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A home-coming for Jhumpa Lahiri

It was a home-coming of sorts for Pulitzer award winner Jhumpa Lahiri.

At a press conference five days ahead of tying the knot to Alberto Bush, Jhumpa answered every question that came her way from Calcutta's journos.

She was accompanied by her father, a librarian, and mother, a professor of Bengali in the United States of America at the press conference.

Be it a question on her marriage or knowledge of Bengali, Jhumpa replied to all without a tinge of ambiguity.

When asked whether she knew her parents' language, Bengali, her answer was, "Yeah, but with too much difficulties."

She added, "Truth to tell, I haven't read many books in Indian languages, especially Bengali. However, I have read many literary works of Rabindranath Tagore and Ashapurna Das in Bengali. It's a different matter altogether that it takes quite a lot of time for me to complete their books."

On her favourite writer, Jhumpa said that there was no such writer that she could single out, adding that she had read Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children many a times.

"Undoubtedly, it remains the best book I have read," she admitted.

How was it to receive the prestigious Pulitzer? Jhumpa said that while the news 'shocked' her immensely, as she had never considered herself a contender, she soon found herself exceedingly overwhelmed. By her own admission, that feeling is something she still cherishes a lot.

Her Indian admirers will soon have her award-winning Interpreter of Maladies translated into Bengali, Hindi and Marathi. Harper Collins, her original publishers, have consented.

She said that 40,000 copies of her book were sold in India even before she was presented the Pulitzer. But this was in her parent country. In the US, 2,00,00 copies were grabbed much before the Pulitzer judges noticed the Jhumpa phenomenon.

The translations in Indian languages will be followed by a few editions in Italian, Dutch, Danish and Japanese, since the response to her book there has been 'overwhelming'.

On her connection with Calcutta, she said she was 'very fond of this historical city'.

"I have come to this city many times and also travelled to other parts of India to visit friends and relatives," she added.

Who has influenced her writing a lot? Jhumpa said quite a few. However, James Joyce, Chekhov and Virginia Woolfe were literary legends she has read endlessly. Besides, said she, "I also read short stories a lot whenever I am free. Short stories function as a natural format for most writers to begin with."

Jhumpa, who acquired a masters in creative writing, said being creative while writing came naturally to her. The degree, according to her, only helped her learn the basic structure about creative writing.

"What used to be a mere pastime seven years ago has metamorphosed into a serious passion, an inseparable part of life. I always like to write in the morning because I feel this is when one finds absolute mental peace. Also, it's when you have a calm environment around you," Jhumpa said.

It took seven years for this young achiever to finish eight stories of the Interpreter of Maladies. She said that it was her love for Calcuttans that prompted her to write stories whose characters revolved around a Bengali lifestyle.

On which country was her motherland, Jhumpa's replied, ''None.''

"No country is my motherland. I always find myself in exile in whichever country I travel to. That's why I was always tempted to write something about those living their lives in exile," she said.

On her relationship with Bush, who works at Time's Latin American edition, she said that he helped her a lot while writing.

She said that her marriage on January 15 would be a 'very personal affair'.

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