In this interview, Chandan Pandey, the award-winning author of the The Keeper of Desolation, published by HarperCollins India, and translator Sayari Debnath, talk about the “surreal yet gritty, violent yet poetic” stories that form the book and the importance of translating from regional languages.
He recalls breaking down, sitting in a boat in Varanasi, after writing the haunting short story “Forgetting”, an exploration of inner family dynamics where one member is forgotten by the rest of the household. Meanwhile, “The Decision” was born of a desire to weave a story around his fascination for the name Mausam, given to the protagonist. Pandey, based in Bengaluru, whose stories are set in the heart of small town India, finds himself immensely rooted in memories of his hometown Deoria as he grows older. Listen in!
Chandan Pandey is the author of four short-story collections and two novels in Hindi. He has been honoured with the Bharatiya Jnanpith’s Navlekhan Award, the Vanmali Yuva Katha Samman, the Shabd Chhaap Samman, and is a recipient of the Krishna Baldev Vaid Fellowship. The translation of his acclaimed debut novel, Vaidhanik Galp, was published in English as Legal Fiction in 2021."
Sayari Debnath translates from Hindi and Bengali into English. She is a culture journalist at Scroll where she writes about books, literary trends and art.
Timestamps
01:18 Staying away from happy endings
04:40 Sayari on translating Chandan’s stories
07:36 On the story “Forgetting”
16:45 Sayari’s favourite story ‘The Mathematics of Life’
18:53 The Keeper of Desolation on a lady who loses her ring; Chandan on why there are no more “professional” thieves
22:17 His connection to Deoria, his hometown; stories from small towns
28:32 Are Hindi writers more connected to the grassroots?
33:00 Translating from regional languages and the difference in tones
37:15 The connection to the past and role of memories
43:40 The book is a selection of his stories from 4 volumes
45:13 Finding time and the motivation to write
48:45 Sayari on the fun of translation, and the challenges
59:00 Chandan’s writing influences; his love for reading
01:02:40 The scope for translation as a career in India
01:11:56 Urdu writer Sayyed Mohammad Ashraf’s “Aakhri Sawariya”
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Email: swishingmindsets@gmail.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
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