Many voices speak

With her clear-cut sharp voice, she lend the book a personal touch and was able to capture the attention of the audience within a few moments. An introduction was given by Lakshmi Krishnamurthy, which was followed by the readings from the book by Githa.There was an interaction with the audience after that.

Githa read out a short story from her book ‘When Dreams Travel’, which was published in 1999. The story was interactive, dynamic and it was a question-story. It left one with a question and made one’s mind race quickly for the answer to the question. Such was the power of her writing.

The extracts she picked up started with a flashback. The passages which were read out were highly descriptive. She has spoken about different aspects like language and voice. Most interestingly, she tells you how an individual is made up of different layers with the help of the past and how because of that he or she becomes a wonderful hybrid and a strange individual.

Githa said, “I think of myself as a complicated mix. It would be impossible for me to think of myself as a writer without thinking as a citizen and I cannot think of myself as a writer without thinking of myself as a mother too.” The book, set in post-2002 India, is divided into three parts and glides through Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi. From the extracts read out by the author, it is quite clear that it is more of an intellectual exercise for her, as she allows different voices to be heard through her book.

After reading an extract about the troubled history professor, she said, “As a writer I was better equipped to write it. It was not entirely imaginative,” she adds. In the end, she leaves one with many images in the mind to think about.