‘Communalism', 'religion', 'matriarchy vs patriarchy' - Sadiqa Peerbhoy's latest book, House of Discord, unleashes a litany of socio-political labels, all of which she shuns in one fell swoop. "My book is not political. I'm not making a political statement or picking a communal side," Sadiqa says firmly. House of Discord is a family saga, where fragments of hope, disagreement, misunderstandings and kinships are held together by a single fabric: love. Trite as that may sound, the violence that unfolds outside the Deshmukh household, is a metaphor for the stories that unfold within - "a family is a metaphor for a city," Sadiqa explains.
Marry Go Round entered the market in 2013, Sadiqa’s third novel and one that helped her revisit her Hyderabadi roots. Filled with humour and larger-than-life characters, Marry Go Round is, by her own admission, a "niche novel." The nuances, humour and turn of phrase, she says, were lost on readers who didn't know the city like I did. "It was also a very funny book, nobody took it too seriously, which made me want to try my hand at serious fiction."
House of Discord sprang from here - Sadiqa's urge to write a more broad based, serious story. "Honestly, being funny is easier. I wrote a humour column for 30 years - that's what I do," she laughs. Despite her misgivings around her earlier novel, House of Discord is just as city-centric - Sadiqa spent her childhood in Mumbai. Is she afraid that this will slip into a niche as well? "The book has to be seen in context of its time and place, Mumbai is a backdrop," she says.
Sadiqa grew up amidst the thriving apartment culture of Mumbai, which she describes as "very conducive to living in each others' pockets." Next door lived a Punjabi family, who had "just about adopted" Sadiqa. "I would spend my days and nights there, we would send food across to each other all the time. In that city, divisive thoughts didn't have a role to play. We all took great pride in being Bombay-ites!" During these wonder-years, Sadiqa had little time - or cause - to consider religious divides. Years later, she was shocked to hear from a friend that her bid to rent an apartment was refused outright because of her Muslim surname. She also describes, in her book, a vignette with a taxi-driver, whose supposedly patriotic tirade comprised largely of the argument that Muslims ought to be sent back to Pakistan. "These little things shocked me," Sadiqa says. And in her mind, the Babri Masjid riots of 1992 marked a turning point in the city's great ethos and culture of homogenity. "This sort of divisive thinking is very alarming. Again, this isn't a political statement, merely my own feelings towards the city's loss of culture. Poeple haven't quite recovered from those riots." And Sadiqa doesn't quite believe in the idea of a single writer changing the world.
"The only force that can sway public opinion is the mass media. I don't set out to change the world when I'm writing a book but if your fiction reflects a trend or social attitude, there's no harm in that. The only book that ever moved me powerfully was To Kill A Mockingbird."
Instead, she attributes the act of writing to a deep interest in human relationships. "I would observe a couple when I was younger - the woman was a strong matriarch, the husband a meek man who enjoyed reading the newspapers!" She would ponder over this couple, trying to piece together their lives to arrive at the people they are today. "I've always been interested," she remarks. "I even studied Psychology in college to help me understand my characters better."
Copy-writing, novels, plays, television serials and film - Sadiqa Peerbhoy's writing spans the gamut of the genre. How? "Simply because nobody told me I couldn't," she laughed. "Perhaps if someone had said then, 'you're in advertising, why write a play' I would have had second thoughts. But that never happened and it never occurred to me to doubt. You just go ahead and plunge right in!"
Title: House of Discord
Author: Sadiqa Peerbhoy
Price: Rs 295 (paperback)
Publisher: Readomania Publishing
