Rochelle Potkar's Blog, page 16
March 22, 2022
The Punch Magazine anthology review in the Deccan Herald.
The Punch Magazine anthology is doing very well thanks to Editor Shireen Quadri, Niyogi Books, Trisha Niyogi, my fellow writers in the book, all the readers and reviewers.
One of the latest reviews by Sucheta Dasgupta/Deccan Chronicle is here.
(Just sometimes, randomly and out-of-the-blue, you receive such a shot in the arm that you go about hopping like a pagal bunny over to your writing days. Thank you Sucheta Dasgupta. I have never met you, never ever come across you, but your final paragraph in the review made my day, week, year.)
“All the same, with its stark realism and evocative language, Rochelle Potkar’s story of a Mumbai washerwoman grieving the loss of a brother who was a rapist, “Honour”, surpasses every other contender in this collection of works in quality and is the pick of the compilation.”
Another review by Mallik Thatipalli in the Firstpost here, says –
Another story which stands out is Honour by Rochelle Potkar. The poet and writer has been following social and feminist issues and this story was a natural progression which took a couple of years to manifest. “While sketching the story of Honour I was thinking of dishonour and honour killing and what it would be from a different perspective.” she muses and adds, “Purna, the washerwoman, emerged, probably, from the dhobi ghats of Mahalaxmi that I would witness over two years during my postgraduate college days. And as a story writer: I followed the scent of the story as the characters lead me into the story world.”
SK Anila, one of the writers in the anthology also gifted a copy to Shashi Tharoor.
Ab woh padhe toh zaroor.
March 16, 2022
Pratilipi (English) awaits your stories.
I have always enjoyed both posting and reading fiction on Pratilipi.
So now when they invited me to collaborate over a competition I was delighted.
‘WOW – Women of Wonders is a two-month-long event open for entries on womanhood.
To take part in the competition, all you have to do is log in to the Pratilipi app or visit https://english.pratilipi.com/
Age is no bar. No registration fees. Anyone and everyone with a women-centric story can take part. Post your entries. The jury is waiting for your stories with eagerness.
Deadline – 8th May 2022
March 6, 2022
International Women’s Day + poetry in an anthology!
For International Women’s Day, the University of Mumbai will release, ‘Women Empowerment Through Poetry’ – an anthology of poems, edited by Arushi Sharma, Aishe Debnath, Manisha Karne, Aparna Phadke, Satishchandra Kumar, and Rajesh Kharat. Glad to be reading my poems at this august gathering on Tuesday, 8th March 2022, 5 pm.
“Over the past few years, International Women’s Day has marked a new dimension for women globally. Breaking the borders of national, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic orientations, this day celebrates the achievements of women from all walks of life. Women Empowerment through Poetry maps down the distinct roles of women, their journey, barriers on the way, and sagas of overcoming hurdles. The heterogeneity of poems in this book reminds us of all the challenges and struggles women have faced and made a way for them to walk on. From dealing with inequality to standing up for her ‘self’ and from demanding ‘A room of one’s own’ to creating ‘freedom of mind and place’, she gripped her belonging with all her unsettling thoughts in this settled world.”
You can get a copy of the book here.
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March 5, 2022
Review of Bombay Hangovers in The Compulsive Reader
In which the discerning literary pundit (Ra Sh) Ravi Shanker N reviews Bombay Hangovers, featured in The Compulsive Reader.
Click here for the whole review.
You can grab a copy via Amazon or at the Kolkata Book Fair 2022.
March 3, 2022
Bombay Hangovers @Kolkata’s Book Fair 2022.
Copies of Bombay Hangovers will be available at the 45th International Kolkata Book Fair in Central Park, Karunamayee, Saltlake, Kolkata from 28 Feb – 13 March 2022.
Visit Eastern Book House, Hall 2, Stall # 846.
Thank you, Vishwakarma Publications.
KolkataBookFair #KolkataBookFair2022 #bombayhangovers #rochellepotkar #kolkata #books #reading #bookclub #internationalkolkatabookfair2022 #BOOKFAIR2022
February 28, 2022
Review ka review ka review
I know that not for very long I will be able to catch every marble rolling down the dining table. I will have to miss some juggled balls flying mid-air and I don’t mind bad/not-so-favorable reviews, as long as they don’t come from a place of malice or hive-mind camps.
I have heard of writers who say they don’t read reviews of their books at all. ‘The good ones are not good enough – the bad ones stick to you.‘ I am quite detached that way. I entertain myself with good reviews and feast over the not-so-good ‘uns.
I happened upon this one today by Ms. Mridula Sharma and was smiling, because it gave me an opportunity after eons, to glance once again at my stories published a year ago in Feb 2021. It also made me think and my answers follow.
