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To daddy with love
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Nargis Natrajan's `Daddy,' is memoir and tribute to her father, affectionately known as the `poor man's doctor.'
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GOLDEN MUSE: Nargis Natrajan with Champagne.
NARGIS NATRAJAN combated the empty nest syndrome in the best way she knew - by writing Daddy, which she describes as a "commemoration to the memory of my father." Her first book, she began writing it once her children had moved out to study - her son Roshan in BITS, Pilani and her daughter Rumana at NIFT, Delhi.
The writer's bug bit Nargis after attending a writer's workshop at YMCA a couple of years ago. "Cecil Murphey and Jim Watkins, (who conducted the workshop) made me believe that writers are not born with an extra set of fingers." After Nargis decided to write, the next big question was what to write about and help came from Roshan who suggested that she "write about what you are most familiar with. And what better subject than Nana Abba." And thus Daddy was born.
"Spanning a period of nearly eighty summers, this memoir is based on the rich life of an unsung hero, a `poor man's doctor' who braved all odds with his unconventional and broad views to bring about a change in the dormant town of Berhampur in Orissa."
"Untouched by politics, he remained in the news throughout his life - as a freedom fighter (he was the youngest member to join the freedom movement), a doctor (he chose to administer humanity), a social worker and a free thinker. It is the true story of a gallant and noble soul, who refused to cling to the roots of fallacies and ignorance and fearlessly branched out into the world with his fiery articles."
Nargis says the book took nine months to write but "publishing took longer." Matter for the book came from a variety of sources including "letters, articles and family gatherings which were rapidly converted into interview sessions."
Her six siblings (two brothers and four sisters) were a great support as was her mother and her husband. Champagne, the family pet, also finds mention in the acknowledgements as "the golden muse."
Nargis feels the book is the "best thing I could give my parents." The reaction to the book in Nargis' home state, Orissa where it was released in February has been "very good. The immediate family was happy with the book and my mother was thrilled. Though the price (Rs 450) has been a bit of a deterrent."
Once she decided what to write, Nargis comments, "There was no writer's block - the writing just flowed. It was like walking down memory lane." Writing for four hours every morning, Nargis said she did not have to write many drafts.
Nargis finds writing "fiction easier," as "you have to be careful and honest about facts." Nargis is already working on her next book, which is going to be fiction. "It is a romantic thriller dealing with values and morality of marriage."
Refusing to be described as a feminist, Nargis says "If we were sculpted differently, He must have had a reason for it." Insisting that she does not follow any particular genre, Nargis goes by Isaac Asimov's comment, "I read only what I write."
People deal with loss in different ways - in verse, song, sculpture, or writing. And in Daddy Nargis has accomplished a double - writing out her bereavement and also presenting an account of a life through the turbulent times of India's freedom struggle and after.
MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER
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