Interview with Pratap Reddy - author

Pratap Reddy

Pratap, your first novel Ramya’s Treasure has been published recently by Guernica Editions. You have been working at it for a long time. In fact, if I remember it right, you began the novel even before you began your short story collection, Weather Permitting, which was published in 2016. Why has it taken so long to complete the novel?

Looking back, I can say that I did not work on the project for far too long. I did start the novel a few years ago, that’s true. It was when I was encountering obstacles in finding a publisher for my first book “Weather Permitting”, a collection of stories; I was being told time and again that short stories were difficult to sell. But when Guernica Editions picked up my book, I put my fledgeling novel on the back burner. I resumed work on the unfinished book only after my short story collection was published. The novel got completed in the very same year - 2016. Guernica Editions accepted my second book too, and it has come out in 2018. The interval between the publication of the two books is not unduly long. Even then, one must not lose sight of the fact that I have a full-time day job, and there’s only so much free time I can spare for writing.

You have also told me that Ramya’s Treasure is by far the most ambitious thing you’ve attempted. Please explain what exactly you mean by that.

This is a perfect example of a person’s comment made at an unguarded moment coming back to haunt him! First of all, I am not a writer of long standing – just two books old! It was ambitious insofar as it was longer than anything I had written until then. Secondly, the protagonist in the novel is a middle-aged woman, who has been dealt a bad hand by Fate. I wanted to chronicle her journey from a state of despondency and depression to finding a purpose in life. In hindsight, the subject was quite ambitious for a rookie author!

Although I am yet to read the book, I believe you have attempted parallel narratives that trace Ramya’s life in Canada and in India – that is an unusual and I dare say a difficult device to adapt to narrate a story. Why did you choose this form?

Being a first-generation immigrant, I am conscious of being part of two cultures, two nationalities, etc. So I wanted this to be very much a part of the narrative as well as my heroine’s psyche. Notwithstanding the challenges or the benefits of living in an adopted country offers, I believe that our past plays a part in defining our future. More so in the case of immigrants -- people who have transplanted themselves into another environment. I felt a compelling need to include the often untold backstory of an immigrant.

There are many stories about immigration and settlement, and nearly all of them depict a male perspective. You have chosen to narrate a story from a woman’s perspective. How difficult was that process? Are you satisfied with the result?

I am not fully acquainted with the entire landscape of diaspora literature, yet, it doesn’t surprise me that they are written predominantly from the standpoint of men.

As it happens so often in life, especially in old world countries, most of the major decisions are unilaterally taken by men, but it is left for their womenfolk to bear the brunt. Immigration is no exception.  After arriving in Canada, it is the women who need to adjust more, take on more responsibilities, besides going out to work so that the family can lead a more comfortable life. So, when I chose to write about the life of a vulnerable immigrant, my imagination of its own accord conjured up Ramya – a middle-aged down and out single woman who is attempting to take back control of her life.

Writing about a female character certainly posed a creative challenge; and, from my side, I tried to do my best to make her credible and convincing. But I leave it to the readers, the ultimate judges, to decide whether I have succeeded or not. Going by the initial reaction, especially from women-readers, it appears I have not made too bad a job of it.

Are you working on another book? Would you want to talk about it?

Yes, I have started work on another novel. It is about a young immigrant to Canada who returns to India and observes the changing social, political and economic landscape there. At least that is the basic premise of the novel, though I am not sure what shape it will finally take. Sometimes plots and characters have lives of their own, unrelated to the author’s intentions. I also have a small collection of stories in a slow cooker which needs to be increased to a book-length manuscript.

But, Mayank, I am not giving you any timelines! As an individual, I have many demands made on my time – professional, spousal, parental obligations. In the midst of it all (even while my head is teeming with plots and ideas) I must find the time to write…another book.

Buy Pratap's novel, click here: Ramya's Treasure  

Author's website: Pratap Reddy

A decade in Toronto - 13

Che - quiet, shy & handsome

I’ll continue with 2011 because when I look back at the year, I realise that a lot of things happened. And while it’s not possible to capture everything into this series, I do want to ensure that I don’t miss some important occurrences.

My involvement in the Festival of South Asian Literature and the Arts enlarged my circle of acquaintances in the creative world. I realized that the suburbs of Toronto – Mississauga, Brampton, and Oakville had a thriving cultural scene buzzing with events and programs and that South Asians were organizing most of these events.

