`I Breathe, I Write, I Live’

Writing is not a career for me. It is the expression of my inner self. And I started writing from a very small age. I used to write whatever I saw. For example, I saw a friend of mine, whose one leg became disabled due to typhoid, and she had to move around in a wheelchair. When she came to school, I felt very sad seeing her and I wrote a story about her.

DrArupaPatangia Kalita is one of the best and most famous Assamese writers. She has to her credit five novels, twelve short story collections, several novellas, books for children and translations into Assamese. A number of her books have been translated into English, Hindi, Bengali and Bodo languages. Some of her novels and short stories have been broadcast by All India Radio, Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Nagoancentres. Her novel Ayananta was telecast by Delhi Doordarshan Kendra in five episodes. And her novella ArunimarSwadewh was telecast in seven episodes by Doordarshan Kendra Guwahati. Her novel Mriganabhi was adapted into a film by award winning director Hemen Das. Her works have also been used extensively for research by post graduate, M.Phil and PhD students, and several of her books have been prescribed as texts by several universities including Gauhati University. Excerpts from an interview:

How would you like to introduce yourself to our readers. Can You tell us about your educational background. Please tell us about your family.

First, I am a story-teller. I love to tell stories of people. From my childhood, that is from around 13 or 14 years of age, I have been playing the role of a storyteller. I was born at Golaghat, and I am the eldest daughter in my family. We grew up in a very cultured atmosphere. Golaghat was filled with virgin nature during my growing up years. We did not have television during ourchilhood, so I used to read a lot of books from the libraries. I studied at Golaghat Mission School, which has now completed 100 years. When I was studying at Golaghat Mission school, I learned two languages simultaneously- both English and Assamese. If on one side I read Birendra Kumar Bhattacharjee’s Mrityunjay, on the other side I read Pearl S. Buck. I would also like to add here that TemsulaAo, the famous poet from Nagaland also studied in our school. She got letter marks in Assamese. Because I got to learn both the languages, it helped me a great deal in my future works. English language gave me my bread and butter and Assamese language gave me my creative writing. This was about my childhood, which is filled with happy memories, and I had an excellent and golden childhood. I am grateful to my teachers of Golaghat Mission Girls School and I am grateful to my parents and my family, and grateful to the whole environment of Golaghat town.

I started writing short stories when I was studying at Golaghat Mission Girls’ School, and those stories were published in the children’s corner of the newspapers DainikAxom. I wrote a lot of short stories. That was the beginning. After passing out from school, I studied at Golaghat DR College with English Major. That was the time of 70s and that period was a period of rebellion and protest. The environment during the 70s were very different. There were manysmall magazines, which we used to read and I wrote a lot in those magazines. A lot of magazines were published from Guwahati also. During that time Nitya Bora, Pabitra Deka, Amulya Baruah, they used to ask me for my write ups. I wrote a lot pf stories during the 70s and that was the time when I was attracted to leftist ideology. And I understood that abolition of private property and abolition of class society is the pathway for freedom of people. I used to read a lot of books of Marx, Fischer, Angela, stories of Vietnam, etc., and books which were recommended for my English Major classes. After that I came to Gauhati University to complete my masters.

Why did you decide to become a writer. Who was your inspiration behind choosing writing as a career?

Writing is not a career for me. It is the expression of my inner self. And I started writing from a very small age. I used to write whatever I saw. For example, I saw a friend of mine, whose one leg became disabled due to typhoid, and she had to move around in a wheelchair. When she came to school, I felt very sad seeing her and I wrote a story about her. In another instance, there was a maid at our house, who wanted to go to her home during Bihu but could not go, I used her story as a theme for my story. Whatever incident I saw, be it small or big became a subject for me to write. And I had an inner urge to know about the people and write about them. That was the beginning. And at all times, I felt that a fire was burning inside me and that was how I started writing. It is not a career; it is an urge. I breathe, I live, I write and I live.

What do you love about writing.

Writing is an expression of my inner self and if I do not write, my heart becomes gloomy. But when I am writing, when I have a project at hand, or when a lot of characters are playing in my mind, I feel elated. I feel a kind of joy inside me. I would like to share another thing here. I am very dissatisfied with the society at present. Our society is filled with so much violence, day by day the moral values are deteriorating, there is criminalisation of politics, and everything has become commodified. The market has taken over everything and are controlling it. I am not at all satisfied with the environment that we are in now. I am a writer; I was a teacher and I am a woman, what can I do. That is why my pen is my sword and I am always trying to protest with my pen. Writing is a communication with the people. And through my writing, I have met a lot of people and I am also close with the young generation. They have done research of my writings for their post graduate, M.Phil. and PhD degrees. My relation with all the people, these relations are very satisfying. Had I not culminated these relationships, I would have become very lonely. That is why I love to write and it keeps me going.

You have written so many novels, short stories, novella etc. What is your favourite genre?

