Life is all about finding the difference between myth and reality. That’s where the colour lies…
Mahasweta Ghosh: What inspired you to write McCluskieganj? Was it an impulse or had you planned it for long?
Vikas Kumar Jha: It was truly an impulse. The village’s soul filled me up and I couldn’t withdraw. Many years ago, I was engaged with a national Hindi fortnightly called Maya. Bihar was an undivided state at the time. I had heard about
McCluskieganj being the only Anglo-Indian village in the world, situated in Chhota Nagpur area. So I visited the place once while reporting for the magazine. This village is about 65 miles from Ranchi. When I reached McCluskieganj and met its people, their life ensnared me. The village owned me immediately. Its hills and lakes, the vintage Portuguese bungalows, the rooted Anglo-Indians and tribals coexisting with each other, their love for their motherland—everything touched the writer in me. This village is the paradigm of collective memory and productive nostalgia. It was filled with memories, hope and pounding hearts looking for their identity. The village was a magical portrait in the realistic world.
A view of McCluskieganj
MG: How do you look at the novel now? Do tell us about its evolution.
VKJ: Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi, The Cossacks by Tolstoy, or even a novel closer home, like Phanishwar Nath Renu’s path-breaking Maila Anchal made me feel that social reality, imagination, history, and the cultural factors that contributed towards the greatness of these works, were all present in
McCluskieganj as well. When my novel received the Katha UK Award at the House of Commons in London in the year 2011, the people of McCluskieganj celebrated as if there was a festival. Their little village had suddenly come alive on the global map. There was a buzz of exuberance among the people; they believed I had given a world tour to McCluskieganj. It had, like a phoenix, risen from its own ashes to a new life. I could relate to the rising, as many a time in my own life, I too have risen from ashes. The faith in survival and fighting for your identity is what connects me to this village. This novel marked a new beginning for me and the renewal it set off in my life hasn’t stopped till date. That village is a family to me now. Many a time, they address me by the name of Robin, the main character of my novel. What more could I wish for? This embodiment of my own protagonist and the rare village of McCluskieganj enthuses me even today.
Mr E.T. MCluskie, Founder of McCluskieganj
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MG: What kept you busy before this novel?
VKJ: As I said, by profession, I am a journalist. Drawing on my work, I had written two books before the novel: Bihar: Criminalization of Politics and Satta ka Sutradhar on the political history of post-Independence India. However, I must declare that McCluskieganj remains the closest to my heart. It’s much more than just a novel to me. It changed my literary career and gave me as much love as I gave to it.
Bonner Bhawan of McCluskieganj
MG: It took you almost two decades to write this novel. Did you encounter any apprehension or subconscious fear regarding its completion?
VKJ: I had no doubts regarding its completion, but I did not let the novel get affected by my journalistic work. It was quite a challenge to squeeze out time from my busy mainstream journalism routine and escape into a different world. To sustain the spirit, to maintain it evenly throughout the writing of the novel, I regularly visited the village, carried out extensive research, connected with the people of McCluskieganj, all the while keeping a finger on the pulse of the village. I shared their dreams, stories and their hope. That’s what made the novel what it’s become. It paints an honest picture. Most of its characters are real while some are imaginary. But it is up to the readers to decide what’s real and what’s not. That’s where the thrill lies. Many writers and books have time and again mentioned this village, but none of them thought of living its life. For instance, the well-known Bengali writer Buddhadeb Guha went to the extent of buying a cottage there, but no one thought of creating a novel about the village. The theme of the village became a challenge for me, because I didn’t choose it—it was the other way round. As they say, what you seek is actually seeking you.
Mr Denzil Borowd
MG: Any special memories of McCluskieganj you recall in the process of your long research that you’d like to mention…? Some of the characters float amid reality and myth … How did you balance that?
VKJ: The memories are countless. Every day McCluskieganj was a story in itself. The people, the houses, the nature, the lanes, the colonial imprints, the fascinating anecdotes, the innumerable random faces, their choices, their struggles, fill me with so many reminiscences … like an old trunk filled with beautiful memories. Whenever I open it, it takes me back to those times.
Mrs Denzil Borowd. She moved to an old age home in Kolkata after
Mr Borowd’s death.