I was invited to an exhibition of Hindi film posters – Picture House – organized by Ali Adil Khan and Asma Arshad Mahmood at the Art Gallery of Mississauga. It was a painstakingly put together exhibition, where Ali and Asma put a stamp of originality on a subject that could easily have become a sentimental and lachrymose, not to say banal, depiction of a dying art. 

I blogged rather animatedly about it, and my journalism teacher-turned-friend Teenaz Javat read it. She got me invited to the CBC’s Metro Morning show for a brief chat about the exhibition. (Read the blog: Picture House)

At IIFA, photo by Mariellen Ward

In late June, I was invited to participate in the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards at the Rogers Centre with Mahrukh, Che and Durga who was with us. The invitation was from my friend CP Thomas, who was doing the public relations for the event organizer Wizcraft (co-owner Sabbas Joseph used to be a colleague).

Thanks to CP, a serial entrepreneur and the publisher of Indian Voices, we got some of the best seats at the awards venue. The show belonged to Shahrukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra, and a bunch of film stars from the yesteryears. (Read the blog: IIFA in Toronto)

Farzana Doctor, the author friend who organizes the immensely influential Brockton Writers’ Series invited me to read at the September 2011 edition of the series along with Jessica Westhead and Pratap Reddy. She was greatly amused by the emails I exchanged to finalise my reading at the series and quoted from it verbatim while introducing me.

With Pratap and Jessica at Brocton Writers' Series

I have tremendous admiration and respect for Farzana. She gave key inputs to improve my manuscript and make it more “Canadian,” when I was struggling with it. Of course, by the time the manuscript emerged as a novel, a lot had already changed. At different stages of my writing process, she was willing to assist, suggest, promote and otherwise help in whatever way she could. Being a star author that she is, she’d forgotten my name by the time her third novel was launched.

Later that month, at the Word on the Street, I participated in the “Adopt a Writer” program with Jessica Westhead at the Word on the Street festival. Books and books-related events had become a major preoccupation. The Munk Centre in midtown Toronto became a regular venue to participate in such events. (Read the blog: Parallel Histories) It was to continue for a few years until recently when I began to consciously slow down my activities in view of my deteriorating kidneys. 

Marshall McLuhan’s centenary was celebrated globally in 2011, and in Toronto, his hometown, he was remembered at a panel discussion organized by the McLuhan Legacy Network. It was an important discussion.

McLuhan remains prescient about the future of the media. He’d predicted the Age of Internet long before it became a reality. He said, “The next medium, whatever it is – it may be the extension of consciousness – will include television as its content, not as its environment, and will transform television into an art form. A computer as a research and communication instrument could enhance retrieval, obsolesce mass library organization, retrieve the individual’s encyclopedic function, and flip into a private line to speedily tailored data of a saleable kind.”

My blog was being noticed and I began to get offers from publishers for book reviews. I’d prefer to write mostly about authors, book events and about books without doing reviews. Calypso Editions in the USA sent me a new translation of Leo Tolstoy’s ‘How much land does a man need’. It’s a simple, straightforward folklore of human greed. I blogged about Tagore and Translation in two parts. (Part 1, Part 2)

Che - getting ready for the
school concert

At work, I was doing all that needed to be done to give back to the ICCC – the organization that had made life possible in Canada for me and my family. I enjoyed the work, and what I loved more was the constant interaction with people who were deeply involved with the organization. 

Under Satish Thakkar's leadership, the organisation took off and successfully scaled peaks of glory never before attempted in the three-and-a-half decades of the organisation's history. 

Harjit Kalsi was another stalwart – an unassuming, soft-spoken, hands-on manager, who made the most menial tasks pleasurable. Together, Harjit and I created a short documentary on Hindi film songs with the railway motif for the ICCC’s year-end gala that had the Indian Railways as its theme.

At home, Che was in his final pre-teen years and was turning into a handsome young man. The next three years would be hard on him; years that’d change him forever.  I’ve often thought about these years and often wondered whether I did the right thing in getting us here.

GAB talks to Pratap Reddy

Pratap Reddy is a Toronto author whose first collection of short stories Weather Permitting and Other Stories (published by Guernica Editions) is being launched at the Supermarket Restaurant & Bar Toronto on Sunday June 5. 

In a interview with GAB, Pratap talks about his stories and himself

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Congratulations on your forthcoming short story collection, Pratap. When and why did you start writing fiction?

