happening in our families.
Have any of your books been inspired by vernacular books?
Not really, all my earlier books focused on poverty and people living in poor circumstances.
I am thrilled that translation of regional literature is finally happening.
Do you go back to your old writings? How does it feel to re-read what you had written years back?
Yes, I do. It is just like going back to memories of an old lover. You love some things and you are appalled at others!
Have you always seen yourself as a writer? What has been your inspiration as a writer?
I have been in denial of being a writer all my life even after writing 17 books on poor people’s lives. Two years ago somebody said to me, ‘You are a writer’ and I automatically said no! I didn’t feel worthy of the title. So I printed a visiting card with my name and the word ‘writer’ on it and it felt very uncomfortable. Pretentious. And now after publication of Chup I have finally let it sink in that I am a writer! My inspiration has always been to help people understand realities in front of their noses in a different way!
With the digitisation of books, have you moved to reading books on screen?
I do a lot of my reading on my phone while I am traveling, waiting, etc and I also enjoy the feeling of books in my hand. What is important is reading, I am a voracious reader, a glutton, so reading on the phone is a boon, I have to discipline myself not to read!
What is the process you undergo while writing?
For my earlier books, it would be madness, I would just write and forget everything else. Fortunately I had a very tolerant family. For Chup, I got into a rhythm of starting by 7am or earlier and writing till 1pm or 2pm. I would read it aloud in the afternoons or if I needed to do any research, I would do so then and proceeded to get some physical movement from all the sitting around! With Chup, writers block took on a different meaning. The usual things did not work. Because I was dealing with hundred of stories of women’s every day lives and their own inner blockages, it started affecting me. I found I had to deal with my old blockages before the flow in writing would come back.
How difficult or easy is it to get published? Have you had to modify or change the content of any of your books for it to get published?
For me the first publisher I asked wanted to publish it. I was fortunate, so no I changed nothing. The problem was length. Just the body chapter was 110 pages, so I knew I had to cut it down.
Who is your first reader? And who are your biggest critics?
My spouse is my first reader, I had to train him to first appreciate and praise and then be critical! Eventually it became fun, he is a great editor, though I did not always accept his suggestions. My biggest critic is my daughter, but she is inevitably right! I wrote the book for middle class women so they could see their own behaviors reflected in the book and reflect on it. The same for men. Unless men change we will continue to see violence in society. We are all cultural creatures.
Do you think marketing has played an integral role in the success of your books?
If nobody knows you have written a book, how can they read it? I am not good at marketing, I wish I was better. I was fortunate that I have had publishers who have stood behind my books. I have
also done my part by accepting invitations to talk about the book including readers groups, women’s neighborhood groups, colleges, universities, etc. I also spent a lot of time going to literary festivals.