When I finished reading “Monsoon Diary: A Memoir With Recipes” by Shoba Narayan, there was this sense of longing. The book had left a void. I felt a compulsive need to connect with this author who had spoken so endearingly of the culture I grew up in; she had painstakingly listed out food items, spelt out their recipes, and connected them so nonchalantly with her personal life. It was unlike any other book I had read.

Thankfully, in these days of the Internet, it is possible to touch base with just about anyone in the world. And I did, with her. A passionate mail written in the death of the night got a prompt three line reply, directing me to call her that very day. I was overwhelmed. My mind was swimming with questions, threading around the personal, professional and even political.

Thankfully, Shoba Narayan, was a delight to interview. In just a couple of minutes, her soothing voice put me at ease, and we began to chat like old friends. Her answers were genuine and fresh, much like her writing. And she spoke with an honesty and transparency that reminded me much of her eclectic columns for The Mint¹. As for me, I might have just discovered my kindred spirit.

Shoba is a food and travel writer, who enrolled as a Foreign Fellow at Mount Holyoke College, back when it was unusual for an Indian woman to pursue higher studies in the US. She went on to earn her masters in journalism from the Columbia School of Journalism in New York, after which she pursued a career in food writing. She wrote for a number of publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Condenast Traveler, Time, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Saveur, Newsweek, Beliefnet and House Beautiful. She won the James Beard Foundation’s prestigious M.F.K.Fisher Distinguished Writing Award for her story “The God of Small Feasts”. Currently, Shoba lives in Bangalore with her husband and daughters and writes a column for The Mint².

Excerpts of the interview:

Nazar: You left India in the 80s, when Doordarshan³ prevailed and pizza was a strange entity. You returned to a very different India.

Shoba Narayan: Yes! There is a world of difference between the India then and the India now. The economic opportunities in today’s India are tremendous, the economic growth has done wonders for the country, and perhaps, if I were a youngster in today’s India, I wouldn’t look westward for the job and education opportunities, I can now easily get here. Even socially, things have become drastically different. I grew up in a conservative and parochial Chennai, but even good old Chennai has changed! While there is nostalgia for the simple old life that existed back in the 80s without the buzz of the cellphones and the pings of the instant messages, I wouldn’t trade today’s India for the old.

Nazar: What motivated you to move back to India after years in Singapore and the US?

Shoba: The differences between the two cultures got more drastic the longer I stayed. In the States, if you’re European, its easier to adjust to life there. But as an Indian, I began questioning aspects of American culture. This was different from when I was a student, when you’re a student in the States, you want to assimilate as much of their culture as you can. But as you get older, things become different. For example, many of my Indian-origin friends in the US decided to name their children American names, but for me that was a huge thing to forego: an Indian name for your child.

Nazar: And how was the move back? How did you adjust to life in India?

Shoba: Yes, there is always an element of fear among returning NRIs. But, thankfully, my move was smooth. I love Bangalore, it’s a very gentle and welcoming city. While the politics are horrible, day to day life in India has so much of texture and colour. Yes, the traffic and infrastructure does get on my nerves at times, but the new Indian life gives you so much opportunity to absorb what is happening around the world, but at the same time, is uniquely Indian. As for the hardest part about moving back - it’s the red tape, it follows you everywhere like an angry demon. By the red tape, I don’t mean the beauracracy, which has been surprisingly pleasant. Whether it is to get a phone connection [from a private company] or a gas connection, it is a big headache with the gazillion formalities. You’re treated like a criminal before you’re proven innocent! Also, the Indian stretchable time has taken getting used to. But overall, moving back has been a great experience. What has made it more interesting are the creative solutions that we come up with in India to deal with the everyday problems, whether it is hiring a domestic or taking an auto rickshaw!

Nazar: What is your take on food writing in India?

Shoba: There is a lot of untapped potential in food writing in India. While mainstream newspapers still seem a little apprehensive about it, it’s the activity that is happening in the non mainstream media that excites me! There are plenty of lovely food blogs out there, with fantastic photographs and great writing, not to speak of the awesome recipes. If there was a youngster looking to break into food writing in India, I would definitely advise them to start blogging, first. Television is also a very exciting prospect in this space, and with the number of lifestyle channels on the increase, I see a lot of activity happening in the food business.

Nazar: Lifestyle changes in India are affecting food habits greatly. There’s a lot of processed and fast food on the ready, and fewer people eat traditional three course meals. Do you see this affecting traditional Indian eating and cooking habits?

Shoba: Yes, indeed! Food habits in India are changing. This year for Diwali⁴, for instance, in our household, we had only one sweet and one savoury, which would’ve been sacrilege until a decade and a half ago. However, I think lifestyle changes are bringing very interesting transformations in the Indian kitchen. There are many women who are turning to gourmet cooking as a hobby, and leave the everyday cooking to domestic help(er?)s. Also, the older generation hasn’t changed a single bit in their cooking and eating styles. My cooking is highly influenced by my mother’s, and that’s the beauty of life in India - constant interaction with elders. In this way, food habits will change, but will take longer to.

Nazar: What are the changes that you’re observing in print media today?

Shoba: The print media is evolving for the better, today it is slowly getting inseparable from its online counterpart. If I were in journalism school today, I would certainly take a multimedia class, and learn how to podcast, shoot and upload videos and blog. Blogs, videos and podcasts supplement a good news report.

Nazar: Monsoon Diary, your only book, was published in 2003. Can you tell us about the writing process and the response you got?

Shoba: I was pregnant when I wrote Monsoon Diary it took me 9 months to write the book - the same time it took to deliver the baby! My writing time was 9 to 3, with lots of interruptions. The book got a lot of good feedback - it was a very niche sort of book. There were two groups of people who liked it, one consisted of native Indians who could connect with the book and had grown up eating all the food I described in it. The other group was made up of non-Indian foodies who were interested in India and Indian culture per se.

Nazar: There are a lot of Indian English authors in the horizon today. Which ones do you enjoy reading the most?

Shoba: I have several favourites - Salman Rushdie, Vikram Chandra, Chandraha Choudhary, Arundhati Roy, Chitra Banerji Divakaruni, Kiran Nagarkar and Amitha Devidayal in the fiction category, and Ramachandra Guha and Rajmohan Gandhi in the non fiction category. I simply adore R.K.Narayan’s writing, he is an evergreen favourite. With the kind of activity that is happening in the Indian English writing scene now, we can certainly find a place in the world literary map!

Footnotes:

1. A Financial daily in India, a collaboration of the Wall Street Journal and the Hindustan Times

2. http://www.livemint.com/SectionPages/Narayan.aspx?NavId=88&NavsId=96

3. India’s government run TV station that was a monopoly for many years before the ushering in of the cable TV era.

4. Hindu Festival in which sweets and savories of different kinds play an important role.

Photo Courtesy: The Gourmet Cartographer