<strong>The</strong> International News Weekly VIEWS September 01, 2017 | Toronto 14 Fiction has to be constructed carefully, without urgency, says Arundhati By Saket Suman New Delhi: Just when the credentials of Booker winning author Arundhati Roy as a fiction writer were being questioned in literary circles, the acclaimed novelist, after a hiatus of two decades, returned with her second novel and, boom -- it is again long-listed for the much-coveted award. <strong>The</strong> author, however, feels there's a world of difference between fiction and non-fiction. "For me, there is a universe of difference between the two. So when I am writing non-fiction, I am writing usually with a tremendous sense of urgency. I am writing when something is closing down, some Supreme Court order has come or something very, very urgent. And I am writing to intervene. I am writing to argue. I am writing to try and open a space for discourse. "But when I am writing fiction, I am absolutely without urgency. I have been epicly without urgency. I am trying to construct a universe very carefully, very minutely, and in the case of '<strong>The</strong> Ministry of Utmost Happiness' I was also experimenting a lot with what fiction can do and how much it can push the walls. So there was absolutely no hurry for me in fiction whereas I have always written non-fiction with a great sense of urgency," Roy told IANS in an interview. On closer observation, Arundhati Roy's tryst with writing has been carefully divided between carefree periods spent in writing fiction and the "urgent moments" of writing nonfiction. Her first novel, "<strong>The</strong> God of Small Things", may have introduced her to the literary world but it was not written overnight. After the separation of her parents, Roy spent a large part of her childhood in Kerala, where she came face to face with caste segregation. <strong>The</strong>re was also an underlying impact of her parents' divorce on her life. "My parents were divorced when I was about two years old and so I never knew my father. I had never seen him. It was just an absence, a void. My mother was and is very wonderful, but she was also very harsh; so I left home very early. Now it's okay, I go back. But in a way, whereas everyone thinks of divorce as a very terrible thing, I don't necessarily think that way. I think it was better to have a woman asserting her independence and growing into something wonderful like she did, than to live a life of suffering and to transmit that suffering to us. It wasn't easy, but I don't think it was a tragedy either," she recalled. All of these experiences and personal memories helped shape the larger narrative of "<strong>The</strong> God of Small Things," at the centre of which was a broken heart. While it may not be well known, Roy's first novel too took a couple of years to take its final shape. But in the period between "<strong>The</strong> God of Small Things" and "<strong>The</strong> Ministry of Utmost Happiness", she engaged in writing several books of non-fiction. <strong>The</strong>se books, like "<strong>The</strong> End of Imagination," which she wrote soon after India's second nuclear test in May 1998, were her responses to urgent issues. Her return to fiction with "<strong>The</strong> Ministry of Utmost Happiness" has been the most significant literary event of 2017 so far. "I started writing it about <strong>10</strong> years ago but I was not in a frame of mind that I have to finish this book by so and so date. In fact, I wanted to live with these people (characters) for a long time to see how we got along together. I think writers are all different, but I am not that interested in writing at a very high speed. However, there is nothing wrong with writing quickly, there are writers who do it brilliantly. But to me it is a very layered universe," she maintained. <strong>The</strong> author also said that just like the nuclear bomb splits the atom, a lot has changed in the past 20 years and as a writer, she has evolved too along the journey. "I am that much older, I have lived that much longer, I have seen that much more, I have been through so many universes and the world has also changed so much. I think we live in a time when technology has split the moment. It's like Tilottama (a character from '<strong>The</strong> Ministry of Utmost Happiness') is sitting there and watching the Jaguar and getting messages about Ghaziabad flats. <strong>The</strong> most intimate moments are shattered now," she contended. In a "world that is connected in a way like it never used to be and at a speed which it never used to be", Roy, through her latest novel, has attempted to explore how fiction can take this challenge of changing times. We are open for dialogue with all in Kashmir, but no preconditions: Home Secretary By Rajnish Singh New Delhi: <strong>The</strong> government is "open for dialogue with everybody" in Jammu and Kashmir but without preconditions, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said on Wednesday <strong>The</strong> government's strategy was to arrest and neutralise terrorists operating in the state, he said, referring to the spree of top commanders of outfits like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba killed in gunfights over the past few months. Mehrishi, who is retiring on Thursday, spoke candidly on Pakistan's involvement in sponsoring terror in Jammu and Kashmir, saying it was a "haven for terrorists and criminal elements". Mehrishi told IANS in an interview that the government is making efforts to bring back fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim from Pakistan. He said over 140 terrorists have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir this year. "<strong>The</strong> strategy is to arrest and neutralise the terrorists. <strong>The</strong> result is that we have killed more than 140 terrorists this year so far," he said. Asked about the possibility of talks with the separatists, Mehrishi said that Home Minister Rajnath Singh had made it clear several times that the central government was open for dialogue on Kashmir. "We are open for dialogue with everybody. Home Minister visited Jammu and Kashmir twice and he talked with whosoever wanted to talk. I don't think that any talks can take place with preconditions," he said. <strong>The</strong> Home Secretary said India faces problems in Kashmir due to Pakistan, whose agencies use terror outfits to execute their plans. "Pakistan is a haven for all criminals and terrorists. We have been facing problems in Kashmir due to Pakistan. Pakistani agencies, through terror outfits like Lashkare-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed create trouble in India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir. <strong>The</strong>y encourage one terror outfit at one time and another at a different time. We are trying to overcome the situation," Mehrishi said. He said there was "no doubt" that Pakistan was sponsoring terrorism in Kashmir. "Pakistan is sponsoring terrorism, ensuring infiltration into Kashmir and funding terrorists there." "<strong>The</strong>re is an element of radicalisation (in the state) which is getting funds from Pakistan," Mehrishi said. Asked about the alienation of Kashmiri youth, Mehrishi said alienation is a "concept of the Delhi media" and the real issue is of terrorism and radicalisation. "As one Chief Minister had said, 95 per cent people in Jammu and Kashmir want peace and progress and they have the same aspirations as youth in other parts of the country. "This is only the view of media in Delhi that people in Kashmir feel they are alienated. Radicalisation and terrorism are main issues which we are dealing with," said Mehrishi, who is a 1978- batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre. He said children of separatists were studying in good schools and they buy properties in posh places. "But they fund others for stonepelting." <strong>The</strong> Home Secretary said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into terror funding to Kashmiri separatists has had the "desired impact" and it is also reflected in their curbed activities as also of stone throwers. "NIA is an independent agency. Government doesn't interfere in its work. Action will be taken against the guilty as per law. Terror funding in Kashmir is a matter of investigation," he said. Answering a query on action about certain NGOs, Mehrishi said they are expected to comply with various legal provisions such as filing annual returns. "We are not looking beyond that. It is just asking people to comply with the law." Asked if the government was contemplating any change in the control of Indo- Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for operational reasons, he said: "As of now there is no provision to change the status." Replying to a question about the need of a border force like ITBP on the Myanmar border, he said the issue is being examined. "We have free movement regime with Myanmar. But a free movement regime means it is for entitled people, not for all. We need to see whether the person coming into India is an entitled person. So, we need to have border force and we are examining our best how to restructure our system in such a manner that we able to implement that." To a query on Dawood Ibrahim, the key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, Mehrishi said he is in Pakistan which is creating hurdles in India getting him back. "<strong>The</strong> government is taking all necessary action so that Dawood could be brought back to India," he said, adding that Pakistan's attitude was not in conformity with international law. Answering a query on the use of term "Hindu terror", he said terror can't be connected to any religion.
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