Praise for My Books


"Manreet Sodhi Someshwar is a gifted writer of great promise. I have a gut feeling we have a new star rising in Punjab's literary horizon. She has an excellent command of English and a sly sense of humour."
- Khushwant Singh on The Long Walk Home

"An enjoyable tale of a sassy girl's headlong race up the corporate ladder."
- India Today on Earning the Laundry Stripes


Wednesday 14 March 2012

The India Jalfrezi




I was invited this year to participate in the Shanghai International Literary Festival 2012. My session was as follows:


and I examined the theme using the twin prisms of popular and literary fiction through my books, Earning The Laundry Stripes, The Long Walk Home and the thriller The Taj Conspiracy, which I had the pleasure of unveiling at the Lit Fest.


I grew up in a town located on the India-Pakistan border in Punjab. As happens with any area that has seen trauma, the region which saw partition in 1947 and subsequently some of the worst communal rioting in its aftermath, is suffused with loss and stories of loss. Growing up in Ferozepur, memories of loss was my legacy.

In the 1980s I witnessed the Sikh separatist movement and the demand for a separate state, Khalistan.

In MBA school in Calcutta, our annual cultural festival was halted because the Babri Masjid was razed to the ground in nearby UP.

Thereafter I started work in Mumbai which was still simmering after the Hindu-Muslim riots.

It is inevitable that a writer's experiences should impinge upon her writing - the theme of faith and fundamentalism runs as a leitmotif through my work.

India, along with China, is the world's oldest continuous civilization; home to almost all world religions, with the possible exception of Shintoism; through its famed gateway of Punjab, it has seen through the centuries the march of the Greeks, the Scythians, Persians, Afghans, Mongols, Mughals and the British.

All of this makes India what it is: a great ancient pluralistic culture. We are like the Jalfrezi that has marinated over centuries in exotic sauces. Yet, this culture is under the strain of escalating fundamentalism on the subcontinent as its people engage in competitive communalism. How then do we continue to stay robust and resilient as we progress?


All we have to do is to look back, remember our history, and embrace it even as we move forward. In the inimitable words of Iqbal,

Yunan-o-Misr-o-Roma sab mit gaye jahan se,
Ab tak magar hai baki naam-o-nishan hamara.
Kuchh to hai ke hasti mit'ti nahin hamari,
Sadiyon raha hai dushman daur-e-zaman hamara

The civilizations of ancient Greece, Egypt and Rome have perished,
Yet, to this day, endures the culture that is India.
There is something in this soil that helps us survive,
In the face of innumerable enemies through the many millennia.

On that note, The Taj Conspiracy will release in India in April. I expect to be in Des - yay! - for the readings - will share the launch schedule on my blog once the dates are firmed up.

Cheers!


14 comments:

  1. Those are images of an author who is serious about her art, her revelations. An author whose prism quickly transcends the reader to the innards of uncomfortable realities.

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    1. Thank you Umashankar for the very generous praise!

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  2. So true.we are actually such a mixed lot..arn't we? So looking forward to your book.

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  3. Cheers yaar...
    all the very best for your success :)
    Dee..

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  4. Kuchh to hai ke hasti mit'ti nahin hamari. So agree with this! Best wishes Manreet for a resounding success:)

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    1. Good wishes, like blessings, go a long way. Many thanks!

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  5. good wishes....

    http://sushmita-smile.blogspot.in

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  6. So true Ma'm, India is unique in its ancient cultural amalgamation!

    Best wishes for the book launch ma'm!

    regards
    rahul

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