The Light Within

“When you become a writer,you forget about achieving everything; you get humble and take every written word,every book,as a long,interesting journey which keeps shifting like stream of life,” says the celebrated writer,in town with his wife Lynn,to interact about his books,Daddyji and Mamaji,courtesy PUTA and Roli Books at Panjab University.

“Face to Face was a personal story,an outline of my life,and I wanted to write a more detailed account,which gave birth to Daddyji,my father. When you’re growing up your parents have all sorts of stories to tell you,and I started interviewing my father,only to realise in the course that I could pen a whole book on him!” Soon,his sisters accused him of favouritism and urged him to pen one on the mother too. Which he did,and found out that she was not just a figure of authority,but more. “She was a terrific observor,and I get that and my sense of humour from her,” Ved says he’s blessed that he could write about his parents,documenting their lives over a period of 25 years. “Once I’ve written a book,I never change it. Before it goes to final print,it’s checked a million times by me,but once it’s over,a book is born,and its karma and dharma is set. I never changed anything in Daddyji or Mamaji,but 25 years later,wrote again,giving a new dimension to their lives and relationship,” says the writer who holds utter respect for facts and prefers not to invent anything for books are historical documents which cannot be tampered with. “Instead,I use tools of descriptive fiction,dialogues and flashbacks to embellish it.”

From publishing several non-fiction works to writing for the New Yorker magazine,holding distinguished chairs at many colleges and universities,including Yale and Williams College,Ved is now struggling with a novel,which he is certain will be a failure! “In a Japanese sense of failure…you learn and move on. It’s heartbreaking,but there are more things to write about,” stories come to him,his other senses heighten,and form mental images of people and places. From there,he carries on,travels with them towards borderless writing. Pick any of his works,including Continents of Exile and All About Love,and there is a bit of Ved,his family,people and books which inspired and influenced him. “I don’t belong to any single tradition. I am an amalgam of five cultures – Indian,British,American,blind and The New Yorker,” smiles the author,who has had his ‘blinding’ battles,romantic involvements and rejections from women,rounds of psychoanalysis followed by realisation,love again and two beautiful daughters. “The word ‘should’ has no place in a writer’s life. I have always fought against anything which has ‘you ought to or should have’ attached to it. Many of us worry about the don’ts of life rather than the dos,and ‘yes’ seems to be the hardest word in any language. If there’s anything my journey has taught me,it’s to say yes!” he hails,with hope in his eyes,lucky that the US appreciated him while India didn’t. “Homegrown talent seldom is,” he laughs.

Blindness was a devastating handicap,but he’s risen above it and much of the loneliness has mitigated it. He doesn’t wish for sight for he already has the vision,something we who can see lack the most. “My mind is never blank,thinking is a disease and I have it to a feverish degree!” for Ved there is a story,and a book in all of us. All you have to do is ‘see’ it.