With the second day of Dhaka Lit Fest coming to full swing, one of the more anticipated discussions was "Never a dull De" - a talk between Shobhaa De, one of India's most sensational and prolific writer, blogger and columnist and Antara Ganguli, novelist and contributor to The Atlantic Monthly, Wall Street Journal, Times of India, Asia Society Fellow for India Pakistan Peace and a Sangam House writing residency Fellow, as engaged in a lively discussion about De's lifetime as India's most outspoken independent voices.
Set in the Main Stage of Bangla Academy, De's talk was welcomed with a full house and warm applause. As an author of 18 novels, each of which have hit top best seller lists in India, De is also known as one of India's most trusted people according to Readers Digest, a list that includes Ratan Tata. She has made it to the list of 50 most powerful people of India and is also one of the most searched Indian women, alongside being called one of India's five great writers by India Today. When asked how she defines her identity, the usually more bolder De responded saying she feels her truest role is that of "a middle class, hard working Maharashtran mother." As someone who hates the idea of "slowing down" and taking a breather, she truly loves being a 67 year old, one that is as alive and kicking as ever before.
Antara brushed on topics that ranged from how De finds time to write, to how she dealt with the backlash faced after her controversial tweets, whether India is obsessed with sex and what she would do if she was allowed to be the Prime Minister of India.
When asked how she found time to write amid her intense schedule: "Between Lit Fests," she said. Following a round of applause, she explained, on a more serious note, how there are no shortcuts for writers or anyone in the creative industry. As someone that spends most of her "waking and sleeping hours" to continuously think, visualise and constantly remain inspired by everything around her, hard work is what pays off.
A staunch feminist, she had her own definition of feminism:"A woman has a right, I'll say, a woman has a right - full stop. I don’t feel women need to constantly justify those rights and explain those rights, and defend those rights and constantly have to make apologies for the rights that are naturally there. So, to me, feminism is something really very simple. Feminism is equality. As equal human beings, as equal partners, there ought to be mutual respect."
When Antara talked about how Shobhaa broke barriers and wrote books on a woman that talked freely about their intimate lives, De talked about how women rarely get to know how a woman feels and believes women have a right to articulate the pleasurable part of intimacy and the not-so-pleasurable part of it. She urges people to be able to treat it in an upfront way, in the way men always have, without any questions asked.
In recent times, some of her tweets and articles that have made the rounds of local and international media, making it a particularly interesting topic of conversation at her session at DLF. Recently, after a Muslim man was lynched for allegedly eating beef in India, she tweeted "I just ate beef, come and murder me." After Narendra Modi went to London for a trip, she wrote a tongue-in-cheek, article titled "Pussy cat pussy cat where have you been?" She also wrote a piece on how the Indian government had been having some trouble with figuring out what citizens are allowed to read, watch, see and experience. Shobhaa wrote a piece in response, titled "Dear government, hands off my porn." After her tweet about beef, she was hounded by the media who expected her to defend, explain and apologise for it. "I did none of that," she proudly stated. The Supreme Court was in support of her was well. Despite these threats, she continues to believe in always voicing her opinion, especially when she feels justice has not been served. After tweeting against the government imposing a prime time viewing of Marathi films in multiplexes, she had to deal with a mob of four hundred media, supporters, volunteers and political activists who came outside her home to protest and humiliate her, all of this "over a silly tweet over prime time viewing."
A fearless writer, De now has two gunmen who travel with her at all times. Although it isn't the most ideal way to live, she knows it's part and parcel of the package and is ready to take it in her stride. Bringing the session to a close, Shobhaa De brushed upon her belief in the institution of marriage, in the Indian government and talked about the shrinking space for dissent.
Shobhaa brought the session to a sensational close with the statement: "If you’re going to be preaching to the convert or talking to the convert, what thrill is there? Dissent IS the thrill. If 10 people out here got out and said 'Oh God! Get off that stage we don’t believe a word of what you've just said, I'll wake up and try to better myself. The passive kind of response to any act in the public domain does nothing. Passive is death."