FINDING HER PLACE
Author Diksha Basu on her new novel, writing about contemporary India, and the notion of home
There’s a curious coincidence in Diksha Basu’s latest novel Destination Wedding. The protagonist Tina Das works for a streaming network in New York, in charge of finding content from India. While in Delhi for her cousin’s lavish wedding, her friend suggests she make a reality show on matchmaking. “The last thing the world needs is another show about matchmakers. Although can you imagine how much fun that would be? A deep dive into
Indian matchmaking?” says Tina.
The novel was released days after Indian Matchmaking hit Netflix and created a global stir. Basu is amused by the timing of it all. “I was nervous about watching it because Indian representation ends up becoming distilled to a stereotypical point, but I was pleasantly surprised. It did a terrific job of showing a wide spectrum of perspectives and people,” she says.
Reading a story about a big, fat wedding in the midst of a pandemic makes Destination Wedding an ideal escapist read. Much like in The Windfall (2017), Basu writes with effortless ease, wielding humour to bring out her protagonists’ struggles across class, generation and convention.
Delhi forms the crux of both stories—it’s where Basu lived till she was 10, before moving to the US with her family. Even though she now divides her time between Mumbai and New York—where she lives with her music composerhusband Mikey McCleary and two daughters—Delhi is a part of her core. “Where you grow up gets embedded in your subconscious more deeply than a place you come to as an adult. While I think of Bombay more intellectually, I know Delhi more emotionally, which translates well into my writing.”
Destination Wedding has earned an endorsement from Chrissy Teigen, who tweeted that she’s “extremely obsessed with this book”. It’s gone into a second printing in the US and Basu is glad the West is finally getting exposed to writing on contemporary India. “They love reading about the poverty, feeling sympathy for Indians. My books certainly don’t look away from that, but I also want to have space for levity, to allow Indians to have fun. We don’t always need to be the flagbearers of suffering.”
The author was in Mumbai when the pandemic hit. She returned to New York a couple of months ago and is working on a new book, even as The Windfall and Destination Wedding are in development for the screen.
The pandemic has had her thinking about the notion of home. “My husband is a New Zealander who calls Bombay home, but is given the title of an expat. When I’m in the US, I’m an immigrant. Both these terms are arbitrarily slapped on to us because of our location and skin colour, and I find them troublesome. What will the future of national identity be for my children?”
Diksha Basu is glad the West is getting exposed to writings on contemporary India