JAIPUR: The second day of Jaipur Literature Festival saw Namita Gokhale talk about her book Jaipur Journals, set in the background of this very festival which the author is a co-founder.
Talking about the book that not only offers a better understanding of the festival but also weaves in many stories, Gokhale said, “The idea of this book was given to me offhand, in a passing comment by an American friend who had never been to the festival, who said have you ever thought of writing about the festival. I told her why would I? It will look like I’m using the festival. But she insisted that people would love reading about the festival. And so, the idea stuck with me.”
Gokhale, who works hard on literature festivals around the word, working on the programming for the offshoot festivals, leaves her with limited time to write.
“Earlier I use to have 6-8 months to write and then concentrate on the Lit fest. Now the pace is such, I’m left with very little time for myself. So, the pace of this book was so easy to write. It is like writing short stories which are easy to write at intervals. This was a book in which I could get intensely involved in one story and then sign off only to come back and write another story. So, the format of the book was such that it made it easy to write in between festivals.”
Gokhale said she found it to a huge release of emotions, and just like the principal character of the book, Rudrani Rana, she too gets frustrated at times when people forget she is a writer and only think of her as a literary impresario.
“It was a return to my writing life in short snatches which could be managed between everything else.”
Talking about the character Rudrani Rana, the author of 18 books, shared, “Years ago, I read somewhere that an artist has something within him or her that has not healed and when you are healed you don’t have to write such books. And even in the novel, there are so many characters who are not healed and are all trying to work through their hurt through their books. And Rudrani Rana is one such person.”
Gokhale reminisces how there was one such person, a man, who use to come to the festival. She would often find him sitting outside the writers lounge and looking in very sadly, post which he lived a delusional life where he thought he was a great writer. This became the base of the idea behind the main character in the book. Without giving away the end of the story, Gokhale shared that somewhere the character’s writing is validated.
For the author, who debuted with the acclaimed novel, Paro: Dreams of Passion, published in 1984, which has remained a cult classic, she has seen both failure and success. “For ten years after Paro, I had nothing published and I had to completely scratch my way back. Resting on one’s success doesn’t work,” she added.
Gokhale, on why the book was completed at a racy pace
“Earlier I use to have 6-8 months to write and then concentrate on the Lit fest. Now the pace is such, I’m left with very little time for myself. So, the pace of this book was so easy to write. It is like writing short stories which are easy to write at intervals. This was a book in which I could get intensely involved in one story and then sign off only to come back and write another story.”