1. What inspired you to write this novel?
Champa:
My writings grow out of attempts to understand and sort out my feelings and ideas about some issue that is occupying my mind. The germ of this novel grew out of such rumination on widowhood as a cultural practice peculiar to the small community of Brahmins of South India. Widowhood was not merely the sadness of losing your partner; it was ritualized mourning that lasts a lifetime the women were forced to endure, with no hope of another marriage, children, or any semblance of normal life. It was a feared condition for any woman, a nightmare. I grew up in a time that was decades later than the book, and yet I had internalized that idea that marriage is full of life and goodness and the ultimate state of being for a woman, while widows are bearers of misfortune and living death. It made little sense to me that a small, insular community like the south Indian Brahmins would shrink itself by cutting off women in their prime from bearing children. I needed an answer. So that is how it started. And yet there are women of the time period in the novel, both known and unknown to me, who have broken barriers, held on to their hopes and aspirations, and realized them within a space they managed to carve out. They did not have extraordinary circumstances but achieved extraordinary things in their lives. I wanted to explore this space where women accomplish these things in restricted circumstances and yet life goes on for them as if there was just a little bump on the road, not a revolution. Placing these two phenomenons together – well, that needed to be a novel.
2. What is a devadasi dancer? How did you conduct your research on these dancers?
Deva-Dasi is literally Divine-Devotee. The tradition goes back many centuries, and they appear in Tamil classics and mythologies. The women were traditionally attached to temples where their dance was essential worship for the deity. They were not only experts in the ancient art of classical dance and music, they were the custodians of these divine arts. They were dedicated to the temple at an early age and this dedication ceremony was sponsored by wealthy men in the community who often also gave them money, property, and jewelry. They were supported by the temple funds as their service was necessary for worship. They were exempt from codes of sexual behavior dictated by tradition which allowed more freedom to men than women. Devadasis were exempt from these codes and were allowed to have multiple partners. They were revered as women in perpetual state of fertility and sexuality, and invited to bless joyous life events such as weddings and births. At the same time they were also feared and scorned for the very same freedom they possessed. Still they had their place in civil society and a livelihood as artists attached to the temple. As such they could own and inherit property, which no other woman from any social class could at the time. Because of the nature of their lifestyle these women were also exploited and they in turn exploited men who fell in love with them. There is a lot of interest now in looking at this system and its history. My research was confined to the South but it included all scholarly work on Devadasis, oral histories from people who have had contact with them, original literature of the time, fictional work, and biographies of Devadasis. Many famous and beloved musicians and dancers of modern times came from these families. The stigma of their ancestry has now given way to these artists’ healthy embrace of their tradition and the reclaiming of their histories.
3. What video of dancers would you recommend readers to watch to get a sense of Sowmya’s dance?
Champa:
I suggest you look for a documentary produced by Satyajit Ray of Bala Saraswathi, a wonderful artist who danced into her 60’s. It is beautifully made.
Another video to search for is of Rukmani Devi Arundale who was influenced by Anna Pavlova and took to dance in her 20’s and later founded the Kalakshetra school of dance. She created an art form that is now hallmark of the Kalashektra Stye.
I also recommend videos produced by the Kalakshetra school in Chennai. They are freely available on YouTube. Some of the artists I admire are Leela Samson, Priyadarshini Kumar, Aishwarya Balasubramanian. You can google their names and find them on You Tube. Here is the website for Aishwarya:
http://aishwaryabalasubramanian.com/
4. This novel is set in a turbulent time, a pivotal moment in India’s recent history. Why did you choose this moment as the backdrop to this novel?
Champa:
This was a period that had important and rapid advancement for women. The national freedom movement made a special place for women to come out of seclusion from inside their homes, organize, protest, court arrests, go to jail, give speeches, attend political party meetings, and hold committee positions. Along with India’s freedom it was inevitable that women would claim theirs as well. Voting rights for women was not even a question when the constitution was written in 1947. Indian feminism started here and is thriving now and has accomplished repeals of sexist laws in social and economic arenas. Their work is not done but it has a strong presence in India today.
This was also the time Indian cinema was coming on its own. In the South it was an important tool for social engineering and political propaganda. Many writers for the movie were shaped by Marxists and progressive ideals which translated into films. Many devadasis whose livelihood was affected by the ban on temple dancing and changing social mores found work in the cinema, which were without exception musicals giving them exceptional opportunities. Cinema was one source of employment where women could make large sums of money. They not only acted and sang they also directed and produced movies. Extremely interesting movies were made at the time with women in untraditional roles. These were interesting times for women and social change and I loved delving into research and writing the novel with this backdrop and I felt there was a story that has not been told yet, and, even if I say so myself, not as well as I could.
5. Sowmya is a resilient young woman and ahead of her time. Where do you think she draws her strength from to continue challenging society and build a place for herself?
Champa:
I believe women who live restricted and suppressed lives within traditional values, or from the margins of society, ultimately develop an inner strength that emerges in a quiet way. They may break traditions not because of any conscious ideology, but simply to breathe free. This I believe is the very essence of our being. Often the consequences are not great although some times they can be. Life goes on, and they get on with life discarding what does not fit. I have seen this among the women in my own extended family as well as in the world in general. These accomplishments are individual and isolated, are not done with any grand flourish, often go unnoticed and unlauded by those outside their circle, and yet they change our world in imperceptible ways.