Kamla Kapur
is a sensitive poetic voice, who lives half the
year in a remote Kullu Valley in the Himalayas
and the other half in California. Her poetry and
short stories have been published in the original
English and in Hindi and Punjabi translation in
several journals and magazines. In 1977, she won
the prestigious The Sultan Padamsee Award for
Playwriting in English. Her full length play,
The Curlew's Cry, was produced by Yatrik, New
Delhi. A Punjabi translation of her play, Clytemnestra
was produced by The Company in Chandigarh. Her
award-winning Zanana, was produced at the National
School of Drama, New Delhi. Seven of her plays
were published in Enact, New Delhi.
Since 1985, Ms Kapur has been commuting between
the USA and India. Her full length plays, Hamlet's
Father, Kepler Dreams, and Clytemnestra were showcased
at the Marin Shakespeare Festival in San Francisco,
Gas Lamp Quarter Theatre in San Diego, and Dramatic
Risks Theatre Group in New York, respectively.
She was selected by the New Mexico Arts Division
as the Playwright in Residence for two years.
She has recently completed her first novel, The
Autobiography of Saint Padma the Whore, a chapter
of which was published by in Our Feet Walk The
Sky (Aunt Lute Press, Berkeley, California, USA),
and a fantasy novel, Malini in Whirlwood.
Ms. Kapur has published two books of poetry: the
critically acclaimed, As A Fountain In A Garden
(Tarang Press.Del Mar,CA,USA-Hemkunt Publishers
Private, Ltd., India, 2005) and Radha Sings (Rolling
Drum and Dark Child Press, USA, 1987).
Ms. Kapur was also on the faculty of Grossmont
College in San Diego, California for 18 years
and taught creative writing courses in play writing,
poetry, creative non-fiction, fiction, and courses
in mythology, Shakespeare, and Women's Literature.
Kamla Kapur was also a freelance writer for The
Times of India, The Hindustan Times and The Tribune;
she had taught English Literature at Delhi University
too. This multi-faceted literary genius talks
to Dr.Nilanshu Kumar Agarwal in an illuminating
email interview.
NKA: Pain is of paramount importance in
As A Fountain In A Garden. For example, the expression
“and left me/ here, / with this absence,
this gif/ of grief” emotionally presents
a glimpse of the seething volcano of grief inside.
Has the production of the just-mentioned poetry
collection helped you in the release of your emotions
of grief, anxiety and pain? I suppose, by the
creation of this collection, you must have found
some release, as literature is cathartic and therapeutic.
What do you say?
KK: I don’t know how I would have
survived the experience of my husband’s
suicide without processing it through poetry.
It’s not to say that people who don’t
write poetry don’t survive, or survive well,
but without the outlet of poetry I might have
fossilized in my grief, or developed a chronic
habit of sorrow or even bitterness, and certainly
a debilitating regret and guilt. Poetry that is
not merely release – crying is also that
– is an adventure of the soul in its journey
towards itself. It demands an utter honesty of
experience and expression without which writing
remains only cathartic and does not touch the
depth at which it becomes art. The discipline
of crafting a poem with patience and honesty gave
me the perspective and the detachment to pursue
a subject that was very painful for me. Making
art in this sense is the highest spiritual activity
of humans, for it takes one through suffering
beyond it.
NKA: Besides this despair, caused by the
husband’s suicide, are there certain other
factors too, responsible for poetry in you?
KK: I was writing poetry long before Donald’s
suicide. Despair is not the only subject for poetry,
though the passion of despair is always strong
enough to make poetry well up if one is so inclined.
Who can tell what the original impulses for poetry
are? It is a mystery, though some causes, superficial
at best, can be isolated. From the time I wrote
my first poem at the age of sixteen, I loved the
intense introspection and inversion, the dialogue
with my soul through words that the experience
afforded. I think the impulse to make poetry –
to express one’s inmost self, to connect
and commune with the universe that is bounded
within our souls, to give words to the amorphous
stuff of our experience and thereby own it in
some ways -- is common to all human beings, a
basic instinct; what distinguishes the poet is
the discipline and the life-long dedication to
the craft which allows her to express the inexpressible.
I write in many genres but poetry – which
goes deeper than any other modes – is nearest
to my heart.
NKA: What are the important literary works
of Donald? How will you describe him as a poet?
KK: Most of Donald’s work is still in manuscript
form, and though he was published in many poetry
journals he was never published in book form.
