‘GOOD WRITING IS IDENTIFIABLE BY FRESHNESS OF IDEAS’
National Award winning playwright and author Cyrus Mistry on his latest book set in Kerala, his illustrious sibling and Mumbai— the city that was
Cyrus Mistry epitomises Bombay of the late ’50’s. Born to a household that upheld the value of art above anything else, the national award-winning author and playwright’s latest work, The Prospect of Miracles, in his trademark prose, is witty and thought provoking. But Mistry, who’s also a recipient of the 2014 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, was not always interested in becoming an author. In an interview, the author, who has three other siblings, most notably the celebrated author Rohinton Mistry, looks back at his literary journey and the complexities of his standout character from the novel — Mary Agnes.
Your portrayal of Kerala is vivid and ntriguing with the Malayali Christian names being on point. What was the research process like?
As a rule, I never research my subject before or during its writing. I had already finished a first draft of the novel when I realised the need, perhaps for the first time in my novelistic career, to do some research. Malayali culture and cardamom cultivation were both entirely alien to me. At this stage, I made a 10-day trip to Cochin (Kerala), and to some other places in Idukki district. Incidentally, this was my first-ever visit to Kerala which, obviously, has paid dividends. As a result, the novel became richer and acquired more depth in its second draft.
Why Kerala?
Internet research told me that Kerala is the one region in India where the Pentecostal Christian movement has its most fervent and numerous following. The novel’s theme, and the religious preoccupation of some of its characters — with the scripturally predicted conclusion of the world at the end of time — were factors that contributed towards defining its location.
The Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer had death as an underlying layer throughout the novel, in The Prospect of Miracles, too, death looms over the initial pages…
Well, with the Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer, it is set in the habitat of a small, segregated community of people whose job is to carry corpses. It is but natural that death should have been a predominant theme. In the case of The Prospect of Miracles, however, although the first chapter begins with the death of a colourful and revered pastor, I would hesitate to say that this book too is concerned with the theme of death.
As for the theme of death, it is central to life and all living creatures, so also it occupies an important thematic centrality in all literature.
Mary Agnes’ commentary is witty and full of dark humour. There must have been numerous influences…
That’s in the very nature of fiction writing. I have not myself tried to identify the influences that went into the making of Mary Agnes, but don’t doubt there must be several.
One aspect of the novel which allows for complexity in her character is her devastatingly possessive love of her husband. From his point of view, this is not only a cause for their frequent quarrels, but itself an implied justification of his imputing insanity about her mental state. Yet those insecurities are undeniably based on the bedrock of faithlessness and lies. But the question remains, what is the actual reality? This shifting, dual perception of the characters affords the reader spaces to ponder upon.
Were you and Rohinton Mistry, always interested in literature? Can you recollect when was it that you decided that you wanted to write?
All four siblings grew up in Mumbai in a home that cared passionately for books and music, thanks to the abiding influence of my dad — a collector of books himself, and an amateur violinist. My mum, on the other hand, was an avid reader and
Rohinton Mistry’s works are mostly reminiscing the bygone ‘Bombay’ era. But your works are modern takes, do you consult each other after you’re done writing?
In practical terms, at best of times, that would be difficult to achieve and sustain, given the geographical distance between us. The answer to your question is, no, I am happy to keep writing, if I can, and probably he would say the same. We don’t consult each other on our work while it is in progress, or even until after it is published.
homemaker.
At first, I was quite serious about wanting to become a pianist and composer, but when I finished school and joined college, possibly overwhelmed by the enormity of that ambition and my own lack of perseverance in realising it, I threw it all up and started writing. I may have felt that it was a comparatively easier option, but life soon taught me there isn’t any such thing.
You are one of the few writers who’s evaded stereotyping. The critics have not been able to draw a boundary around your work. Why do you think that is?
No matter how many years one may have been writing, it is as if with each new book a writer attempts that he/she has to relearn the very process of how to write.
Experience and discipline do help, but only to such a marginal extent that it doesn’t diminish in any way the gruelling rigour of the process that has to be re-enacted each time. Good writing is identifiable by a freshness of ideas and expression. But that quality of freshness manifests only when one is willing to submit to this unnerving but finally rewarding process of re-discovering how to be true to one’s own self and one’s writing.
Do you feel, in the literary sense, that the city you grew up in was completely different from what it is today? Is the interest towards literature weakening?
Sure it was. The pursuit of literature and its appreciation have always been very niche activities. But given the prodigious inroads that mass culture and popular pastimes have made into how one spends one’s day, we have to admit our own culpability in not being able to sustain against the intrusions that threaten the sanctuaries of literary interest.
I made a 10-day trip to Cochin (Kerala), and to some other places in Idukki district. Incidentally, this was my first ever visit to Kerala which, obviously, has paid dividends.
CYRUS MISTRY, AUTHOR