thosewithpower.Itspurposeis to
erasethestories ofpeoplewithout
power.Fora womanfromPakistan
whogrewupwith a historyconstruc-
tedbypower, historicalfictionserves
a differentpurpose. Itis nottosi-
lenceandhatebut to enrichandem-
pathise. Wehaveto always rejectthe
notionthatthehistorywe’regivenis
theonlyonethereis.Historicalfic-
tionis a waytoembodystoriesnot
meantto exist.
Wheredoyoustart?
I devotedconsiderabletimeinre-
searchingbuthadto letgoof mostof
it to lethistorytakethebackseat,as
youputit. Aswithanyfiction,histor-
icalor contemporary,thestoryhasto
be felt. It has to come from
“within”—fromwhatmakes sensein
thebody.I hadnooutline,noshort-
cuts.I didn’tknowwhatwouldhap-
pentoanyofthecharactersuntilit
happened.I hadtofeel
mywaytotheend.The
characters stayed
primaryas historybe-
camesecondary.
Therearemany
historiesandmanyways
of lookingat history.Yet
thereis a common
strandof
marginalisationof the
roleof women,their
accomplishments,their
suffering.Historyis
oftentoldfromthemale
pointof view.How
challengingwasit to
addresstheseinequities
in a workof historical
fiction?
At the start it wasn’t
challengingsomuch as
frustrating. I en-
counteredreferences to
womeninthefreedom
movementas eitherfem-
inineideals—dutifuland
chastesistersandwives
whosupported theef-
forts of men, mostly
throughsocialwork—or
elsechampionedforbe-
ing“asstrongasmen”.
There the narrative
stopped. The social and sexual
stigmaaroundtheirlifein theprison
colonymeantthattheywerebarely,
if ever,mentionedinbookswritten
bymen.It musthavebeenfrustrating?
Atsomepointin myjourney to writ-
ingthenovel,I stoppedcaringabout
whathadorhadnotbeensaid.I
enteredthatotherworld,theoneof
fiction,wherethefocusisonlan-
guageandcharacter. Theunnamed
political prisonerin mynovel wasthe
firstcharacterI wroteover 26 years.
Myinterestwas,fromthestart,in
her daily and interior life, as
someone transported and im-
prisoned, morethanin whatshedid
to endupthere.I didn’twantto erase
orchampionher:I wantedtoknow
herasa person,inherentirety.She
wasa seedthatI carriedwithme,
acrossmanyseas.I justhadtobe
patient.I hadto lether
speak.The same was
trueforNomi,whoin a
sense becomes the
keeperofherfamily’s
history. I wanted to
know how she got
there.I wantedto value
herlife,asa younggirl
whogrowsupnotonly
between two colonial
powers, but between
twoparentswholargely
don’tseeher.I justhad
toholdher,andlisten,
andforgetabout any-
thingelse.Youtalkof the
Andamansasthe
prisonislandabout
whichthereis little
history.We,in India,
knowforsureof a
prisonerwhousedto
writeapologylettersto
theBritishandpledge
to workforthe
perpetuationof the
Britishruleoverthe
subcontinent.Didyou,
asa researcher,come
acrossothersuch
lettersof abject
surrender?Yes,ofcourse,I doknow whoyou
speakof.Myfocusinthisbookwas
notonthosewhomight becon-
sidered,orhaveconsideredthem-
selves,“specialprisoners” (becauseof
theirgenderandcaste,among other
reasons).They have already been
writtenabout.Youhavesaidin yourbookthatyour
charactersinhabitIndia,Pakistan,
BangladeshandMyanmar.Didthis
complexityleadto a deeperlayering
of yourwork?
I hopeso.Thebooktookaround 26 yearsto be
completed.Yetit hasa seamless
narrative.Howchallengingwasit to
keepcomingbackto it aftereachof
yourothernovels?
Thereis a lovelycomplimentembed-
dedinyourquestion.Thankyou.I
haveactuallyaskedmyselfthesame
question. HowdidI slipback into
thisbook,afterimmersingmyself
totally,bodyandsoul,in eachof the
others?AndnowI amnotcompli-
mentingmyselfsomuchas acknow-
ledging that I don’t quite
understand. I think the simple
reasonis love.Theunnamedpris-
oner,Nomi,Shakuntala, Aye,Haider
Ali—I simply couldnot abandon
them.They seemedtoknowit be-
causetheyneverleftmeeither.
Mindyou,thisdoesn’tmeanI
lovethecharactersin myotherbooks
anyless.Itmeansthereis never a
choice—you love who you love.
Throughwriting,I’vediscovereda
greatercapacityto holdloveformul-
tiplepeopleacrosstimeandplace.
Fictionis primarilyaboutcompas-
sionforanotherlife.Youhaveyoursetof dedicated
readersin India.Asa Pakistani
writer,howdifferentdoyouthinkis
theirmindsetandtheiracceptance
of yourwork?
For my previous four novels, I
haven’tencountereda difference.It
dependsonthereviewer—thereare
thosewhoconnectwitha bookre-
gardlessof theirnationality.Forthis
book,sofar,therehasbeenmore
pressin India.It is perhapstooearly
to say. $