Author Anjum Hasan’s first book, ‘Lunatic in my head’,  is set in the relatively lesser talked about North-Eastern part of the country. Describing the small town life in Shillong, the story revolves around three characters from different generations. The book was recently launched in the City at the Landmark.

“I shifted to Bangalore about ten years back,” says Anjum. And why did she leave the picturesque Shillong behind? “I think I just got bored! (laughs) Actually, I think everyone from our generation eventually ends up moving out of Shillong. Like any other small town, there aren’t many opportunities there and so most of them move out.” She says that most of the people who are ethnically from Shillong have a higher tendency to move out once they finish their education. “It’s odd because their parents shift out of the big cities and come to Shillong. It’s like a circle, of course the parents lose the ‘big city’ habits and don’t leave but make sure their children are groomed to live in the City.”

Somewhere in all these observations lies Anjum’s book. “The book isn’t autobiographical but it does at an emotional level have something from my own experience of growing up there.  A lot of stories about this part of the country are about conflict. My book explores relationships, it does have conflict but at a personal level.” “I think Shillong in many ways ‘formed’ me. A place does form you even if you resist. And for me, this book is about what do I have to give back to that place. The novel also explores this concept - it keeps showing us the relationship the characters have with the place,” she adds.

And did she travel to Shillong while she was working on the book? “Oh, I go there often, my parents still live there. So yes, I was there while I was writing the book but I spent most of my time creating the book in Bangalore. I think I wrote better from a distance. When you come out of a place, you have a different perspective of it and that’s when you think of the place you left behind,” says Anjum. “I think shifting to Bangalore was a great move. It opened up my mind! Working in a professional environment and being involved in the arts at such a level is something that is unavailable in the North- East,”  says Anjum who is doing a part-time job at the India Foundation for the Arts along with her writing.

When asked about the name of Amitav Ghosh mentioned in her acknowledgments, she relates their meeting with a smile. “I was at a workshop in Kolkata and the writers were asked to share their work-in-progress. I had this novel and Amitav Ghosh was there as well. He was very encouraging. He said that I should explore my story and characters as deeply as I can. People usually tell you what is wrong, but rarely does anyone say that your work is good and needs to be explored more. I was grateful for his help and enthusiasm in the project.”

 Anjum is already a published poet, so will she continue to shuttle between poetry and fiction? “Ideally, I would like to do both. I go through poetry and fiction phases! The thing is, you can’t force a poem, but  fiction, you can always try to thrash it out. So I will switch between the two as it comes.”