The Importance of Being Untalented
After his heavy-duty assault on
all the leaders across the Indian political spectrum, Arnab Goswami asked his
audience to wait for two minutes so that he could introduce us to this new “literary
pop star”, as flashed by the headline. Amish Tripathi was on screen within a
few minutes and Arnab, after heaping him with praises for his literary genius
and meticulous research, told the unassuming author, that he reserves his
admiration for talented people like Tripathi.
I have read the first two books
in the Shiva Trilogy. Now, don’t get me wrong, Meluha and Nagas are average
pieces of work which evoke a sense of use and throw in the readers. I have to
give it to Amish for the novelty in his theme. Combining our early history of
Saraswati-Sindhu civilisation and the Indian Shiva Purana, he certainly made
the story line appealing, especially for mythology-history freaks like me. But
the positivity ends there.
The claims of interesting
narrative, gripping theme, and taut research are, sadly, bunkum. I am not here
to waste your time disproving how unauthentic his story is because stories
unless non-fictions are not required to get top marks in authenticity, unless
otherwise claimed. What actually matters is the imagination that requires in
stitching the threads into a fine fabric of story and the experience the
readers obtain in reading it; the impact, the work has on its final audience. I
will be honest. I don’t dislike the book. Trust me. I will rate it at the very
bottom of my “Readable Average Books” list. I will. But I certainly won’t
celebrate the book as the epitome of modern Indian literature; won’t label it
as the fancy combination of myth and history in a believable way. This is exactly
the opposite of how I look at the book. But I do request to read it. Reasons
are aplenty, most important among them being, as has already been mentioned,
the theme. The language is simple enough for anyone to understand. The book is comparatively
shorter. And it gives some lost souls a false sense of being readers. So I
sincerely request and suggest reading it.
What saddens is the general
quality of the books that have been releasing off-late. I am not asking
everyone to write a Wolf Hall or a Vernon God Little. I am not even expecting a
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I don’t expect a Ruskin Bond or a Malgudi
Days. What I do expect is a modicum of quality in the writing, a good story and
a few good laughs if your intention is that. It's not always possible to get a favourable
reception from the hi-fi literary circles. Even J K Rowling was put down by
fellow writers as an average writer. As @voldemort says, apparently, inspiring
a generation was not enough in their eyes! But such a stamp of approval from the
elite book reading club is NOT what I am talking about.
It is the basic sincerity you
have for your craft and the respect you give to the art of writing that I am emphasising
on. Chetan Bhagat is apparently the representative of these low-brow books. I
don’t accept that. As a neutral reader I am inclined to accept Bhagat is a good
writer, may be not great, but entertaining and funny. Something I will read,
when I am fed up reading for hours, how Palme Dutt discovered that Gandhiji and
the whole bunch of Congress nationalists were in fact secret representatives of
bourgeoisie (thats boo-shwa for you).
When I was given a book, one fine
morning by my college mates, with a caveat that if I don’t cry after reading
this book I am not a human being, I thought “Oho! Great let me read it.” I
started reading. After about 50 pages, I started skipping 2 pages for every
page I read. I have this bad habit; I can’t leave things in the middle.
Finally, to the relief of my soul and eyes, I finished this piece of literary
diamond called “I too had a Love Story” and I cried. I cried at the taste of my
friends and later of the country when I found that it was a best seller. And
cried repeatedly when I got a chance to read another Indian author book called Orange
Hangover. It was as if I was Deepika Padukone from Cocktail after knowing Saif
loves Diana. You know, all hysterical and drunk type - sad. Sigh!
But all is not lost. There is
this guy called Sidin Vadukut. To my relief, the Malayali (and hence Indian)
has written one of the funniest corporate humours I have read [not that I have read
many]. The Dork series is ingenious and original. The subtle witticisms the
author has imparted into his book, and the entire narrative itself, is,
thankfully, interesting. Then I read Ravan and Eddie by Kiran Nagarkar. Though
he not the least among the new generation, and though the book was released way
back in 1994, I was happy that the cause is not lost, and a strong foundation was
already laid. The 71 year old author is younger
than any of these “new-generation” “writers” (God, help me, it seems everything about these latest
authors need to be put in quotes to be imply the words’ irony.)
Then I read The Mine. It is undoubtedly one
of the best books ever to have come out in past decade in the thriller genre. I
was impressed. I was terrified. I was not able to sleep for a few days. The
book affected me in all possible manners a book should. I lapped up the book
like a hot pair of idlis from Murugan Idly Shops. The book is thât good. What
exhilarates me about The Mine even now, despite reading it a billion times, and
suggesting it to almost all of my friends, is that the book, in my eyes, is a
hope. It gives me hope about the future of our fiction writing. It gives me
hope that among the various Amishs and Ravinders we have brilliant writers like
Arnab Ray to satisfy a creatively hungry audience in diverse genres.
When I try telling this to others,
people shut me out as if I am some humbug who tries to look intellectual and
that the books like the ones written by Amish and Ravinder and god knows who
all, does not require any approval from anyone. And that is the utmost tragedy
of the situation. Please do understand, dear readers, it does matter. It does
matter that you read some random stuff and anoint yourself a reader. But more
than that, it does matter that your ignorance and lack of taste is affecting
genuine talents of the likes of Ray. I couldn’t help myself but imagine what it
would have been had the writer of The Mine was on the show in yesterday’s News
Night and that Karan Johar was going to adapt it onto the large screen. But,
realise that your uninspiring choices, is making it impossible for deserving candidates to get a wider audience. It's a loss for you and not for anyone else.
Perhaps the adage of "Talent is important" doesn’t stand a chance in your eyes.
Perhaps the Importance of being Untalented is more than ever now.
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