The village is a tragicomedy in its own right. Most of its characters are still a part of my life. For instance, the character of Mr Gibson from my novel is a real character, and when he left McCluskiegunj and went to Calcutta to live in an old-age home, I went to visit him quite a few times. Kitty memsahib, the Anglo-Indian lady who sold fruits at the station, is another significant character, among many more. And a writer earns so many relationships on the way that it is tough to let go. These are the relationships we choose to nurture and keep in our lives. Life is all about finding the difference between myth and reality. That’s where the colour lies…
A cyclist on the road in front of Highland Guest House
My Ganj family is still intact in my memory. My first encounter with Kitty Memsaab at the station when she was excited to respond to my query saying, ‘Everybody knows me! If you want to ask about me, go ask Queen Victoria and Lord Curzon.’ I can’t forget that meeting and I have mentioned it in the novel where Robin meets Kitty for the first time.
An old tree in McCluskieganj
I still remember Mr Miller’s cottage in the village. Another memorable moment was when the Palamu Express was allowed a five-minute stoppage at the Ganj after I tried really hard convincing the Rail Ministry. When the train stopped at the
McCluskieganj station for the first time, the entire village had turned up, and Mr Miller had brought a basket of mangoes to greet the engine driver.
Mrs Carney’s adopted son, Canteen Majeed, till date, remains a very dear friend, and in any crisis, he calls me first in the whole world. Miss Bonner is no more, but Mariam who served her until her last breath still lives in Bonner Bhawan, and whenever I go to the Ganj, she takes me to her studyroom and says, ‘Mrs Bonner always talked of you and remembered you every day.’
Kitty Memsahib with her daughters Iwan and Linda
A long time has gone by and now Mrs Thripthorpe and her daughter Judy are no longer there. Very loving people, I still think of them. Chatti Nadi and Konka Pahadi still fascinate me and their very thought takes me down the Ganj lane.
A view of McCluskieganj
MG: What does the Anglo-Indian community mean to you as a novelist?
VKJ: It is a community that to begin with was full of contradictions and rejections. So, it is a community that has suffered and, for some reason, I could relate to their angst. Yet, they never accepted defeat. Due to the untiring efforts of some of its leading members, India gave them recognition. It is the only community that has two representatives in the Lok Sabha, and every state assembly has provision for one MLA to be nominated. This makes me very proud and also that, despite some drawbacks, the Anglo-Indian community is synonymous with school education in India. Because of their efforts, our school-going children are able to compete at various levels in the international field of education.
McCluskieganj has several schools to date that impart value-based education and turn out well-groomed and well-aware students.
Mr H. Mendez
MG: What support did you receive from your family, friends and well-wishers while writing this novel?
VKJ: For a creative writer, family support is of paramount importance, because though thoughts may receive impetus even while being surrounded by people, writing has to be done in total solitude. My children went from school to college and I didn’t even know, so quietly did the years pass away as I was left undisturbed to do my work. What more could I ask for? People in my village feel connected with McCluskieganj because I have written it. My family, my people have all actively been supportive and a part of this magical journey. They gave me all the freedom I wanted towards this novel. They lived my journey as well, and shared my passion for this village. They have been regular visitors to the village as well.
A party in McCluskieganj
I am very grateful to you, my teacher from my college days. How lovingly and carefully you translated this book, embodying its spirit entirely. I would also like to add here that this novel in its original form is over 500 pages long and that it is with your help that I was able to condense the novel to arrive at this translation, which I hope very much will appeal to the English readership. I am also grateful to your daughter Dr Maitrayee Narayan who, despite her busy schedule, typed the script flawlessly.
Late D.R. Cameron of Highland Guest House
Kitty Memsahib
Kitty Memsahib
MG: What’s next?
VKJ: The completion of McCluskieganj left a big void in my life. For several years, I was at a loss as to what I should write next, but, as I have said before, it is the theme that chooses me. I am often amazed that after writing about a village in Jharkhand, I went straight to a village situated in a rainforest in Karnataka, Agumbe, in the district of Shimoga. The serial on R.K. Narayan’s Malgudi Days directed by Shankar Nag was shot in this village. Agumbe and Malgudi have become synonymous. It has the world’s most famous habitat for the king cobra. The village boasts of an almost 100 per cent joint family tradition. It is a very happy village, and in my current novel, Varsha Van Kee Roopkatha, I have tried to invoke the spirit of nature’s joyous presence. Like McCluskieganj, this theme too, though localized, is global in its embrace—the immortal in the transient. I am also working on a couple of more books and updating one of my earlier books. I am travelling into realities and these realities are becoming my dream.
A grotto in McCluskieganj