MG Vassanji writes fasinating books, but it is certainly not easy to get him to talk, as Sam Miller, who was in conversation with him at the launch of his new book,
A Place Within, in Delhi, discovered. "I am a great listener," said the author at one point!
The book, a non-fiction work on the author's visits and reactions to the country of his ancestors, predictably has a potpourri of subjective reactions from the author. He started visiting India in 1993, and since then has been back about 10 times! Interestingly he remarked that he thought he could do an India book after a visit, a la Naipaul, but found out that he couldn't.
The book points out how identities are being 'purified in today's world. he pointed out to the plurality of religious practices followed by the Khojas in the past, but which are getting lost today.
This is an intimate chronicle filled with fantastic stories and unforgettable characters. Vassanji has travelled widely, though Gujarat forms a big part of his writing. Predictably, as his forefathers are from Gujarat and the violence that has rocked the state formed the subject of his last, greatly acclaimed novel, The Assassin's Song. Vassanji belongs to the Khoja community, and connecting to them in different places, he said, was the great during his visits.
The book is rich with images of bustling city streets and contrasting Indian landscapes, from the southern tip of India to the Himalayan foothills, from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea.
He also spoke of his fondness for Dar es Salaam, the Tanzanian capital that he had spent his childhood in. , but which is also losing its Indian communities today.
