Kitaab Interview with Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar: “Writing is also about exercising some restraint”

by RK Biswas

What is your new book about? Tell us about the inspiration/s behind the stories?

My new book, The Adivasi Will Not Dance, is a collection of ten short stories. At least two stories in this collection are a decade old. Eight stories were published at different places at different times. Some have been edited and modified. I have re-written some from scratch. I was just inspired by the things I saw around me.

The title The Adivasi Will Not Dance is not placid. It is thought-provoking and even politically charged. Does it indicate the collective mood of all the stories?

Some stories have politics. Some stories are based on issues. I think that’s all I will say for now.

Regarding your critically acclaimed The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey you had once said that Della is your favourite character. Are you planning on another book with her as the lead?

Yes, Della is my favourite character from The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey. I would like to do a book with Della in the lead. But I do not really know when I am going to do this book. All I can say now is that I am not going to write a book with Della in the lead just because she happens to be my favourite character or just because someone wants to see more of Della, Della in the lead, etc. If I write a book with Della in the lead, that book will have a purpose, Della will have a purpose. It won’t be a book just for the sake of having a book on Della. It will be a well-thought out book, a book I will invest a lot of time in. So, there is still time before I write a book with Della in the lead.