Honour for the ideals of a political novelist

Karachi
Two books by authors Nayantara Sahgal and Ritu Menon were launched in one of the first sessions of what was the third – and final – day of the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF).
On a pleasant enough Sunday morning, Sahgal’s latest offering, ‘The Political Imagination’, and a biog about the renowned Indian writer herself, ‘Out of Line: A Literary and Political Biography of Nayantara Sahgal’, were unveiled in a session moderated by London-based Pakistani academic, Aamer Hussein.
Discussing her book in detail, Sahgal said, “I am a political novelist. Being from a political family, writing political commentaries remains my forte.”
“Secularism and democracy are core values developed over my lifetime. My uncle, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, was my role model and these were his ideals that reflect vividly in my writings.”
In her family, Sahgal shared with the audience, it was the men who were feminists and had marched alongside the suffragettes while in England. “I am a conventional women turned radical by circumstance.”
Talking about her 1954 book ‘Prison and Chocolate Cake’ – which narrates the experience of a relative who was incarcerated by the British during the independence movement – Sahgal said she wanted to preserve the memory of that struggle for the sake of her coming generations; for her children and her grandchildren.
“Moving away from Nehruvian ideals has already proved disastrous for India. People are already getting disillusioned with Modi’s Hindutva,” she said.
Her biographer, Ritu Menon, was also interviewed by Aamer Hussein. Talking about Nayantara, she said, “Nayantara is very honest in her subject. I felt that women commentators have never received due attention in India. Secondly, there was no biography by or about women.”
“Here’s a woman in post-independence India who, effectively, is charting out Indian society’s future and merits such recognition. I wanted to impose a super biography over a personal biography, putting two things together in a biography of India itself.” She was all for Nayantara’s integrity, asserting that “she has never faltered in that regard”.