Indian authors have imposed self censorship
on their writings: Jeet Thayil
Most of the Indian authors have imposed self-censorship as they are worried about `their papajis, mamajis and uncles' believes author Jeet Thayil who has raised heckles with his blunt and sharp writing.
" Indian writers are not encouraged to experiment or take risks. They prefer writing the cliché stuff which has already been written" author of Narcopolis, which has been shortlisted for this year’s Man Booker Prize, Jeet Thayil said during an interview.
Thayil who is in the race for the prize along with heavyweights like Deborah Levy, Hilary Mantel, Alison Moore, Will Self and Tan Twan Eng asked, " What is the point who if you can't put words into your book that you hear daily?"
" In India you will hear certain words 15 times in a day but you will never read them in pages of a literary novel, " said Thayil whose novel Narcopolis was rejected by multiple Indian publishers.
" There is no critical tradition in the field of Indian literature writing because both writers as well as publishers prefer the tried and tested subjects and methods," he said.
According to Thayil, his book which was published in London got better reviews in India among the readers because it could connect to the way the youth today thinks, the language they use but unfortunately only few or almost no such books are published here.
“My parents knew how screwed up I was and never expected any surprise if I wrote things open. Many authors do not write what they want to. Authors should not worry about what others think. They should worry about the book only,’’ said Thayil who was here to participate in the Delhi Leg of fifth Kovalam Litertaure Festival (KLF).
The debut novel from 53-year-old Kerala-born writer, who was so far known for his poems, is a dark tale about the opium and heroin dens of Mumbai and based on his own experiences.
However, he thinks that reaching to the conclusion that his book might compel the readers to have drugs will be wrong.
" It takes much more than a book to push someone to drugs and if that happens means you are an extremely literary person. The book always gives the message that it's never too late for quitting drugs" he said.
Thayil asserted that the book does not only talk about the story of how an individual gets addicted to drugs but a tale of the transformation of desires and opinions from when addiction appears pleasurable to when it appears sheer waste of time.
Downplaying the hype and growing expectation about his novel winning the Booker prize, he said he would give himself `an outside chance’ to win the coveted award.
“I have an outside chance to win it. All others have inside chance. That is how I want to look at it,’’ said Thayil.
While he is keeping his fingers crossed for the awards which will be announced on October 16, he is already working on his next novel which he says will not be a sequel of 'Narcopolics' but there will be some connectivity in the characters of the two books.
on their writings: Jeet Thayil
" Indian writers are not encouraged to experiment or take risks. They prefer writing the cliché stuff which has already been written" author of Narcopolis, which has been shortlisted for this year’s Man Booker Prize, Jeet Thayil said during an interview.
Thayil who is in the race for the prize along with heavyweights like Deborah Levy, Hilary Mantel, Alison Moore, Will Self and Tan Twan Eng asked, " What is the point who if you can't put words into your book that you hear daily?"
" In India you will hear certain words 15 times in a day but you will never read them in pages of a literary novel, " said Thayil whose novel Narcopolis was rejected by multiple Indian publishers.
" There is no critical tradition in the field of Indian literature writing because both writers as well as publishers prefer the tried and tested subjects and methods," he said.
According to Thayil, his book which was published in London got better reviews in India among the readers because it could connect to the way the youth today thinks, the language they use but unfortunately only few or almost no such books are published here.
“My parents knew how screwed up I was and never expected any surprise if I wrote things open. Many authors do not write what they want to. Authors should not worry about what others think. They should worry about the book only,’’ said Thayil who was here to participate in the Delhi Leg of fifth Kovalam Litertaure Festival (KLF).
The debut novel from 53-year-old Kerala-born writer, who was so far known for his poems, is a dark tale about the opium and heroin dens of Mumbai and based on his own experiences.
However, he thinks that reaching to the conclusion that his book might compel the readers to have drugs will be wrong.
" It takes much more than a book to push someone to drugs and if that happens means you are an extremely literary person. The book always gives the message that it's never too late for quitting drugs" he said.
Thayil asserted that the book does not only talk about the story of how an individual gets addicted to drugs but a tale of the transformation of desires and opinions from when addiction appears pleasurable to when it appears sheer waste of time.
Downplaying the hype and growing expectation about his novel winning the Booker prize, he said he would give himself `an outside chance’ to win the coveted award.
“I have an outside chance to win it. All others have inside chance. That is how I want to look at it,’’ said Thayil.
While he is keeping his fingers crossed for the awards which will be announced on October 16, he is already working on his next novel which he says will not be a sequel of 'Narcopolics' but there will be some connectivity in the characters of the two books.
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