organises his tale. In it, two Tamil Brahmin sisters from Chennai make different life choices "" one escapes to musical stardom in Mumbai, leaving the other to a more traditional life at home. The departure is a shattering one, and the novel catches up with them a decade later as they meet once more. Merchant lives in Canada, but was born and brought up in Chennai. A freelance journalist for years, he currently programmes a Bollywood audio channel, Chowpatty Beach, for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He spoke with RRISHI RAOTE.
When did you start writing?
Writing has been part of my life since... I started writing. The more you write, the more you want to write, and for me the novel was a good form to explore because it gives you the space. It feels like all my earlier work was preparation. You can't wake up Monday and run the marathon, you have to aim for the smaller things and then build up the stamina and strength to go the distance on the big one.
Where did the idea for this novel come from?
I've lived in India for 25 years, so India is where my stories come from, because my imagination and my way of thinking, of seeing the world, have been moulded by India, and India has always been a fertile place for stories and art, and I would always come back to India, to my stories. Of course now that I've spent 18-19 years in Canada, there would be that aspect of my life also.
What aspect is that?
The whole idea of migrancy, of being of Indian ancestry but making my home now in Canada, does contribute different points of view on the world itself. My point of view is shaped by two very fine cultures, like my two eyes, my two ways of seeing the world.
Is it difficult to write as a woman?
It's a challenge, but it's a challenge that men should take on. Shakespeare wrote some fine, fine women characters, he was not a woman. Henry James, E M Forster wrote some fine women characters. A lot of Indian writers have written from a woman's point of view.
If a person of the gender from whose point of view the book is written doesn't find a false note, that is the success of the writer, and that is I think achievable. But you have to be very careful.
Your novel is full of scenes from a Hindu upbringing, household, home life. Where does that knowledge come from?
My family was the only Muslim family in a predominantly Brahmin neighbourhood. So I had no choice. You imbibe what's in your environment. I started speaking the local language just as soon as I started speaking Urdu. That's where I grew up, had my friends, played cricket, saw movies, went to school.
For me the religion thing was not important. I never really saw myself as a Muslim writing about Hindus or Brahmins "" this was my life in many ways, I didn't know any better. To this day in India 70-80 per cent of my friends are vegetarian Brahmins. They were all there for my Madras launch!
The sound environment in North America is so different "" is classical music, Carnatic in your book, a way of recreating a sense of belonging?
For me it wasn't so much driven by nostalgia. Nostalgia always has a sense of loss, time gone by. That time is still here. You can still walk in the morning and see the women lining up at the milk depot.
It is still the same Madras to me. Language, attitudes, people, warmth, everything is the same. So it was not written with any sense that "I miss this place". For me, this is the place, it's a lovely place, and wouldn't you like to discover it too?
The book is written in both first person and third "" why is that?
Janaki in the book is a more intuitive and creative person, so for her the question of saying her story in her own words is very important, whereas her sister Mallika is a more reserved, quieter person, so the internal work happens better when it's third person. One is a rebel, the other one is much more conventional. One had to be the artist, the other one had to be the audience. The audience is always third person.
What's next?
Another book, set partly in south India and partly in Canada. So this time I'm going to see the world in two ways.
