Daijiworld Media Network

Oct 30, 2011

As a precocious 16-year-old Giselle Mehta had dreamt of being a novelist, unlike other teenage girls who usually go through an avalanche of dreams, bizarre and trivial. For nearly three decades along with accomplishing the delicate art of balancing her bureaucratic responsibilities (for a decade), family, motherhood, hobbies and entrepreneurship, she nurtured this dream without going through any diminishing intensity and it has fructified in the form of her debut novel “Blossom Showers”.

The novel released in July this year has been well received and was in the top ten list of the October 3, 2011 issue of Mumbai based “Afternoon Dispatch and Courier”. This in itself is an achievement for a debut novelist, considering that there is a deluge of works of promising Indian writers in English in the market these days. The 440 page novel is the product of 5 years of toil that included research and paying attention to even minutiae in details and historical aspects pertaining of the art, culture, social milieu of the time, the characters and also the scenic beauty of the Western Ghats and the West Coast which form the backdrop of the novel. The encouraging response for the novel has reassured the writer in her, as connoisseurs of good literature already had a glimpse of her writing flair through her first book, a collection of poems “Aerial Roots” a few years back.

In this interview to daijiworld.com Giselle dwells at length on her odyssey as an author, what the novel entails, the feedback received, what to expect in her novel and other details including the fulfillment of her own intent of reaching out to the readers far and wide through this novel.

Q. As a debut novelist the public response to your novel is quite encouraging. What forms the core aspect of your novel?

A. As a reader I always picked up books that would add to my knowledge by way of new ideas or information or in imparting new sensitivities. Hence, as an author I have tried to combine these interesting but challenging aspects in my novel. I believe in writing something that touches both the mind and the heart, while carrying out the task of informing and involving the reader. That is why even my personal website is sub-titled “from the mind and heart”. In my novel I have tried to understand and expand the reader’s horizons by conjuring up interesting worlds of two subcultures and also have attempted to narrate a story that will appeal to the reader’s emotions. Combining these two aspects is the unique feature of my writing.

Q. What can discerning readers expect from your novel?

A. I would say “Blossom Showers” is primarily a novel about identity, a theme which plays out with different variations over three generations. It also deals with the search for emotional wholeness through viable relationships. It is a highly character-driven novel. My main protagonists in the novel - Rex Cordelio in the first part, Anjalika in the second part and Jaeden in the third and final part and many other supporting characters strive for their personal equilibrium amidst the roller coaster of life. We have seen that classical writers sketchedtheir characters in a memorable way, to grow on you till they enjoyed that integral association in the reader’s mind with the book itself. I sought to similarly construct a book with characters who are strong or complex, providing the right complement and contrast toeach other. My writing is driven by a fascination of human psychology where I want to transport my readers into the very skin of the people I create.

Q. Does the feedback suggest you have succeeded in your efforts?

A. Certainly, from the positive and enthused responses received, wishing I had gone on for longer or speculating on future sequels. My approach has been eminently workable with readers getting back to share their personal affinities and preferences for the characters. Many readers have told me about their very intensive involvement with the protagonists of the novel and some even attempt to identify characters, who are however creations of my imagination. My novel has its moments of poignancy that at times may take on a throat-choking intensity. At the same time it is heartening to know that readers have cottoned on to the subtle humor in the social settings I have created in the novel. Readers’ reactions have surpassed my own estimations of my work.

Q. Going through Blossom Showers gives an impression that it is about the charting the evolution of attitudes or perceptions….

A. I feel a novel is a holistic experience, an amalgamation of the weighty and trivial that can evoke an authentic picture of life. My novel comes on a foundation of considerable research with imagination transforming interesting findings into fictional episodes. It is also about the evolution of attitudes … for example how attitudes towards hunting have evolved over the years into the very opposite to present conservation concernsetc. It charts processes of social evolution - for example, how a wedding in the 90’s differs from the one in the 60’s and further back to the 30’s while at the same time retaining its essential continuity.

Q. It looks as though you have done considerable research on coffee plantation and even the three internal titles of the novel are drawn from the plantation cycle?

A. I had a lot of homework to do for the book by going through memoirs of pioneering British planters , community and college magazines, antique book offerings, various specialized websites etc., which gave me some understanding of the past.I have traversed through difficult routes to gather some authentic material for the book and have personally done all the research, without delegation. For bygone lifestyle aspects, reminiscences of my late grandmother and other family elders were immensely useful. I needed a sense of authority on what I wrote and once I accessed good sources, I could allow imagination to then take over thestory’s development.

