Pratyaksha writes and paints. Her English poems have been published in Pyrta, Kritya and Everyday Poets. Her poems, included in the anthology The Unsettled Winter had been longlisted for RLP Award 2013. She has authored Rain Song – a collection of stories, and Meet Me Tomorrow – a novella.
She also writes in Hindi and has published Jungle ka Jadoo Til Til, Pahar Dopahar Thumri and Ek Din Marrakech, Taimur Tumhara Ghoda Kidhar Hai, Barishgar, and Globe Ke Bahar Ladki. Her new collection of erotic stories, Mistress of Phoolpur, is to be published soon by Speaking Tiger.
She has won the Sonbhadra Katha Samman award 2011, Indo Norwegian prize for her story in 2013, Krishna Baldev Vaid fellowship in 2013 and has been a fellow of the Sangam House Residency in May 2015. In 2018, she won the Hans Katha Samman for her story Barish ke Devta.
What is your writing schedule?
I write mostly on weekends, early mornings and late nights.
Does writing energise or exhaust you?
Writing is therapeutic, almost like meditation. It keeps me on a creative high at one level and at another, detaches me from the surrounding world, and thus anchors me in a way between both worlds.
Writing advice you’d like to give your younger self?
You should have started writing early.
What are your favourite books?
The list is long. There are beloved authors and their books. I love Qurrutalain Hyder (Gardish e Rang e Chaman), Renu (Juloos and all his works), Rahi Masoom Raza (Aadha Gaanv), Paul Auster (Invention of Solitude), Bruce Chatwin (Songlines), Helen MacDonald (H is for hawk). These are few that come to mind almost instantly.
Literary success vs number of copies sold?
Always literary success.
Favourite spot/s in Delhi you used to write at?
Mostly at my home. Though there are places where I have spent time, if not exactly for writing but mostly thinking about writing and plots, such as Triveni Kala Sangam and cafes at Hauz Khas.