Dinyar: I have read most of your books including your latest book “Superstar India”. My question is why are you always critical about the INDIANS in general and INDIAN MALES (husbands) in particular?
Shobhaa De: I think, as a writer, it is important to also address the less attractive aspects of ourselves, without being hyper-sensitive. Every country has its flaws, as we do in India. There are enough books out there, which go gaga over our many merits, as I have, in parts of my book. About Indian men, they need a wake up call, since a majority are still stuck in the Middle Ages. Whereas, Indian women are very 21st century.
Rama: What do you mean very 21st Century kind of woman? The ones who are found drunk in bars or the ones who are found whoring around?
Shobhaa De: Excuse me. Where do you live? And what kind of women do you know? That’s a serious question, unlike the one you asked me.
Hjs: Ma’am, with due respect, you are probably referring to your own husband when you say Indian men are living in the middle ages. Pardon my language, but you sound no less than a typical feminist who just likes to try and blast the male species every opportunity she gets! I am using highly restrained language, otherwise you would certainly not want to hear my exact views. I suggest you ought to criticize your sex also in an objective manner, why be biased just towards one sex (males)?!? And you speak for the minority when you make trash and absolutely nonsensical statements like ” Indian women are very 21st century”, I would LOVE to know exactly how many ’21st century’ women you have seen in the villages of India, where they do not even know their basic rights due to oppression. Ms. De, with due respect, I am disappointed with what you have written.
Shobhaa De: Woah! Is that a question or an essay? With due respect, you have a point of view worth paying attention to. But be a sweetheart, and leave my husband out of this. By referring to Indian women as very 21st century, I believe with all my heart, that they have made that quantum leap, despite society’s efforts to keep them in the Dark Ages, not even the Middle Ages. Men have no such excuse.
Rama: Do you think Howard Roark is possible in today’s world?
Shobhaa De: Howard Roark was not possible in any world at any time. He’s an idealized image of the perfect male. Let him just remain every woman’s fantasy.
Kc: What is your definition of a woman of substance? And what do you hate about men?
Shobhaa De: A woman of substance is one of the worst cliches of our time. I have never known what exactly that term connotes. Substance? But the woman I admire, would have to be someone who is on top of her life, and has sovereignty over her body and mind. What do I hate about men? Let me clarify: I am not a malebasher. But, in a patriarchal society like ours, I do have issues with brazen and blatant discrimination.
Q: Is there a perfect recipe to make a marriage work?
Shobhaa De: There is no ‘perfect recipe’. Each couple has to arrive at its own formula – and that takes years. The single most important ingredient in this recipe is ‘love’. Without that, there is nothing.