This novel fleshed out a perception I nurtured since I was 16 when I saw a parallel between the plantation world of the old American South in Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer winning novel Gone with the windand thehilly hinterland of our coastal area. However, apart from the plantation locale, the themes and development of my story are utterly different and reflect their own socio-cultural setting. My novel spans three generations and coffee planting forms an essential part of the novel, something connected to this part of the world. I wanted my novel to be a bridge between the past and the present. It gives readers a reconstructed picture of society and its interesting onward progress.

Q. Your novel is also rich in terms of historical content…

A. Glimpses into the past certainly givea richness to my writing. There is a subtle inter-relation between history and the way the characters are developed in the novel, for example how being born on the day of King Emperor Edward VII’s coronation in 1902 endows one of them with a strong sense of personal destiny. An unusual finding of shipwrecks on the West Coast enabled me to flesh out the persona of another character. It deals not only with distant history but also with contemporary history like the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and its impact on this part of the country. I have researched on the past and also have documented the present fora future day.It’s not like I claim to be a historian, far from it. All one can do as a writer of fiction is to convey a sense of the times. But I have utilized external events to form a background, while emotions and relationships of people are the actualarena of action, propelling the novel forward.

Q. Now that book has been released how will you sum up your experience of writing this novel?

A. The entire experience has been like carrying a child for long, delivering it and wanting it to grow. It also encourages me to relive it through more books and writings. Altogether, a great reinvention of my persona outside the structured life of bureaucracy and a fascinating creative odyssey.

Q. Do you have any other book on the anvil?

A. By 2012 I would like to start working on a new writing project.To inform and involve readers are the buzzwords for me as a writer which means a book from me takes time to emerge as a substantial literary product. By informing I mean to bring out lesser known facts, interpreting them in fictional terms in an imaginative way. By involvement I mean to engage emotions of the readers, by providing the kind of writing they can connect with. Combining the two is a delicate and challenging task- most writers usually focus on one of them as a formula for reaching out.

Q. Who is your favourite writer or author?

A. I’ve read pretty voraciously of icons past and present, international and Indian. For me, the plays of William Shakespeare still hold the finest lessons in psychological complexity of characters. Likewise, the novels of Charles Dickens for their memorable canvas of people and situations. I personally admire the way the English novelist Somerset Maugham brought out the human condition- sensitive without being sentimental. Imbibing the spirit of literature teaches you many lessons, but at the end of the day, the literary voice of an author has to be individual and authentic.

Q. How has been the reaction of your family to the novel?

A. My son who is a teenager was initially very skeptical about Mom’s worth as a writer. But it is amusing and touching to recall his words “Mom, your book is so good, sometimes I have trouble in believing you are the author!” When he left last month for his overseas studies, after having read many books in his vacation, he floored me with the compliment that “ Blossom Showers” was still his best reading that summer. A compliment from a skeptic is surely one to be valued, especially because the young are very exacting critics. His response assured me my book would appeal to intelligent readers of all age groups. My thirteen year old daughter is still too young for the book. My husband DB Mehta was the person who launched me off on my creative odyssey, insisting that I must discover my own literary depths. I joke that in this age of global warming I need no other aids because he’s my greatest “ fan”- keeping me cool when the writing impulse inflames me, and fanning the flames when he thinks I’m chilling out unduly from the demands of my calling.

Q. Who do you owe your emergence as an author of repute?

A. I acknowledge the supportive sentiments of nurturing teachers and peer groups, as also public responses at my speaking engagements appreciating the way my insights blended with a distinctive use of language. This gave me the confidence for my initial literary explorations.

An implicit inspiration has been the awesome creative persona of my mother, the late Dr Mme Louella Lobo Prabhu, stimulating my own independent search for identity, while assuring me of the inner impulse of inherited potential. As a teenager In Bombay she wrote a novel called “The Quest”, though she never reverted to that form again, preferring to be a prolific writer of plays, poems and political writings. But I owe my very birth to this novel which in serialized form drew the attention of my father, JM Lobo Prabhu, resulting in their marriage and celebrated union. Writing my own novel comes with a sweet sense of fulfilling destiny that continues a family tradition.