Yet Another Reading- Arzee the Dwarf

I’m beginning to envy all these new writers who were once journalists. They come to writing prepared: with the craft and most of the time, with the story as well. I sometimes think it is easier for them to write fiction. Not only is it easier for them they also manage to make a good job of it coming out with books that become bestsellers or at least get talked about. No wonder some of the best writers (at least those I admire) have been journalists, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Ernest Hemingway, to name two. To think, I was almost on the verge of becoming a journalist once long back but fate decided otherwise.

I am not really aware how many fiction writers in India are journalists, but the latest to join the list is Chandrahas Choudhury who was in Hyderabad recently to read from his book- Arzee the Dwarf. From what he talked about his book, writing and reading in conversation with Sridala Swami I got the impression that he is a writer who will create waves in the future. However, I did not buy the book since my friend Uma had bought a copy and got it signed by Chandrahas Choudhury. It seems he revealed to Uma that he always writes with a fountain pen. That makes it two of us writing with fountain pens though I cannot even dream of writing as well and if I may add, as intelligently as he does. Anyone who reads his blog will be impressed by his writing.

Strangely enough, book readings in Hyderabad's bookstores aren’t attracting the sort of crowds that similar events held at star hotels do. Not surprisingly Chandrahas Choudhury’s event did not attract much by way of a gathering at Odyssey, Vikrampuri. The four of us (I, Kiran, Hari and Uma) made up as much as a quarter, or maybe more, of the audience. But those who gave the event a miss don’t know what they’ve missed. It was an interesting talk between the author and Sridala Swami where he talked about how he got the idea to write a story about a dwarf, about the writers he liked to read (Willa Cather, Orhan Pamuk, Anjum Hasan, Vikram Chandra), about his habit of keeping a notebook and so on.

What struck me was his statement that dialogue in fiction need not advance the story all the time. This is contrary to what I’ve read so far about writing fiction: that dialogue should move the story forward, convey information etc. Chandrahas Choudhury said something to the effect that dialogue could be there without serving these purposes, just for the sake of entertainment. When he revealed that he had turned down offers of movie rights for his book, and added that his books are meant to be read and enjoyed, and not seen as a movie he gave the impression of a writer who takes his job seriously. If he sticks to his beliefs and his craft he will go a long way ahead.

This book reading was the first after Meenakshi Mukherjee’s death a few days earlier. In fact, Chandrahas Choudhury was supposed to give a talk (The Writing and Readking Life) at the Hyderabad Central University the day before which seems to have been cancelled. It would have been nice if Meenakshi Mukherjee was remembered in some way at the reading.