Shilpa Agarwal, a Mumbai-born professor at the University of California, comes from a family uprooted by the Partition of India in 1947. Her intimacy with this displaced, disenfranchised generation has informed her first novel, Haunting Bombay, which deals with the literal and figurative ghosts of a Bombay-based family in the 1960s. In this interview with Uttara Choudhury of India’s Daily News and Analysis, the author discusses the Mumbai community and the mechanics of writing ghost stories.***
Choudhury: Would you describe your book as a snapshot of Mumbai or a ghost story?
Agarwal: It is a ghost story set in 1960s Bombay, so I would say it is both. A reviewer on Amazon said it reminded him of Toni Morrison's Beloved as it brings the weight of history, the past and supernatural elements into the writing.
Choudhury: Have you lived in Mumbai?
Agarwal: I was born in Mumbai and my parents came to America when I was very little. I've spent many summer vacations there with relatives. When I was in Duke's, I did a study-abroad program in St. Xavier's College in Mumbai. I feel it is a city of my roots, so it was very natural for me to set my book there. I feel connected to Mumbai, although I have grown up mainly in America.
Choudhury: Is the supernatural in your book a metaphor for the dispossessed?
Agarwal: Yes, absolutely. I have always been intrigued by the idea of utterance -- who is empowered to speak and who is not -- within a family, a community or a nation. What would happen, I wondered, if we could hear the voice of the child who drowned in Haunting Bombay or the child's ayah who was banished after she was blamed for the death? Their versions of the truth haunted me, and my story took a supernatural turn.
Choudhury: While writing the ghost story did you get spooked?
Agarwal: Absolutely! It's funny, because I have always been afraid of ghost stories. I never really realized I was writing one when I started. I have two little girls, so I used to wake up at dawn – 4:30 a.m. was the quiet part of the day where I wasn't 'mommy' but just me, the writer. I would be in my office typing away, and I would light this candle near my computer. Sometimes, I would be tapping away and I would glance up at the candle wondering: is it flickering weirdly? I would then do this shoulder-check -- turn my head around gingerly.
Choudhury: You are right on trend with a cool film trailer for your book.
Agarwal: So much of the word-of-mouth and attention is on the internet. I think people respond to books in different ways. Some people are intrigued by reading a summary, others by book covers. My husband James is in the digital field so the book trailer was really his idea.
I wanted the trailer to provide an artistic glimpse into the novel, to give not just a narrative arc but set the mood for the world in the story, something that spoke of mystery but could also project the literary quality of Haunting Bombay.
I put together a one-page script, aiming for a 90-second trailer and approached my director-friend Shishir Kurup. We got help from unexpected sources -- my sister-in-law who runs a visual effects studio and my brother-in law who designed the sound.
Choudhury: How long did it take to write the book?
Agarwal: I started in January 2000, when I was pregnant with my first child. There was a lot going on in my life, but my novel started coming to me. I have been through many revisions and two children along the way. Through the years and doubts, I knew I would finish my book. I call it my third baby -- nine months each for my first two and nine years for my third.
***
Shilpa Agarwal has two upcoming readings in California:
Thursday, July 9 at 7:30 p.m.
The Booksmith
1644 Haight St.
San Francisco, Calif. 94117
415.863.8688
Friday, July 10 at 7:00 p.m.
Book Passage Café
51 Tamal Vista Blvd.
Corte Madera, Calif. 94925
415.927.0960
--Emmaline Silverman
Photo courtesy Shilpa Agarwal
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