I started writing after I immigrated to Canada. All the new experiences, the challenges one had to face as an immigrant gave the kickstart to an urge which was lying dormant. I love to read, and I had always hoped that one day I too would start writing.

What is the short story collection about? Is there an overarching theme that binds the stories together?

These fictional stories use immigration experience as the background – lack of jobs, non-recognition of credentials, absence of affordable daycare – there was a rich vein waiting to be mined. It’s a world as seen through the eyes of people who have recently immigrated to another country.

You have published short stories in several other anthologies; please name the anthologies and the stories that were published in these anthologies.

I’ve been published in magazines like Anokhi and The Maple Tree Literary Supplement. And in anthologies like Canadian Voices, Indian Voices, South Asian Review and, I am most proud to add, ‘Breaking the Bow’, an anthology of speculative fiction brought out by the reputed Indian publisher ‘Zubaan Books’.    

You are working on a novel, please let us know how the creative process is different while writing a novel and working on a short story collection.

This is only my first collection and I’m writing my very first novel – so I would like to be guarded in my response. The first thing is the matter of theme, in short stories most of the action is around an event or an idea, novels can be more ambitious and can encompass many elements. If I could draw a parallel, short fiction is like a snapshot whereas a novel is more like video shoot. Secondly, the treatment. In short stories you cannot range too far out from the plot – everything needs to be absolutely relevant. While writing novels, you have more elbow room, and you can be more discursive.

How significant is your identity to you when you write?

As of now, I write, and I want keep writing, about things I know best. So the matter of identity is not really uppermost in mind. My writing is about an individual’s reaction to the world around him.

How do you describe yourself? As a Canadian, Indian, or a Canadian writer of Indian origin. Please explain your choice.

I would like to be described as person who ‘loves to read and loves to write’. But the fact that I have lived more than half my life in India and that I’m now working in Canada will have bearing on my work, whether I like it or not.

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If you liked the interview, you may be interested in reading another between Pratap and his publisher: Guernica's interview with Pratap Reddy

Weather Permitting & Other Stories - Pratap Reddy

Pratap Reddy

My friend Pratap Reddy will soon have his first collection of short stories (Weather Permitting & Other Stories) published by the prestigious Guernica Editions.

Originally from Hyderabad in India, Pratap has been writing fiction since he came to Canada more than a decade ago. 

His stories have been published in Canada, India and the United States in several anthologies including Diaspora Dialogues’ TOK – Writing the New Toronto series, Canadian Voices, Indian Voices, The Courtneypark Connection, and in literary journals and websites such as the Maple Tree Supplement, among others.

Pratap wrote feature-length newspaper articles in India, and like many others, turned to fiction writing only after coming to Canada.

“I’ve been a voracious reader all my life, and when reading becomes a part of your life, eventually you also want to try your hand at writing,” Pratap says. Describing his collection, he said in some ways all the stories reflect his immigrant experience. 

Pratap has completed the creative writing program at Humber School for Writers and has been a recipient of the Writer’s Reserve Grant from the Ontario Arts Council, and awarded the Best Emerging Literary Artist award by the Mississauga Arts Council.

At present, he is working on his novel and hopes to complete it before the short fiction collection is published. One of the most notable features of Pratap’s personality is his utter modesty and down-to-earth simplicity. It’s a trait that has helped him create magical stories.

Here’s an excerpt from his story In the Dark, published in Canadian Voices Volume I. The story occurs during the blackout that stopped North America in its tracks a decade ago, and is about accidental encounters that surprise a couple and redefine their relationship.

Dev remembered the day he had asked Shalini to buy a box of strawberry pie from the grocery store. Shalini had been working for three months and he had been laid off from his job at the gas station. Shalini returned from her shopping and duped a carton of fresh strawberries on the table in front of him. As he looked up in amazement at her, she said: “You should stop eating those disgusting pies. You’ve put on a lot of weight.” Dev couldn’t think of a reply.

As they stood in the long line, they heard people talking about the blackout.

“I believe that the entire province is without electricity.”

“No. All of North America, in fact.”

“I’m sure it’s the work of terrorists!”

The cash register was not working so the clerk was collecting money and issuing change from a plastic box. They left the store and soon were on the street where Dev lived. The entrance to his basement apartment was in the narrow space between two houses. Dev locked the door and stepped inside.