Rochelle Potkar’s is a fresh voice in Indian writing in English. Almost all stories are rigorously engaging. Men in Potkar’s fiction are concurrently identifiable and unexpected. This helps the short story collection formulate realities, not simply reflect the ones that we inhabit. What frustrates me is Potkar’s characterization of women, particularly in the first few stories. I realize that a single story cannot possibly contain only round characters, but I still find it frustrating to see women characters being deprived of agency or meaningful action. Potkar wants us to believe that she’s showing an ‘alternate’ reality, that she’s writing from the ‘other’ perspective, but she merely pretends to do so. Honestly, the stories could have benefitted from the complexity that Potkar has failed to ascribe to women in her writing. Once you recognize this pattern, the book starts getting exhausting. Decent book; could have been better. Do read it, though. It’s still a (blissful) departure from mainstream metropolitan narratives.
I like Mridula’s POV though I don’t agree with the point that my women characters don’t have agency. In fact, the journey of a woman, for me, is from abla naari to able naari. I don’t like the already-arrived radical feminist riding a horse, roaring hoarsely. I want to see when she started her journey. The mild women of steel. Silent rebel.
I am not “pretending” to write from any “other” perspective. I am just writing my own stories in my own unique way.
So, in The Arithmetic of breasts, Munika has peacefully accepted domesticity and motherhood instead of pursuing her career. The focus is not on her agency as much as on visceral obsessions and the saga of lust to love.
In Parfum, the story is of Russi’s search for the perfect perfume. Stella has agency in the silent way she leaves the orphanage for the free world and falls in love with a married man. While, Marinette lives in a frustrating marriage but mouths her disgruntlement as much as she wishes. This is freedom for me, where many women (in society) can’t utter what they think in their married homes to stay in conformed molds.
In Fabric, the two wives get together after their husband Kailas dies and resonate with their similar states. They don’t cat-fight but form a bond and decide to live together. This understanding and sisterhood is agency, but of a calmer variety.
In The Scent of a Conscience, Shonali enjoys romancing a married man for a vicarious evil reason. That is her choice, no matter the morals. She also leaves the man when her illusion melts into disillusionment.
In Salad, the woman saves the girl, but the girl makes a run for the door thinking of wolves and red-riding hood. Escape in the face of danger is agency.
In Mist all the sex workers and the madama are on their own trip. Holding on to a dream in the muck is empowering.
In Honor, Purva commits a crime to assert her beliefs.
These women are silent rivers. And no way am I trying to “make anyone believe anything” or “pretend” to do something. I am just telling stories, glad that most readers have resonated with their layers and complexities and enjoyed them.
Glad that there are many readers and many genres. So writers and readers will always find each other. But a slower read might help the reading of this book. I am grateful to Mridula Sharma. She made me think and that is important (for my next stories). Will my next women characters be the same? They may be loud and frothing if they are angry and I won’t let them be silent rebels or quietly stoic then. I will let them be and breathe whatever they wish to be.
I hope I can meet Mridula over a cuppa da coffee someday. Thank you for reading and engaging with this book. Thank you for your time. Wishing you the best on your own journeys, Mridula. Cheers!
picture credit: Kashiana SinghBombay Hangovers, still available on Amazon. Go grab that copy.
February 17, 2022
Reading 2 of my poems for Friday Poems.
Friday Poems hosted by the great poet and translator Ravi Shanker N (Ra Sh) welcomes readings of two of my poems ‘Bedrock’ and ‘The Earth remembers’.
Do listen in and subscribe to the channel, if you like its whole haul.
Click here to listen.
Celebrating Nissim Ezekiel’s poetry.
Hi Friends,
Welcoming you to the 70th anniversary of Nissim Ezekiel’s historical collection of poems A Time to Change. 8 pm IST on Saturday 26 February.
For those of you who are unaware, Nissim Ezekiel an Indian Jewish poet, actor, playwright, editor, and art critic was a foundational figure in postcolonial India’s literary history, specifically for Indian Poetry in English.
Join via link – meet.google.com/djg-zwvq-qmu
Thank you Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca, poet, author, translator, and daughter of Nissim, for inviting me. So glad to be part of this celebration.
February 7, 2022
The Poet’s Starter Kit – a SheThePeople Feminist Poetry Festival 2022 session.
The Poet’s Starter Kit with Pervin Saket in conversation with Archana Pai Kulkarni.
for SheThePeople Feminist Poetry Festival 2022. 12th February.
Inviting all those who had so many questions on the how’s, why’s, where’s, what’s, and when’s of poetry.
February 2, 2022
@Emirates Airline Literature Festival 2022
Sometimes, just sometimes a poster like this connected to a real and large in-person literature event fills your gills and lungs with gratitude for the return of new-normal – a concept in the pandemic, a reality post-pandemic.
Emirates Airline Literature Festival 2022.
Source: #quissago reel, picture credit: Thomas Langdon, Iowa.
emirateslitfest #southasianauthors #southasianlibrary #southasianbookclub #southasianreads #writerscommunity #authorsofcolor
Get your tickets. Click here.
