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Kolkata: Her Strange Obsession with Sultry Days, Socialite Evenings and Starry Nights has finally taken a backseat, evoking Selective Memories about the country in which she took birth and grew up, which get reflected in her latest book Superstar India: From Incredible to Unstoppable. With the launch of her fifteenth book recently, Shobhaa De, the "First Woman" of Indian literature, seems to have come a long way from her first book Socialite Evenings.
A degree in Psychology, a stint in modeling to a profession in journalism and now penning books – Shobhaa De has done it all. She was made the editor of a celebrity magazine when she was barely 23, and re-invented the concept of fashion and celebrity magazines in India. When she wrote her first book in 1989 about rich housewives, bored with their loveless marriages, she shocked the readers and critics alike, who were used to subtleness in the women depicted in Indian novels. Since then, there has been no stopping Shobhaa De.
Describing her journey from being a middle-class girl with a lot of aspirations in life to becoming a bestselling author as “exciting”, Shobhaa De has no qualms calling herself a Feminist. The lady, who has depicted women as epitomes of power, liberty and beauty in her books, says “there should be no word like ‘compromise’ in the dictionary for women”, as she sits down for a tête-à-tête with Headlines India.
The author, whom critics love to hate, has always had a penchant for writing steamy books, her feminist side coming to the fore, as the female protagonists in her books love to flaunt their dark, sensuous sides, and are a far cry from the female image that the male-dominated country wants to see in the society. Moreover, her books have always revolved around the lives of the rich and the famous, who form only a small percentage of the country’s population. So, what prompted her to write an India book? Headlines India wanted to know...
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“The 60th year of India’s independence was a very special year for me, as I turned 60 as well”, smiles Shobhaa. The author says when she realized that the country would be celebrating its sixtieth year of independence the same year that she herself would mark six decades of living, the thought struck her – “surely my life has taken the same trajectory as the country’s”. She adds, “As I have been actively involved in journalism for quite some time now, I have been monitoring change, chronicling change and writing about a rapidly evolving society. So when India turned 60, and so did I, I saw it as an incredible opportunity to chronicle two lives intertwined as one – that of India and me. So Superstar India happened.”
The author, who grew up in an India of deprivations, and witnessed the transformation of the deprived country into a developing country, holds her head high and says: “I am the change. I am India”. Describing her growing up years to Headlines India, Shobhaa says, “Although I never lived a poor life, I did experience deprivations in my growing-up years. I had to struggle for getting the things that I wanted. That is not the case today. If I tell my children today that the waiting period for a landline telephone during those days was 15 years, or tell them that an air conditioner was thought of as an ultimate luxury then, they look at me as if I have come from another planet.”
She continues, “I was lucky that I was born in a free India. So, I say I am the change in the country. So I say, I am India. My life has changed along with that of India.” This “change” is what gets reflected in each and every page of Superstar India. But with so many drawbacks in the country today, with crime, corruption and administrative lapses soaring with every passing day, does she really think India has changed? “We have attained political freedom, and to a great extent, economic freedom. But we are yet to free ourselves of certain social evils like caste system, crime against women, poverty and rural backwardness. However, for every truism of our country, the opposite is also true. If we have failed, we have experienced glory as well. And amidst all these failures, shortcomings and lapses, India has acquired a Superstar status.”
She is quick to add after a brief pause, “Believe me, India is not going to lose its glow. When I was growing up, the slogan ‘Mera Bharat Mahaan’ used to be on every individual’s lips. Then it became ‘Mera Bharat Pareshan’, as India’s problems seemed to have no end. Now, a time has come, when we can say ‘Mera Bharat Jawaan’, with a major chunk of the population of India comprising of youth. I have dedicated this book to all the youth of the country, as I feel India is very safe in your hands, and it is you, who can take the country towards another Golden Era, which will be brighter than the Golden Era of Emperor Asoka’s time.”
