Mohyna Srinivasan's debut novel, “The House on Mall Road” (Penguin, Rs. 325) “Comes out of very deep, childhood memories.” The young writer who was in town for the book launch at Crossword Bookstore, explained that like the protagonist Parvati, she too was a “ Fauji (Army) kid. The 1971 War made a huge impression on me. Black outs and planes flying overhead were part of routine. It was an exciting and scary time.”
During the War, Mohyna's father, who was in the Army was serving on the Front. “We were in Ambala. I was seven, dad was away and there was my grandmother, mum, my seven-month-old sister and me—four women in the house. It was a big, defining, compelling moment, it made me who I am.”
While there are a lot of similarities between Parvati and Mohyna including a shared value system, Mohyna insists the book is not autobiographical. “The places exist, but the characters are totally made up. Terrible things happen to Parvati — a bomb in the house destroys her family, while her father is missing in action on the Front. Nothing of the sort, thank the lord happened to me.”
The Mumbai-based writer describes the book as “literary fiction with a lot of unexpected twists and turns. ‘Mall Road' highlights the beauty and simplicity of Army life. Though the War is central to the book, the story is not about war, it is about the simple, humdrum details of peace time. About the mess parties and tambola in the club.”
Though the novel is set in 1991, the Army cantonment in Ambala, which Parvati revisits to make sense of the horrific events on the chilly winter night 20 years ago, seems frozen in time. There is the husband's night, the officers dressing for dinner in cummerbunds, the impromptu picnics, the Commanding officer (CO) being responsible for his ‘boys', the CO's wife mothering the entire unit, the old bungalows bent over with the weight of history, all fly off the pages tinged with the sweet smell of nostalgia.
Mohyna elaborates: “Time stands still in Army Cantonments. There is a wonderful habit of ‘calling on' in the Army. When you are posted to a new place, you go visiting. You pay your respects by ‘calling on' other families. You left your calling card which only has your name on it as the address would keep changing.”
The mother of two insists, “The book is not an advertisement to join the Army. It is a tribute to a way of life. I remember the glamour of watching my mother get ready for the parties, I loved to see dad in uniform. I loved to hear the stories even though dad would not like to talk about the war, that had to be dragged out of him, but he loved to talk of the fun stuff. My parents are very proud of the book.”
Mohyna says she has the Army to thank for her upbringing. “My mother's favourite phrase was ‘excellence with economy.' It was the Army practice of making the best of your resources. Patriotism in the Army translated to loyalty in civilian life. That is how I worked with the same company for 17 years.”
After an MBA from IIM, Mohyna worked with Hindustan Lever Ltd. in Mumbai and with Unilever in Hong Kong till she quit in 2004 to write full time. “I enjoyed my job but I needed to express myself and I love telling stories.”
“Mall Road” was not the first book Mohyna wrote. “When I was in Hong Kong, I was fascinated by the Silk Route and started to write a novel about a woman who undertakes a journey along the Silk Route. However, 30,000 words later the words just dried up and I realized that I needed first hand experience to write.”
While Mohyna admits that imagination plays a role in writing she says: I felt for a first novel it is better to write about something I know.”
