Raksha Bharadia
We have one lesson in std X – Alchemy of Nature written by Raksha
Bharadia. Raksha Bharadia is the author of the bestselling Me: A Handbook for
Life and has co-authored the much-awaited Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul. Her
latest book, All and Nothing, communicates about life and the unusual
situations and how our inner strength tries to overcome it.
On January 03, 2011 Divya Goyal from Hindustan Times had an
interview with her. I am posting that interview here.
All and Nothing is your first work of fiction
and you are co-author of the Chicken Soup series. Do you find fiction easier to
write as compared to non-fiction?
No, writing fiction
was in fact for me more difficult. When I am dealing with facts or my
understanding of facts (in non-fiction), I already have a structure, a style, a
perspective in mind, but with writing fiction everything goes for a toss! The
characters start living their own lives and even when I am not in accordance
with them I have to bow and make space for their moods
to me the difficult part was who was to decide (on a continual
basis) who is right them or me! Also
the freedom that comes with fiction, carries its own cross.
In fact I did far
more research on my characters for this book than what I do for my non-fiction
works!
You have been occupied
with the self-help genre like the Chicken Soups series. Why did you decide to
write fiction? Did your earlier experience count or was it completely an
uncharted territory?
Though I have done
only non-fiction I always knew I would be writing novels for me fiction speaks more truth than non-fiction. And I love what I
can say as Tina or Manas (characters in All and Nothing) that I cannot as
Raksha
In this book you have explored a whole gamut of relationships
and the insecurities in any relationship. What made you take up this subject
matter?
Relationships intrigue me. I feel that whatever chance we
have it is in human relationships and yet relationships are a source of extreme
pain too. Relationship in todays
world is even more complex with the advent of social networking sites,
channels and movies
all our ethos,
morality and codes and how relevant or right they are is in itself in a flux
.I
enjoy how the changing world affects two dynamic individuals in a relationship
From where do you draw your inspiration and ideas? Has there
been a specific inspiration for the story of Tina?
Well many of my
characters are sourced from real life, perhaps from an image, a fleeting
conversation, a situation etc. but once I give them a name, they become for me
a breathing living entity and dictate their own telling
Poorvi’s character interrogates a
common problem of our society: need of a male child. What is your view on the
matter?
I think that even in
todays world and times with India
being where it is, with the female gender and all its education, there still is
this age-old craving to womb a male child. it is there!
Mana’s story shows the failure of a
live-in relationship. Do you think that majority of live-in relations are unsuccessful and through this tale you wish to discourage those
who are in favor of live-in relationship?
Absolutely not! I
think live-in relationships has its own merits and in fact works better
especially when the couples do not want a child. My Manas was the story of a
person who allows his love to corrupt in the face of his ego
and of course it deals with the question
of exclusivity and how it affects a relationship.
You previously wrote a book on parenting, however in All and
nothing you do not fully expound on the dilemmas faced by a
child who witness constant bickering of his parents. Why?
Haha,
nice question. All and Nothing is about
adult relationships
hence the limited space that Shaswati and Tammana occupied
in it.
If you were to choose another connecting link to the
characters than Tina, who would it be and why?
The story could be threaded through Tina only
otherwise it would simply be a book of
short stories and not a novel.
Movies, such as Life.. In a Metro or the upcoming Dhobi Ghat
tends to capture the essence of relationships in the urban world. Do self-help
books work because of an emotional vacuum in society?
Self help books gives
us a kind of collective
consolation. When I read about another who has gone through failures,
trials, blocks, depression, as I have, I feel less wronged, less unlucky, less
incapacitated and so on. We ultimately do not feel alone in our misery
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