12th January, 2017
7 PM
Simrann Keshwanii, 20, is a Final Year
literature student at the Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi
and the Founder of a start-up, Born Of a Million Thoughts, that deals in
on-ground Social Activism. She plans on changing the world, one word at a time,
for words are mirrors and swords.
That’s what “About the Author” column exhibited. But going
by the genre of the book and mindset of the author, a lot had to be unveiled.
Identity and Struggle, two complex concepts intermingle in
this book and intersect at a common point, that of finding yourself.
Becoming Assiya is the
story of a misplaced Syrian refugee and her trial with a past of Blood, wounds,
War, Doubt and Hatred and the troublesome Hope of a better tomorrow. The
woman's journey encompasses through the landscape of Wartime Syria, through her
mother's journal and the rebuilding of a Post War identity for a land washed
with blood, and what it meant to be alive, and stuck in the middle with no identity.
A harsh truth of life,
Misery exists..once you engross yourself in the stories of refugees, a normal
life eludes you. The world is somehow not hearing them out. We have got way
more jokes and clutter in our lives than to turn to misery. And it’s eating people
out as we breathe.
Tragedy isn’t a simple straight
road to tread on, one needs to feel it, to let it grab you whole. The concept
of book is no different. The book is a sneak into a dystopian future. War
children carry the baggage of their past on their identity. And a refugee’s
memory is the only access to reconstructing the past she had to endure and how
she navigates between her present state and that of her war torn past.
The narrative leaves the
reader on the edge of his seat, wondering which road to pick between love and
hate, between fear and courage and between avenging the self and forgiving for
the nation. During a lot of instances and the constant shifts in memory
and the polyphony in the narrative it is the blurred, whimsical lines between
the choices that the author portrays with finesse.
The book itself isn’t an
easy read, but once you are in temperament of the author and have that rusty demeanor,
there are a few phrases that will send chills down your spine! But what makes
book stands apart? Its genre? Or the way of expression? I would rather say, the
inclination of the author towards this side of the world and her point of view
towards it.
But how come, a 20
something girl, a DU student, get under the shadow of refugees? What tragedy
showed her this way? What led to her to believe that there is more to words
than fancy and lyricism? What made her realize, that words, if used rightly can
turned into weapons? What led to the demystification of her transcultural lens?
With multitudinous questions
in my heart, I sat in front of her, trying to decode the pain in her eyes which
she captured when she traveled extensively and got involved in the life of
refugees. That desolation in her tone, when she told us how age was just a
number, and that she was actually 85 at heart! Despite saying that, she tries
to do the balancing act between passion and sustenance and her career. Writing a
book is always on the agenda of anybody who has strange romance with words and
she was no different. The way she talks and the essence once feels while
conversing with her, shows the level of commitment she has with locution. Being
an avid reader, highly expressive in nature who loves shouting, apart from
sleeping, she was kind enough to solve some mysteries growing intense inside
me!
Excerpt from our
conversation:
What punctuation mark best describes your personality? Why?
The semi colon - it has
something to say even after you think the story has stopped.
What are common traps for aspiring writers?
I think everybody who is
good at language wants to be a writer someday. We need to understand that
writing is 20% of the job. There's a lot of blood, sweat, wounds and laying
yourself out bare naked. If you can do that, I think you've avoided the trappings.
Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
Under anonymity, yes.
Because, as sad as it is, I am not the brand. The book is, and I believe
unmasking your identity steals the show from the content.
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few
people will find?
Lots. Words are
mirrors.
Does your family support your career as a writer?
Yes. They'd go till the
end of the world for me. Specially my grandfather and mom, who proofread
Becoming Assiya about 18 times.
What do you think of “trailers” for books?
Expensive process. One
may do it if your budget permits. Though, I think, content is king and if you’re
marketing gimmicks are the only thing sailing you through, tough luck.
What was one of the most surprising things you learned in
creating your book?
That writing is a strange
thing. We give our names to books, but nobody really knows where the idea or
the words come from. It is very secretive a process and doesn't reveal itself
out. You just sit with a laptop, and it arrives.
If given a choice, which character’s life would you like to
live and why?
I think I'm already
living Assiya's life. All of us carry some post-colonial baggage. It's hard
wired into our identity, and none can escape it. War is something we live with,
every day. It is up to us to conflate it with our present and make peace with
the future. And very often, in doing so, we fall into the clutches of fear and
violence. That's how we lose. The line between hope and despair is rather
thin.
Does, at some point in the book, there is a situation which
is faced by you as well.
I think at the opening
Assiya finds her mother's journal. That is the only access to her past. For me,
I had my great grandmother's journal, written in Urdu passed down to me when I
were only 5 or 6. That was the first treasure I knew. And no lament is greater
than losing it. Luckily, Assiya retains it and inside its pages, finds a part
of herself.
Give us an interesting fact about your book, which you
think, people might miss out.
It screams for a mindful,
invested read and the line between fact & fiction shall absolve.
What mindset do you expect the people to have while reading
your work?
I don't think they need
to have a mindset. We're all Children of War and at some level carry its wounds
in our hearts.
What is the biggest thing that people THINK they know about
your subject/genre, that isn't so?
The pain and agony. We
shed some sad emoji’s on Facebook and forget. My book is an attempt to shake
people up from their slumber.
A good villain is hard to write. How did you get in touch
with your inner villain(s) to write this book? Was there a real-life
inspiration for him/her/it?
There are no Black &
White characters in the book. There are no dehumanized monsters. I've tried to
present a person in grey and what makes them so. It is an easy thing to create
a villain and direct hate towards them, it is a task to create a rounded humane
character.
How do you feel when someone disagrees with something you
have written?
I feel my project has
succeeded. Good writing forces you to think.
List five adjectives to describe yourself.
Ambivert. Ambivalent.
Difficult. Empath. Sleepy.
If you were to create a slogan for your life, what would it
be?
"If Gods answered prayers,
all men would perish for they only wish evil upon one another" -
Epicurus
If you wake up as your mentor, or someone whom you look up
to, what's the first thing you would do?
I think the woman I
really look up to is my professor, Ms. Mitali Mishra & my English teacher
from school, Ms. Ragashri Pillai. These are 2 women of rock solid substance in
a world where smilers and talkers are a many. I've seen them stay true to their
Art with utmost integrity and I wish to reach that level of commitment someday.
I'd never want to switch back to Simran if I woke up as them!
You sure want to change the world and their mindset, how
and why do you think, it can happen through your book? Or let’s say, why did
you chose this medium?
I've been involved in on
ground social activism as well and have hosted a lot of charity drives for the
underprivileged & for Acid attack victims through my NGO. I felt the
most powerful medium is the Word. It flies.
Apart from your book, how do you plan to create that noise
that would lead to people actually listen rather than hear your cry?
There's already a lot of
noise. I want them to sit in silence and introspect.
Lastly, how will people, of your mindset, join your hands
in bringing about this change? Where can they find you, virtually?
Apart from this, book related queries can go to
Coming from a fervent
debater all her life, it’s her attempt to capture a murdered city which now
houses revenge leaves a tale of lust, love, nationalism and what it meant to be
human in the time of War via this book! Go give it a read!!
-MaCkY ;)
