Multicultural Indians Make Insightful Writers

chillibreeze writer — Shyamola Khanna

The world talks endlessly of the diversity of the people of India and how they live together in seamless harmony. Yet it is difficult to perceive how the languages and cultures of the people overlap and what happens when this marvelous, soundless churning leaves its imprints on the souls of writers. Indeed Indian writers have this amazing sense of insight and the apt words to string together their feelings.

The last twenty years have seen a number of Indian writers earn recognition for their observations and their writings about the Indian ethos of the past, the present and the future. Their writings have been heartfelt, fearless and needless to say grammatically and politically correct! Today’s writers are creating a history of their own. One would never have imagined that Shobha De would be read in American universities as part of contemporary Indian Literature. This feisty but glamorous lady lives life on her own terms and writes about all that she sees and feels. That her pen is witty and acerbic adds to her charm!

Piyush Pandey, the well known ad guru and head honcho of Ogilvy & Mather, gets his creative insights from the people he interacts with—the simple village yokel who wants to commit suicide or the grey haired old aunt who is being gifted a diamond. His mischievous lines in Hindi and English speak volumes about the way the Indian people, as a whole, think and feel. His cross cultural perspective is probably the secret of his astounding success.

When I first started writing, my idol was Arundhati Roy, who had just won the Booker Prize for her God of small things. She may not have written another successful novel but she has not stopped writing. She has been writing powerful essays on various socio-political issues like the Narmada Dam, the threat of nuclear weapons, the war on terrorism etc. Her writings stem from her heart and her enormous visual imagery is based largely on her eclectic background (a Malayalee mother and Bengali father), education and upbringing in a small town in Kerala and also her keen observation of all that was happening around her. In her words, “I was aware of the different cultures when I was growing up and I'm still aware of them now. When you see all the competing beliefs against the same background you realise how they all wear each other down. To me, I couldn't think of a better location for a book about human beings."

At a young age she decided to live life on her own terms. All her rich experiences that are reflected in her writings have often been described as ‘insightful’, ‘deep’ and always well researched.

Who can forget Vikram Seth and his “A Suitable Boy”? Some people found his 1200 pages just a wee bit too much but most enjoyed the way he worked those details of the mid 19th century and how the whole story came alive. Madhu Kishwar is another name to contend with. She has a journalism background. She is the founder editor of the journal ‘Manushi’ which is all about free speech and women’s rights. Kishwar is one of India's foremost thinkers in the arena of women's rights, social justice, collective responsibility and social change. She has been writing powerful editorials for Manushi since its inception in 1979. Her writing is challenging, incisive and thought-provoking.

The above are a just a few randomly picked Indian writers who have been writing in English and have been read world wide. They have brought a fledgling community of struggling writers to the forefront. The world is sitting up and taking notice. Even the very highbrow world of publishing is looking at Indian authors with a benign eye, hoping they can get the elusive ‘blockbuster’ from this vast land.

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—About our writer:

Shyamola has been writing freelance for newspapers and magazines for the last ten years. Although she has written about various subjects, she prefers writing about people, Indian arts and culture and travel. She has travelled a lot around India, courtesy the Air force, and is now settled in Hyderabad.

Multicultural Indians Make Insightful Writers

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