He has a long poem called Trace which is as fine
as the best of poetry. He combined narrative and
lyrics and was very influenced by Ezra Pound,
who he considered his poetry Guru.
One day when I have the leisure I want to put
a book of his poems into the world. It is the
fate of most poets to live and die in obscurity.
Unfortunately good poetry requires a highly educated,
introspective, sensitized and aware sensibility,
which is not very common and getting more so in
our busy and fast-paced world. This has always
been so, and may never really change.
NKA: How has your association with the
Kullu valley of Himachal Pradesh assisted you
in your career as a creative poet? The glittering
scenic beauty of the place must have provided
your poetic heart with a lot of literary fodder.
Please say something.
KK: I wouldn’t say it has helped
my career, though it has certainly helped in forming,
or rather, in-forming me as a writer. Our home
here in the Kullu Valley is a retreat from life
in the city which tends to be, whether one likes
it or not, anxiety-ridden. We don’t even
realize how the noise and the crowds affect our
psyches, drain and devitalize us. Being here –
we live six months out of every year here in this
remote and beautiful valley --, being connected
with nature, its beauty and changing moods on
a daily basis, helps us (my husband, Payson R.
Stevens, is also a writer and an artist) to connect
with ourselves more than with people, and allows
us a contemplative and reflective life which is
always best for creativity, for me especially.
Though I have written some poetry here, and hope
to write more in the future when my other writing
projects are complete, I have in the last two
years completed two books, GANESHA GOES TO LUNCH,
Classics from Mystic India, and PILGRIMAGE TO
PARADISE, Sufi Tales from Rumi. The first book
was published in 2007 by Mandala (USA), and the
second will be published in 2009 by Mandala and
Penguin India. But I must add that I am not dependent
on geography for creativity. Given time and solitude,
I can write wherever I am.
NKA: You have been commuting between India
and USA since 1985. Any special reason for this
movement? How has this mobility affected you (positively/
negatively) as a creative writer? Please make
a statement.
KK: Till 2006 I was teaching English (Composition,
Literature, Creative Writing) in a college in
California, and I would come to India very often
– sometimes taking a semester off, during
my sabbatical, and summer and winter holidays.
I reduced my workload to 50% in 2001, and my husband
and I began to look for a place to settle in India
for half the year. My husband is American and
we have up till now not wanted to shift to India
permanently. We began work on our house in the
Kullu Valley in 2003 and have continued to come
here since then. I love this double life that
we lead for many reasons, many of them quite personal.
But I feel it has brought me into contact with
India which is fertile in terms of subject matter.
It has allowed me to explore my Indian-ness further.
I am currently working on a novel that is set
both in India and the USA. The characters are
both Indian and Western (though mainly Indian).
This double life used to be hard, but in coping
with it I have learned some essential lessons
– being flexible, being at home wherever
I am, being detached from place and, in a way,
time. This shunting back and forth has also compressed
my time, put boundaries around it, so I am very
conscious of its passing, and thus more disciplined
about writing.
NKA: As an awakened Indian writer living
in the States, what do you think are the major
tangling problems faced by Indian Diaspora in
USA?
KK: I don’t know how ‘awakened’
I am! Certainly it continues to be my endeavor
and my passion. I can only speak for myself, though
many books have come out in the subject that I
haven’t read. The characters in my current
novel are not “Diaspora” characters
as such, though they are characters with some
of its concerns, especially the concerns of first
generation Indians in America: missing India,
missing family, missing the “rawnuk,”
finding it difficult to cope with a culture that
puts so much emphasis on individuality when people
in India are more used to communal lives. The
subject is immense and would take more time to
explicate than I have here.
NKA: What are the major cultural differences
between America and India?
KK: Now this is a huge question that I cannot
even begin to address in an interview like this.
It would take tomes! If I had to isolate just
one of the differences (quite arbitrarily), and
deal with it very superficially in a paragraph,
I would say it has to do with the way family continues
to be of prime importance in India while the West,
still going through the growing pains of individuality,
is moving more and more in the direction of individuation,
a journey that Indians haven’t even embarked
upon yet. But global capitalization is a unifying
force and we are already seeing its effects on
family life in India. It is inevitable, though
not quite imminent. And with this difference comes
a whole host of different ways of living and being.
NKA: As a woman writer,
did you feel any problems in your literary career?
How will you describe the two cultural groups—Eastern
and Western—in their approach towards a
female author?
KK: The difficulties in my writing career
have had nothing to do with my gender. If anything,
this is a very fertile period for women’s
voices to be heard. We have female writers whose
voices have reached the global stage. My difficulties
were entirely my own. I think both cultures are
open to female voices, and about time, too.