“Isn’t your wife at home?” asked Anne.

“No,” said Dev, “She’s at work, packing undies.”

It was almost pitch dark inside. Anne started climbing down the steep staircase. The door behind her close by itself. She cried out, “I can’t see anything.”

“Here, grab my hand,” said Dev. “Ouch! That’s not my hand!”

Holding on to each other, they tottered down the steps. When they reached the bottom, Dev bent his head and kissed Anne on her mouth. Anne thought she ought to protest but her lips had a will of their own. Anne felt something hard at her navel. It was the carry-bag containing the box of strawberry pie.”

Image: http://diasporadialogues.com/writers/profiles/2011/07/23/pratap_reddy.png

At readings

Attending readings is a good way to stay in touch new writing and new writers. It’s also a good way to stay in touch with friends and make new ones. Recently, I met Pratap Reddy at a reading. He told me he has published a short story on Maple Tree Literary Supplement. Read the story here. Ramki and the New Christmas Tree

A week or so later, at the Small Press of Toronto readings, I met Jasmine D’Costa, Fraser Sutherland, Gemma Meharchand and Ava Homa. Jasmine had new material to read, Fraser read poems from his acclaimed new collection and Ava read the Glass Slippers, the best story in her exquisite collection Echoes of Other Land. What I like about the story is Ava’s non-judgemental narration and a brilliant eye for detail.

Later this month, I’ll brave the cold and Sunday lethargy when I attend Michael Frazer ‘s Plasticine Poetry Series because this edition features Dawn Promislow. Dawn will read from her collection Jewels and other stories.

I attend these book readings and book events to achieve twin objectives – to get new material to write my blog and to be inspired by new writers who have successfully achieved what I’m aiming to achieve – to become a published author.

Canadian Voices

Earlier this week I attended a book event at an odd sounding restaurant – Supermarket Art Bar.

The place was overflowing with people. All gathered to participate in the launch of Canadian Voices, an anthology of prose and poetry by emerging Canadian writers.

Published by BookLand Press, the book is the first of its kind in Canada. This is Volume One. Others will follow over the years.

Publisher Rogert Morgan introduced the concept of the collection saying the idea was to encapsulate some of the best contemporary writings in Canada by emerging Canadian writers in a single volume.

A quick look at the table of contents page showed a multicultural diversity the Morgan’s publishing company has put together into one book – it brings together nearly 50 prose writers and poets.

Short story writer, poet and novelist Jasmine D’Costa introduced some of the writers who read their work. The launch was simulcasted on the web, too.

Despite my tight schedule, I managed to read some stories and many poems from the book.

The best way to read such anthologies is to randomly select a story and start reading it.

The first story I read was Professor Z. W. Shen by Hailun Tang. It read like a memoir – a touching tale of a professor in China who despite persecution during the Cultural Revolution, fearlessly agrees to teach English to two students; one of them is the writer of the story, who ultimately immigrates to Canada.

Then I read Pratap Reddy’s In the Dark, a story based on the power outage that North American experienced some years ago. Reddy skilfully turns the tables on the reader who expect something to happen between Anne and Dev, the two main characters who meet in the subway.

The short length of the each of the stories makes for an easy read.

Among the poems, I liked The Red in Poetry by Cassie McDaniel

It doesn’t take much to be a poet
you need a red book
hide-away hide-out don’t-look
warning, dangerous words
It doesn’t take much.

It doesn’t take much to be a woman
red mouth
red-words red-eyes look-out
heavy, breath like gravy
red gravy.

It doesn’t take much to be a poet
you need a big hurt
deep pain, like Peguis canyon
in Mexico, off the main roads
swoop and dive, like a red-tail
arrogant and lost.

And Val David by Jasmine D’Costa

I stand on the street at Val David holding your hand
on the tired road beneath my feet.
In the distance, the hills blue-green stretching sleepily,
fade into distant colours.
Undoubtedly, the road ends there
And beneath endless pines, the forest path
is defined by the lone traveler
I look around for you
But all I see is the straight road to the hills
and nothing beyond

For the first time ever, I promoted this blog directly.

When I bought the book at a side table from Robert Morgan, I scribbled this blog’s URL on a piece of paper and told him, “I’ll write about this book on my blog.”

He looked at me bemusedly, and then smiled.

Before I left for home, I went across to Jasmine D’Costa to get her to autograph the book. She did and so did writer Zohra Zoberi.