I first started writing short stories. For a long time till 1989 I wrote short stories. And the expanse of my writing career is very big as I started from a very small age. After that I moved to novels and my first novel was Mriganabhi. My next full-length novel is Ayananta. The benefit of writing a novel is that we can bring a lot of things like nature, history, political situations, etc. But when I am writing a short story, I have to capture a very small moment. I love writing both. But now the works that I am doing, require the form of a novel. Very recently I wrote a book on tea garden,JonosarJhitas, the character Durgi’s story cannot come in a short story, I have to give it a novel form. Both the genres are my favourite, but in a novel, you can tell a lot of things, although the work takes time. There is no constraint while writing a novel, but while writing a short story there is a constraint. I have to capture some moments and the characters are few in a short story. But at present, my work demands the form of a novel.

Amongst all your works, what is your most memorable work?

My best work is yet to come. I am yet to write my best novel and I hope someday I will be able to do it. The readers have accepted my writing and I am very happy about it. But my best creation is yet to come.

You are also an academician and retired from the English Department as the Head of the Department from Tangla College. What do you love about teaching and can you tell us more about your experience

Both my husband and Ihave had good academic careers. But we wanted to work in a small college, so we chose to work at Tangla College. We had the opportunity to get jobs at a good college as we had the norms, but we came to work there at our own will. We thought that we will work at a small college, work with the students, organise dramas. We did not dream of a big house or a car. Our dreams were different. Working in this small college is rewarding. Although initially I did have some difficulties, but with time I learned a lot and saw a different reality. And because of that I could write novels like Felanee, TokoraBahar Sonar Beji. etc. In TanglaCollege I taught English for a long time and I had a many years of experience. I got financial stability through this job. Apart from that, I met a lot of students from different backgrounds. It is a rewarding profession for me.

You have also penned the dialogues for the critically acclaimed film Kothanodi. Can you tell us more about your experience

I did not write the dialogue. The director Bhaskar Hazarika is my cousin. So. he requested me to translate the dialogues in Assamese from English. It helped him, so that is it. I love movies a lot, and I love watching them. I wrote about cinema also. I watch different genres of cinema from different countries, as an art and it has influenced my writing also. Watching Akira Kurosawa’s film inspired me to write short stories.

Can you tell us about your awards and achievements?

First thing, no writer lives through their awards. Writers like Shakespeare, Dickens never got any award yet we love reading their creations. These writers when they talk about people and life, and greater life it comes nearer to the people and this is immortal literature. We still love the books of Hemingway, Hardy. etc. An award cannot be a yardstick and specially in these times, I am sorry to say it but there is politicalisation of everything and there are a lot of controversies regarding the awards. It has not remained as an honour now. A lot of things are going on, people are not satisfied. It should not be in the sphere of literature, but it is happening. I feel what we have written is a big thing. The real award is reader’s acceptability. In Assam there is a silent group of serious leaders. They are the biggest award. And this group of people when they accept a writer, that is a big thing. Awards cannot give immortality to a writer.

I did get some awards. I got the Sailesh Chandra Dasgupta Sahitya Setu Award in 1993, BharatiyaBhasa Parishad Literary Award in 1975, Katha Award in 1997, Aka AbongKoyekjon Sahitya Sanskriti Award, LekhikaSamaroh Bota, PrabinaSaikia Sahitya Bota, Sahitya Akademi Award, Distinguished Women Award by PragChannel in 2015 and Assam Valley Literary Award in 2016. A lot of my translated books also got awards and these are a huge honour for me.

I did not feel bad when I was honoured with these awards. I never tried anything to get these awards, people accepted me and my writing and so they honoured me and I am happy for it. I am thankful to everyone. But my real awards are my readers and the love of my readers.

Are you working on any new book. Can you tell us about your upcoming works.

Very recently I have translated a book of Tony Morrison. And a children novel Taniya by NeelakshiBorkotoky was also published. At present I am researching a new project. I havea handful of project in hand, and I am yet to decide on which one to work on. I cannot live without writing.

Any word of advice for the young generation who want to choose writing as a career

I read all the books written by the new generation. I will not say every work is good. Some works are very good and I am trying my best to understand them. And for the new generation writers, I am very hopeful. I will just say that if the writers surrender themselves to the establishment, and if the feel that writing is nothing but a career for them, and they think that writing is a source of earning income and getting fame, then it will be big mistake on their part. They will not be able to create. Creation is a process which demands sincerity and honesty. I would also like to tellthe new writers, that whoever tells the story of people, the story of lives their writing will become successful. They have to write about people, they have to write about life. Writing is a prayer and those without dedication cannot create a good piece of writing. If they work hard, only then a good piece of writing will come up. If we see the immortal works of the writers like Hemingway and their dedication behind their works, that will make us surprised. They left everything in life for writing. So, for the new generation I will say writing is a prayer, and if they write about people and life dedicatedly, then they can come up with good reading material.

Lastly, any words for your readers

In Assam there is a group of silent but very serious readers. We do not know who they are. You cannot buy them. They have their own standing and they read books. And although I am writing without any compromise, the publishers demand that I write books. Because all the books get sold out, and this is happening because of the group of serious and silent readers. I am very thankful to the readers. I am here because of them. And my roots are the serious readers of Assam and through this interview I express my gratitude to the readers. They have read my books; they have given me their love and that is why I am here and they have kept me alive. A writer lives because of his or her readers.