NKA: In your long career, you have been
a teacher, journalist and a creative writer. Out
of these, which one is closest to your heart?
Or, do you find some inner relationship among
these various roles? Please explicate.
KK: I have given up the first two roles
to focus on the last. As I get older I have limited
energy and time. I had to prioritize. I gave up
journalism first, because I did not want to be
writing edible, fleeting print. Teaching was far
more congenial in that I taught subjects I myself
have learned immensely from. But it was time consuming,
and now I am happily focusing on writing alone.
I am also moving towards more yoga, meditation,
and exercise, and reading a lot.
NKA: What will you say about your two
novels--The Autobiography of Saint Padma the Whore
and Malini in Whirlwood?
KK: The Autobiography of Saint Padma the Whore
is the fictional story of a woman?s quest for
love and freedom. Spanning three decades, from
the 60's to the 90's, it moves between India,
the USA, and Saudi Arabia. It is loosely structured
on the myth of Ulysses and Penelope, less as a
parallel than as a contrast. An abyss of time
separates Padma and Penelope, yet they share some
important connections. While waiting for their
mates, both weave tapestries, the former with
yarn, and the latter with words; both long for
a kind of partner that is truly an equal. Their
stories serve as portraits of artists as women.
Malini in Whirlwood is the first volume of a trilogy.
Malini, a young girl disenchanted and bored with
the normal world, succeeds in becoming a character
in a fantastic story book whose author is a magician.
She finds herself aboard a magic Red Boat in a
place called Whirlwood where the laws of physics
do not apply, and time and space are warped. She
meets the members of her crew who are strange
beings called Fractidians. She doesn’t quite
know if they are her allies or her enemies, but
each of them, whether negative or positive, teaches
her a great deal. Nono teaches her to endure,
Thimble the ethic and value of work, Fluff the
necessity for fun, Ender hope and courage, and
Tozy trust in the sometimes tortuous, meandering
paths of her adventures. In the end Malini, transformed
by her experiences, returns to the ordinary world,
ready to participate in it while maintaining a
close connection with the fecund world of fantasy
and myth.
NKA: Tell something about
Ganesha Goes To Lunch and Radha Sings.
KK: Like myths around the world, Ganesha Goes
to Lunch, Classics from Mystic India are traditional
Indian stories which offer both a window into
a fascinating culture that has endured for thousands
of years, and a code for living that can be applied
to the modern world. Kamla K. Kapur's GANESHA
GOES TO LUNCH: Classics from Mystic India (Mandala
Publishing, $14.95 trade paperback, April 27,
2007), is an offering of 24 insightful tales.
"They are reminders from spaceless eternity
of the fabric of which we are made. They awaken
us, and help us live with, and within, the mystery
that is the matrix of our being."
Six one-page introductions to the sections give
easy backgrounds to the major gods in Indian mythology.
The myths themselves, recreated and embellished,
reveal timeless insights into the human condition.
Shiva and Parvati’s wedding shows a love
that includes, but transcends the battle of the
sexes. Vishnu’s incarnation as a boar demonstrates
the strength of the bonds of attachment that even
gods can’t escape. Brahma’s entrapment
in the web of Maya leads him to free himself with
his mind. Krishna’s compassion for a little
bird ensures that creation continues even within
the destruction of war. Markandeya’s fall
out of Vishnu’s mouth into the ocean of
chaos, humbles him in the face of the mystery
of life. These are a few of the fascinating, immensely
readable and instructive tales included in the
collection.
Radha Sings are contemporary,
semi-erotic poems written from the point of view
of a modern Radha to her Krishnas
.
NKA: What are your future writing projects?
KK: I am currently in the beginning stages of
writing two novels.
The interviewer Dr.Nilanshu Kumar Agarwal is Senior
Lecturer in English at Feroze Gandhi College,
Rae Bareli, (U.P.), India. His interviews with
a number of contemporary literary figures, as
well as his research papers, book reviews, articles
and poems have appeared in publications, including
The Vedic Path, Quest, Pegasus, IJOWLAC, The Journal,
Promise, The Raven Chronicles, Yellow Bat Review,
Carved in Sand, Turning the Tide, Blue Collar
Review, Bridge-in-Making, Confluence, Poetcrit,
Kafla Intercontinental, Hyphen and South Asian
Review. His book on Stephen Gill is to be published
shortly
|
|