A:The media biz in India sucks you in so completely, you can get fooled into thinking you're successful when you're actually nothing more than a space-filler (or content-creator as the new term goes). I needed to immerse myself in my subject(ancient Indian myth and history) and for that I had to unplug myself from the phony world of the media. I did, and I've never been happier since then! I even broke off contact with every one I knew, except for immediate family and was finally able to focus on what really mattered--writing the stories I'd gestated for twenty years.
Q: What are your views about current English writing in India? Have you changed your opinion of Arundhati's only novel?
A. I haven't been reading any new Indian fiction, sorry, so I can't really comment. But I'm told by my foreign editors, publishers, agents, other authors I'm now in touch with, that Indian writing is being appreciated and recognized and even selling well abroad. (And I'm not just talking about the exaggerated advances the Indian press, including columnists like myself, used to report. I'm talking about actual sales figures.) It's interesting that what sells well here--remember a certain novelist-turned-media-mom named Shobha De?--isn't even known there, while authors like Manil Suri, Amitav Ghosh are hitting bestseller lists in several countries. As for authors of Indian origin like Hari Kunzru and Zadie Smith, I think the Indian media bends over backwards to try to pass them off as Indian while ignoring brilliant ethnic writers—yes the same old argument again, but this time there's a new angle--because, I feel, it's so much simpler to shake an already well-shaken hand than to dare to judge for yourself and even more difficult to praise. I haven't re-read Arundhati Roy's book so can't offer a new comment, but I have come to admire the woman tremendously (at a distance, I've never met her personally) for her willingness to take a panga with anybody and everybody. It has nothing to do with her literary ability but I love the way she uses the same media that made her famous. Rarely do you see a celebrity exploit the media rather than the other way around! Shabash, Arundhati!
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