In familiar territory

Anjali Joseph, whose book Saraswati Park was released recently holds forth on growing up in the U.K., her links with India and the different ‘Bombay' that she writes about. It is the story of a letter writer who sits outside the General Post Office in Mumbai (or ‘Bombay', as she calls it) and dreams of a life he believes cannot be his.

She sits across the table at the Press Club in Mumbai, in an obviously familiar environment, eyes sparkling, her being concentrated into the surprisingly small space she occupies; she has a big voice, big eyes, big presence but is a tiny woman. Anjali Joseph had a busy trip in Mumbai, her time filled with interviews, a launch, a reading and those eternal questions, answered over and over again and quoted verbatim in endless write-ups. She commutes between London where she lives, studies for a Ph.D. and writes and Pune, where her parents are based, wondering whether the ratio of time she spends in each country should not be skewed somewhat differently.

Flurry of attention
The recent flurry of attention comes from her first novel, Saraswati Park, the story of a letter writer who sits outside the General Post Office in Mumbai (or ‘Bombay', as she calls it) and dreams of a life he believes cannot be his. And what is her life all about? Who is Anjali Joseph? “God, this is like my crisis every morning before the second cup of coffee!” she laughs.

Full report here Hindu