NEW DELHI: Delhi-based Bulbul Sharma has authored My Sainted Aunts, The Perfect Woman, Now that I am Fifty among others. Her books for children include Fabled Book of Gods and Demons, The Children’s Ramayana and Walking through the Hills. Sharma’s books are also translated into Italian, French, German, Chinese, Spanish and Finnish.
Her artworks are in the collections like the National Gallery of Modern Art, Lalit Kala Akademi and she conducts painting and storytelling workshops for special needs children. Sharma is a founder-member of Sannidhi – a NGO that works in the village schools of Himachal Pradesh. Excerpts from an interview on the art of writing:
What is your writing schedule?
I have no fixed schedule. If there is a stern editor and a looming deadline, then I write everyday for at least four to six hours. Then sometimes when I have just started a new book, I go at a leisurely pace and savour
each page. I find when I reach the middle of a novel, I tend to slow down like a train waiting for a signal outside a station! Then suddenly, I begin to write at a furious pace when I have worked out the end.
Does writing energise or exhaust you?
It does both. Writing is a lonely occupation. You sit at your desk dealing with conflicting thoughts running through your head. You try to catch strains of your storyline as it rushes past. You stumble. You fail. You stare out of the window and see people walking, talking, having fun, while you are chained to your desk. No one has forced you, yet you write. I often get resentful and exhausted. Then when you read what you have written, and if it works, you are filled with fresh energy and a tiny flicker of happiness.
Writing advice you would like to give to your younger self?
Don’t write in such a mad hurry. Pause, think, read, and read again what you have written. By the way, I still give this advice to myself after 20 years of writing. Not sure if I listen to myself.
Your favourite books?
Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Hilary Mantel’s Wolfhall Trilogy, All Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie, Roald Dahl’s children’s books, Munshi Premchand’s short stories, Anton Chekhov’s short s tor i e s, Ami tav Ghosh’s Ibis Trilogy, Vikram Seth’s An Equal Music, Alexander Mcall Smith’s books and more.
Literary success vs number of copies sold?
Both would be great, but very rarely possible. When I read the writers who sell millions of copies, I do feel envious since I have never sold in huge numbers. Then, when a reader tells me how much they empathise
with a particular character in my book, I am content to be where am.
Favourite spots in Delhi you write at?
I like sitting at my desk in my verandah. I love being distracted by sights and sounds of cars, birds, dogs barking and people talking. I think many women writers are like me since we rarely have the luxury of a quiet, dedicated writing space. I cannot write in solitude.