Maya Kalyanpur’s writer’s mind is rooted in India’s rich culture, history and mythology. This, combined with her mastery over words makes her debut novel, The Bangle Seller a layered story that captures an India in transition, in-between ancient tradition and development in a globalised world.
The story centres on a princely family, of which Rajiv and Radha are the heirs. Samantha, their American friend, comes to stay with them for a project. Damien, a photographer is on an assignment on ancient Indian monuments. The other characters are a married couple Penny and Pitambar, but Penny runs away after returning to India following her marriage, joins a band of Gypsies and assumes the identity of Kajri. While visiting a bangle seller’s stall, Samantha and Damien recognise Penny. The story has various twists and turns as the author takes the reader through their lives. The book defies categorisation. It is in most part a travelogue, and part romance. “I have travelled widely in India, and having seen the beauty, diversity, distinct culture, language and traditions of different regions and I wanted to showcase all the positive aspects. I had written short stories but to stretch the story from twenty to two hundred pages was exciting, though daunting at first. Nothing was ever achieved without enthusiasm and I wanted to try out this new genre. ‘Life is not about finding yourself. It is about creating yourself’ as George Bernard Shaw once remarked.”
“I went on a trip to Rajasthan with six other women. What an experience it was! I have friends who are Rajputs and got to hear from them about the joint family system. I also grew up partially in Ajmer. I spent my early childhood there. Every Monday, a bangle seller would land up at our door with a basket full of bangles. That memory remained in the temporal lobe of my brain. It seeped into my imagination! She would have a thin veil over her head, look around if there were any men, and if there weren’t, she would throw off the veil. She had beautiful light eyes. Gauri became Kajri at the Monday bazaar. Also, later, studying Sarojini Naidu's lyrical poem, 'The Bangle Sellers' under the canopy of a tree in Rishi Valley School, had definitely something to do with it.”
To interweave various plots into a richly-woven story is no easy task. But, for Maya, who has been a journalist for more than three decades, this wasn’t difficult. “I didn't consciously draw up a format of, say, a plot, a sub-plot, hero- heroine- villain except keeping in mind the simple premise a story is built upon. It must have a beginning, middle and an end. When you format it, there is contrivance and subterfuge. I just let the thoughts flow and the characters pan out in the progression of the story quite naturally. If you notice, many of the characters are moved to the periphery while some take the story forward, which is exactly as it happens in life. Some come into our lives to teach us something and when that purpose is served, they go away. Some others come into our lives, in order to evolve, to take away something from us. That makes us students and teachers at different times. The end of the story does bring back a few of the characters in a celebratory mood. Finally, the end is the catharsis or denouement as it is known in literary terms.
As a writer, says Maya, one has to be sensitive and tuned into every aspect of life around you.
“A writer is always seen in the light of the milieu he or she lives in. If you look at any of the classics - you see the times they lived in- especially The Great Depression or The Industrial Revolution and the Golden Age and so on. Amid all the chaos and violence, one seeks to explore possibilities of peace and harmony. Childhood memories come to the rescue. The brain is a treasure trove of memories, mostly of our innocent, beautiful childhood which one can tap into at any given time. A diamond here and a pearl there.”
Maya says she has been scribbling notes for two years with no real aim of bringing out a novel. “I had been writing short stories for women’s magazines. From the time I was 18, I was encouraged to publish, none of my writing was rejected.”
Maya began her career as a lecturer in English at Delhi University. She later pursued a career in advertising. She has written for various publications and newspapers, which include the Japan Times, to which she contributed when her husband was posted there. Maya reminisces about her days as a journalist. “I conducted an interview with Morarji Desai; it was the cover story for Eve’s Weekly in 1991. He was quite liberal from what I imagined. He had a liberal view on women. He was open to all the questions I asked him.”
The Bangle Seller is a Notion Press publication.
