The Alchemy of Desire: A slow feast
Amrita Narayanan speaks about her latest collection, The Alchemy of Desire, an erotica of its kind.
Editor Amrita Narayanan spent two years combing through erotica ranging from the Kama Sutra to Tarun Tejpal's Bad Sex Award-winning novel, The Alchemy of Desire, for her new collection. She spoke with Anita Roy about what she discovered.
Q. When (and why) did you first become interested in the genre of erotica in India?
The idea for this anthology was suggested about two years ago by Simar Puneet at Aleph Books. After hesitating for a moment (it seemed a lot of work!), I jumped on it. I wanted to create a sourcebook of sorts from narratives and poems separated by centuries, bringing together heterogeneous thoughts, feelings, narratives on aspects of the erotic life.
Q. Do you have a favourite from the many, and varied texts in the anthology?
The great treasures were the discovery of the erotic poetry of the Gatha Saptasati (translated from Maharashtrian Prakrit around the second century) and the Amarusataka (translated from Kashmiri Sanskrit in the 7th-8th century), which I was not familiar with before. These poems are like little haikus on the erotic life.
Q. What do you see as the essential difference between erotica and porn?
I think erotica is more aspirational, as a literary style, than is porn. Erotica tries to do more and convey more vastness, depth and subjectivity while porn short-circuits towards the goal of orgasm. You could say porn was fast food, while erotica is a slower feast.
Q. Are there any contemporary books that you would recommend to readers interested in exploring the subject further?
I'd recommend Mridula Garg's novel Chittacobra which I thought was singular for its portrayal of a married Indian woman in love. I also highly recommend Tarun Tejpal's novel The Alchemy of Desire. Perumal Murugan's novel One Part Woman is perhaps the best thing I have read on jealousy and suspicion in erotic life since Shakespeare's Othello.