This pandemic has been an apocalyptic event, a sort of a revelation. But because it is also so heady and turbulent, one doesn’t automatical...
This pandemic has been an apocalyptic event, a sort of a revelation. But because it is also so heady and turbulent, one doesn’t automatically register what has been glimpsed. To that end, I think it’s important for the literary world to initiate lines of conversation that will be crucial in the days to come. That’s my attempt in this piece.
In doing so, I have in mind, as well, the idea of aatmanirbharta which the Prime Minister has recently offered up. Although it has been spoken of in relation to economic production (where its implications are both obvious and potentially dubious), I suggest that our fields – of writing and publishing stories – have a much more natural and necessary need for it.
The pandemic has reminded us of this in two ways. First, it has shown up the limitations of banal “problem-solving” mentalities that lack a grasp of narrative. Second, even more devastatingly, it has revealed the costs of mimicry. Let us ponder these theses, one at a time.
A narrative of war
Many of us will have been fortunate to avoid the worst inflictions of this time, in terms of health and livelihood. But the long slog has darkened everyone’s mental horizons, in ways that are palpable, even...
