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How to pronounce Vivek Shanbhag: VIH-vehk SHAHN-bahg. Short "i" in "Vivek," as in "did."
An Interview with renowned Indian author Vivek Shanbhag about his first book to be translated into English, Ghachar Ghochar.
What was your initial inspiration for this novel?
This novel was inside me and growing for several years. It is difficult to put my finger on a single incident or experience and say it was the inspiration, but I have a hunch that the seed of the story was sown twenty-five years ago, when I first began working as an engineer. At that time, I worked with a few salespeople, and I vividly remember visiting a salesman's house where every member of the family was involved in his job. They even knew the codes assigned to hundreds of products he was selling. This may have been the seed, but it takes a lot for a seed to grow into a tree and bear fruit. There is a saying in Kannada, which roughly translates to "one must not try to discover the source of a river;" such efforts inevitably end in disappointment.
Neel Mukherjee calls Ghachar Ghochar "a book of distilled simplicity;" indeed, it is a paragon of concision. Was this your intention when you began writing? Is brevity a hallmark of your work?
I started out writing short stories, a form that demands much discipline, and all of my novels are relatively short. I like Hemingway's Iceberg Theory: that most of the story is beneath the surface, like an iceberg. That does not mean I am always able to live up to that ideal in my writing. But I try not to say a word more than necessary.
You were trained as an engineer and worked as one for many years while writing on the side. What was that like?
Literature is my heart and soul. But since it is not possible to make a living by writing in Kannada, I had to have a day job. I worked around this and created the space I needed to read and write regularly.
After holding a job for over twenty-five years, I quit last January to be a full-time writer. However, I must say I enjoyed my professional life immensely. It gave me a lot of exposure, took me around the world, and created opportunities to interact with very interesting people.
Your mother tongue is Konkani and you are fluent in English, yet you write only in Kannada. Why is that?
I have written non-fiction in other languages, but fiction writing requires a very deep engagement with the language. When I started writing, Kannada was the language with which I had the strongest emotional and intellectual preoccupation. Therefore, it was natural for me to write fiction in Kannada.
Through language, a fiction writer seeks to touch and grasp unknown dimensions of life. Many times, I am surprised by what appears on the pages of my stories and novels. This is the pleasure and magic of writing. I have this pleasure only when I write in Kannada.
How does it feel to be the author of the first Kannada novel to be published in the United States?
I am delighted. With the publication of this novel in the United States, I hope to find a wider readership that comes from a different cultural background.
Do you feel that polylingual writers have an advantage over those who think, speak, and write only one language?
Yes, there is certainly an advantage. I know four languages. In the part of India that I come from, most people know at least three. In my everyday life, I translate all the time–either explicitly or in my mind. While writing, many times I translate from Konkani to Kannada and English to Kannada. Fortunately, I am not conscious of this process, because otherwise I would not be able to write a word!
With every language comes a different ethos and set of values; a different way of perceiving the world. Moving between multiple languages has deeply influenced my language structure, the phrases I use, and more. In the process, my literary language has developed its own flavor. I do not think this would have been the case if I was monolingual.
Who are your favorite writers and literary influences?
I am influenced by many modern as well as ancient Kannada writers. Kannada has an unbroken literary tradition of over a thousand years. It is a privilege to have access to these texts, as well as to be part of a rich literary culture that celebrates Kannada texts and western literature with the same enthusiasm. Some of my favorite western writers include Isaac Bashevis Singer, Tolstoy, Melville, Katherine Anne Porter, José Saramago, Hemingway, Joyce…I could go on and on.
You have translated numerous works from English into Kannada and worked closely with the translator of Ghachar Ghochar. Can you talk a bit about that process?
I believe the essence of translation lies in taking what is unsaid in a work from one language to another. Words have memories, a history of their own. There are no two words with exactly the same meaning. To recreate the unspoken in another language, one needs to understand what went into making the original; then one must dismantle it and rebuild it in the other language.
Participating in the translation of my works has made me aware of my strengths and shortcomings as a writer. It is an opportunity like no other to explore and understand one's own creative abilities.
The English version of Ghachar Ghochar contains a few passages that the original does not. What are they and why did you add them?
This is the first time I have reopened a published work. My literary agent Shruti Debi nudged me; she believed there was more to the story. It took me six months to respond to her. I added passages describing the couple's buying spree during their honeymoon and the narrator going through his wife's wardrobe. Now, I can't imagine the novel without those passages—though they don't add up to more than a couple of pages. I am grateful to Shruti for challenging me.
What are you working on now?
I am working on a novel and a play. I am also working with Srinath Perur, the translator of Ghachar Ghochar, as he translates another of my novels into English.
Unless otherwise stated, this interview was conducted at the time the book was first published, and is reproduced with permission of the publisher. This interview may not be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the copyright holder.
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