<p>The central theme for Palash Krishna Mehrotra’s debut collection of short stories titled Eunuch Park, is ‘love and destruction’. After recently editing Recess, a collection of schoolday stories, this one, a stark contrast from the previous, comes as an interesting surprise. Excerpts from an interview with Palash:<br /><br />Sexuality, perversity, drugs, family complexities — all exist in our society, but Indian audiences tend to be a bit wary about discussing it openly. Were you skeptical about how they would respond to some of the themes that you’ve picked?<br /><br />To be honest, I had no sense of the reader when I wrote these stories. That the book managed to touch a chord came as a pleasant surprise. If one writes in the realist vein and wants to hold a mirror to society, certain subjects become inevitable, choose themselves. I have tried to write about things that are familiar to all of us, like ragging or feelings of sexual inadequacy. In the process if I have unsettled the reader, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.<br /><br />Most of the stories end somewhat ambiguously. Do you prefer to leave your stories open-ended?<br /><br />Every good short story is open-ended. This is what distinguishes a story from a novel. Stories, like poems, work by implication. They don’t give you a neat narrative with all the loose ends tied up. Because life is not like that. A short story has its own twisted logic. When it runs out — and a good short story writer knows exactly when to stop — the story comes to its natural conclusion.<br /><br />What is it about short stories that appeal to you? Why ‘love and destruction’ as the central theme?<br /><br />The short story is a wonderful form. It provides the reader with few of the consolations that a novel does. Time and space extend indefinitely in the novel. The short story is not interested in such illusions. It’s hard and precise. When a novelist stops writing for the day, she asks herself the question: “How many words did I write today?” When a short story writer takes stock, she asks herself: “Did I get any closer to the truth? Did I nail anything?” Believe me, they are two very different questions and they come from very different imaginations. <br /><br />Speaking specifically of the stories in Eunuch Park, I really had so many stories to tell (I always do) that the novel seemed very constricting as a form. ‘Love and Destruction’ because my characters are capable of enormous love but also enormous destruction, of themselves as well as of those around them.<br /><br />It is said that a writer’s debut novel, especially in cases of fiction, usually has large doses of themselves in it. Does it seem like that in your case?<br /><br />I am an autobiographical writer. Like Saul Bellow, I believe that all fiction is disguised autobiography. I see and hear things. They might happen to me or I might see them happening to others. I might read about them. At some point my imagination takes over and a new story is born. By autobiographical, one doesn’t mean that these are true stories. ‘Fit Of <br />Rage’, for example, was written for an anthology called Delhi Noir. The editor wanted me to put in a murder. I haven’t murdered anyone nor do I know anyone who has.<br /><br />Most writers have certain themes that they keep returning to. What are some of the themes that you continue to be intrigued by?<br /><br />Death, perversion, self-destruction. Also, the individual’s struggle to find out what makes her happy, what makes her sad, what fills her with rage.<br /><br />What clichés about writers do you find yourself agreeing with, in your case that is?<br /><br />They drink too much.They smoke too much.<br /><br />What is ‘The Butterfly Generation’, the book you are working on currently about?<br /><br />It’s a non-fiction narrative about urban youth in the cities. It’s partly a memoir of growing up in 80s socialist India, partly a travelogue through India’s big cities. I try and paint a portrait of a generation that has made the remarkable journey from steam engine to broadband in a very short time.<br /></p>
<p>The central theme for Palash Krishna Mehrotra’s debut collection of short stories titled Eunuch Park, is ‘love and destruction’. After recently editing Recess, a collection of schoolday stories, this one, a stark contrast from the previous, comes as an interesting surprise. Excerpts from an interview with Palash:<br /><br />Sexuality, perversity, drugs, family complexities — all exist in our society, but Indian audiences tend to be a bit wary about discussing it openly. Were you skeptical about how they would respond to some of the themes that you’ve picked?<br /><br />To be honest, I had no sense of the reader when I wrote these stories. That the book managed to touch a chord came as a pleasant surprise. If one writes in the realist vein and wants to hold a mirror to society, certain subjects become inevitable, choose themselves. I have tried to write about things that are familiar to all of us, like ragging or feelings of sexual inadequacy. In the process if I have unsettled the reader, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.<br /><br />Most of the stories end somewhat ambiguously. Do you prefer to leave your stories open-ended?<br /><br />Every good short story is open-ended. This is what distinguishes a story from a novel. Stories, like poems, work by implication. They don’t give you a neat narrative with all the loose ends tied up. Because life is not like that. A short story has its own twisted logic. When it runs out — and a good short story writer knows exactly when to stop — the story comes to its natural conclusion.<br /><br />What is it about short stories that appeal to you? Why ‘love and destruction’ as the central theme?<br /><br />The short story is a wonderful form. It provides the reader with few of the consolations that a novel does. Time and space extend indefinitely in the novel. The short story is not interested in such illusions. It’s hard and precise. When a novelist stops writing for the day, she asks herself the question: “How many words did I write today?” When a short story writer takes stock, she asks herself: “Did I get any closer to the truth? Did I nail anything?” Believe me, they are two very different questions and they come from very different imaginations. <br /><br />Speaking specifically of the stories in Eunuch Park, I really had so many stories to tell (I always do) that the novel seemed very constricting as a form. ‘Love and Destruction’ because my characters are capable of enormous love but also enormous destruction, of themselves as well as of those around them.<br /><br />It is said that a writer’s debut novel, especially in cases of fiction, usually has large doses of themselves in it. Does it seem like that in your case?<br /><br />I am an autobiographical writer. Like Saul Bellow, I believe that all fiction is disguised autobiography. I see and hear things. They might happen to me or I might see them happening to others. I might read about them. At some point my imagination takes over and a new story is born. By autobiographical, one doesn’t mean that these are true stories. ‘Fit Of <br />Rage’, for example, was written for an anthology called Delhi Noir. The editor wanted me to put in a murder. I haven’t murdered anyone nor do I know anyone who has.<br /><br />Most writers have certain themes that they keep returning to. What are some of the themes that you continue to be intrigued by?<br /><br />Death, perversion, self-destruction. Also, the individual’s struggle to find out what makes her happy, what makes her sad, what fills her with rage.<br /><br />What clichés about writers do you find yourself agreeing with, in your case that is?<br /><br />They drink too much.They smoke too much.<br /><br />What is ‘The Butterfly Generation’, the book you are working on currently about?<br /><br />It’s a non-fiction narrative about urban youth in the cities. It’s partly a memoir of growing up in 80s socialist India, partly a travelogue through India’s big cities. I try and paint a portrait of a generation that has made the remarkable journey from steam engine to broadband in a very short time.<br /></p>
