The Mind Creative - NOVEMBER 2013 NOVEMBER 2013 | Page 22

The Mind Creative Nov 2013

TMC: Did you always aspire to be a writer? Did you train for it or
is this a natural skill?
MANISHA: No I never thought I’d be a writer at all. I did a
graduate certificate in writing at UTS. In order to make up the
credits I took a narrative writing course and fell in love with
writing. I think that creativity is a natural skill but writing, painting
or acting needs craft as well. I learned to write through a number
of courses at university. Others learn by writing and writing and
writing some more.
TMC: The story of your last novel “Dancing to the Flute”, is set
in India and you have been brought up in Australia. How did you
manage to capture the vivid Indian images in the book?
MANISHA: I’ve always been
fascinated by India and it’s the
country of my heart. We’ve gone
to India every three years since I
was a child. Later, I spent three
months there in my twenties,
travelling around the state of
Gujarat. I only wrote what I saw
– both in India and in the India of
my imagination. I was however
quite worried that it wouldn’t be
an accurate portrayal of India for
those living there. The fictional
Hastinapor is based on a village
we visited on the banks of the
river Narbada and of course I gave
the book to my Foi (aunt) in India
who is also a writer; to check for
genuine inaccuracies. In addition, my father checked the
Guajarati words and in fact made up a couple of the songs that
I used.
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