Winner of this year’s Muse India Young Writer award went to business journalist Meghna Pant for her debut novel One and a Half Wife. Telling the poignant story of Amara Malhotra, One and Half Wife deals with the lure and disappointment of an American dream. The Dubai-based author, who lived in New York for a while, however insisits it isn’t an autobiographical work.
“I have been writing short stories for a long time, so I think that autobiographical tendency has passed. In fact, Amara is a completely different person from who I am. She is very docile and quiet,” she says. So how was it working full-time as a journalist and writing a novel in free time? “Very hectic. I love my job but also love writing. So I had to juggle,” she replies. Despite an award in hand and a second novel in the pipeline, she doesn’t plan to become a full time writer. Though a young author herself, as she gets talking about the Indian English literature that’s been produced of late, she isn’t very gung-ho. “There has been an outburst of populist novels which aren’t particularly rich in literature and that isn’t comforting. And this increase in novels is because of the increase in homegrown publishers,” she opines. And though she is happy about the increase in the number of publishers and their willingness to promote and publish young writers, the quality she feels, is wanting.
“I think there’s been a commercialisation of literature in India in recent times and that has given rise to this market. And if there is a market, the publisher will be willing to go with it.” The Mumbai-based author has in store another novel which she hopes will be out later this year. Telling us more about the book, she says, “This one’s actually more in line with the kind of stories I write; it is a dark comedy. If you read my short stories, they all have dark endings and have dark comedy.”
The author’s comic side is also perhaps something that runs in the family as one may further recognise her as stand-up comedian Sorabh Pant’s sister. So who of the two is more popular? Laughing, she says, “People recognise me as Sorabh’s sister, and that does feel nice.” Sorabh, who happened to be there as well, adds, “At school, I was known as Meghna’s brother, so it’s payback now!”