Remember that old song ‘Rhim
Jhim Gire Saawan’? That gently evocative song by Kishore Kumar that takes
you back to a time when people sat on the patio, watched silver sheets of rain
fall all around them, sipped cardamom tea and remembered the first love of
their lives. Bollywood, however, changed all those romantic scenes quite
rapidly over the years. Rain soon became the inspiration for all kinds of
sensual outpourings, where lovers whispered all kinds of sweet nothings while
drenched to the skin under cloud bursts of epic proportions.
Now, why did I bring all that up? The reason is simple
enough. I want to introduce today’s book to you that relies heavily on its rain
muse to take the story forward, either by the pitter patter of a past memory or
the sweet pounding of a current wave of emotions.
I have a short interview with the author too, so that will
help you understand the book better.
Love the rain? Sit
back and enjoy!
Book of the week:
FARAWAY MUSIC by Sreemoyee Piu Kundu
The story begins on a long-haul international flight, with famous
writer and heroine of the story, Piya Choudhury deciding not to sit back and
enjoy the “dizzying drone of flight A1 102”but to speak to a young reporter,
Sumaya on board the same aircraft about the loves and passions of her life. And so, over that long journey, we learn about
the real Piya Choudhary, the gifted and impetuous youngster, turned journalist,
turned PR consultant, turned writer and the many twists and turns in her
eventful life. Right from her teenage crushes to her miscalculation of men and
their behaviour, to her love affair with her editor Abhir to her marriage to a
noted artist David Cicconi, to becoming a famous author herself, the story
unravels gently and we, the readers, are swept along in its wake.
The first thing that strikes
you about the book is that it is written from the heart. From the reminiscence
of avocado oil, the magical jasmine lights of Jorapur Lane, the single drop of
Elizabeth Arden perfume, the rose Chanderi sari, the champagne coloured chiffon
– the book is full of vignettes that propel you back and forth in time. It is
like the author has transported herself into these worlds once more and drawn
out its essence for us to savour just for one brief, delicious second.
Unwontedly, perhaps or intentionally, there are wistful
thoughts inserted sporadically into the book. Like the part when Piya says, “We
can’t be our mothers Sumaya, no matter how hard we try....All we are is their
reflection...and life the mirror”. Or when the author looks back at Mumbai and
writes, giving voice to Piya’s thoughts... “Mumbai, a city by the sea, a city
of a million people....a city of lights and lust, of stars and stock markets,
of soul and sin. A city I left.”
The most admirable person in the book is the Karim Bhai, her
friendly cab driver, who was like an angel hovering over Piya right through her
stay in Mumbai. When he eventually leaves the story, there is real feeling of
loss that the reader feels, just like the heroine herself.
And then, there is the rain. When everything blurs in a
curtain of water, where damp monsoon breezes bring in fresh insights or a sad
memories, where stories are spun and spool out with the rain as a refrain in
the backdrop.
If I have a criticism, it is in the feeling that the story drops
in pace sometimes and here, an injection of a few more startling twists would
have helped carry the story forward with far greater sense of anticipation.
All in all, an enjoyable book, full of the quirky workings and
sub plots in the world of journalists, celebrities and more that the author
seems to have experienced firsthand.
Now over to the author, Sreemoyee Piu Kundu...
Where did you get the
inspiration for Faraway Music?
Faraway Music is my first novel in and it is the story
closest to my own life. I started the story of Piya on the night of the July 26
floods when I was a journalist in Mumbai and stranded in office on a night that
was to become memorable later, when all of Mumbai literally drowned. Sitting in
a corner of a sprawling Edit Hall, in the mellow after light of flickering
computer screens, I remember scribbling a chapter on Piya Choudhury, a
journalist and Abir Sen, her editor. No wonder then that the rains continue to
be an important element in the book, almost taking the shape of a parallel
character. In a larger sense, the inspiration of FM emanates from all the
cities I have lived in and left, so many people I have met and lost and those
that found their way back.
How much of the book
is autobiographical?
It is natural that since Piya's life follows in a sense a
trajectory similar to mine, the
parallels will be drawn. I would say that Piya's childhood is very similar to
mine. Having said that I think there is
a bit of the author in every book one pens, especially in the first that is
most often cathartic and reflective of one's own life and experiences.
Have you worked with
an editor like any of the ones mentioned in the book?
Are you asking me if there was an Abir Sen in my life? No.
But, the role of TT, another character in the book, is loosely based on a dear
friend of mine. However, Abir Sen's portrayal is again based on editors I have
interacted with in my own life, whose ruthless ambition and cold ego was
legendary.
What do you like most about your own heroine?
That she is real.
That her reactions are not imaginary, but life-like and that she is a woman of
the world as much as she is childlike and vulnerable. There is a Piya in all of us.
What is your opinion of Indian authors today?
Indian fiction writing has definitely come
of age. However, the quality maybe questionable as opposed to the volumes being
churned out. So, I can say I'm all for the explosion, but I wish publishers
would not try and fit all authors into boxes.
What is your writing
schedule like?
I write almost all day when I am doing a book. And honestly,
being a full time writer makes my life a lot easier as I have the bandwidth to work
for long stretches and switch off as and when I choose.
What book are you
planning next?
I am working on my
fourth novel Cut! Out next is my erotica, Sita's
Curse.
