When Loss is Gain
by Pavan K. Varma
Rupa, Rs 395
Pavan K. Varma strides the worlds of literature and bureaucracy with consummate ease. He has been a keen observer of human nature and juxtaposes life’s events against the background of capricious human behaviour. He is the author of several acclaimed and bestselling books, among them, Ghalib: The Man, The Times, Krishna: The Playful Divine, The Great Indian Middle Class, Being Indian: The truth about why the 21st century will be India’s and Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution of Culture and Identity. He has also translated into English the poetry of Gulzar, Kaifi Azmi and Atal Behari Vajpayee.
His earlier works on history and mythology did not leave him much space for underlining human nature but in the books that followed he was seen in his elements describing the Indianness that enveloped the entire human race.
When Loss is Gain is the first work of fiction by Varma and presages many more from the scholarly author. It is bound to elicit warm responses from the readers for the near autobiographical flavour that the book carries. Action-packed yet contemplative, the novel is a powerful story of love and loss, despair and hope, chance and destiny, and the true meaning of joy and sorrow in every human life.
Excerpts from the interview:
What would you say has been your most challenging book to write?
Although I have written over 17 books covering a very wide canvas, from a biography of Ghalib to a meditation on Krishna to an analysis of the Indian middle class and an honest take on what is Being Indian, I think Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution of Culture and Identity was a very challenging book to write because it covers areas such as culture and identity which have not been studied in detail so far.
Why a work of fiction now?
I could have written fiction earlier, but somehow one book of non-fiction followed another. I wrote my first book of fiction now because I had a powerful story in my mind, which I felt compelled to put down on paper.
Is it important to contemporarise mythology to make it more relevant?
Mythology is primarily important for illustrating certain eternal truths. It reduces these verities to easily comprehensible symbols or stories. So long as it can help to understand and explain contemporary reality better, it should be contemporarised. But its essential meaning should never be deliberately distorted to serve a partisan purpose.
Would you say When loss is gain is partly autobiographical?
Anything one writes has a bit of one’s self. Any creative work represents a point of view, and that point of view cannot exist in a void. It must have a bit of you in it. So, When Loss is Gain reflects my experience of life. How do you draw the balance sheet of life? What is it you seek? Where does fulfilment lie? These are questions the novel examines within the framework of a fast-paced, contemplative love story.
