A writer's mind on women, marriage and life

 “Married women in their 40s wonder, where did the love go?”; says Manika Lal, in talking about her second book, Chasing New Rainbows, “…while the unmarried ones hope love and marriage would solve all their problems.” Undoubtedly, this is an important subject for the contemporary Indian woman, who has the freedom to make more choices than before, but who also has to live with the consequences of her own choices. And it is exactly questions like these that drove Manika to start writing.

With a head that buzzed with unexpressed thoughts and feelings more and more as life went by, and the richness of her experiences grew, Manika took up writing as a form of channelizing her energies. In fact, she is a believer in the idea that writing is about self-expression for its own sake, which probably explains her experience of the narrative ‘just flowing’; in her words.

Manika believes that this self-expression is not about keeping an eye on the cash register, even though she does think, that there are writers who write what sells. Which is not to say, that the sale of her books, is not important to her. She admits that the most satisfying part of being a writer, is being read. And to achieve this, the sales figures are important. She says that her satisfaction increases manifold when a reader tells her: “Your books speak for me”. In that sense, not only is she as a writer able to express her own thoughts, but also give a voice to others.

As someone who has been a public relations officer, and that too with a large employer like the Indian Railways, it is hardly surprising that Manika would have developed self-expression. But it is her experiences that have played a role in shaping the content of her writings. Her initial schooling was at the well known Welham Girls’ High School in Dehradun, after which she moved to her hometown, Najibabad, in the state of Uttar Pradesh and then did her college education at Lucknow. The exposure to a life in different places at an early age added to Manika’s understanding of the world.

Studying at Welham insulated her from gender biases, which even modern society is dealing with. It was also an acknowledgement of her parents’ treating her as an equal to her brothers. During her schooling at Najibabad later, she became conscious of socio-economic class differences. But to date, she carries the moment of awareness in her, when she realised that no matter which strata to which, you belong, everyone has their own hopes and aspirations.

While Manika’s two books – Forever Vigilant, a collection of short stories and Chasing New Rainbows, a novel, have focused on female centric themes, her next book will focus on the male perspective. Manika's experience as a wife and a mother to a son, has potentially lent to her understanding of the male mind as well. She believes that while women’s empowerment is important today, social norms have been cruel to men too.

In fact, she thinks that empowerment of women and a deeper understanding of expectations from men are both important to build a balanced society. “Otherwise, our society will become even more lopsided” she says. Further, she adds “I think the increased crime against women prevalent in the society today, is due to our lack of sensitivity towards our boys, who grow up into violent and destructive people. Once we are sensitive to them, only then can we sensitise them towards all living creatures.” Indeed, there is an increasing recognition of the various facets that create societal imbalance, and it is voices of writers like Manika that collectively create increasing awareness of the challenges that plague us all.