Page - 19 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/02

Playing with Words, Worlds, and Images | 19www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/2, 15–30 pathise? What do I need to do to slip under the skin of such a person? One part of the process is, of course, about tuning into the other person, but a bigger part of the process is about overcoming oneself. Devdutt and I were talking about this and decided that it was time to create this book about human preoccupation, and the forests that exist within and without us. He gave me carte blanche to create the universe and the cast of charac- ters, and there came along Kātyāyanī, the protagonist of Aranyaka, who truly makes an effort to see others. In getting better at that, she becomes invisible because that favour is not really returned to her. Very few people are operating at a level of sophistication where the gaze can be reciprocal. Bornet: In your books you make use of the figure of the storyteller: could you reflect on how you situate yourself in the tradition of the storyteller, and how it evolves in India today? Patil: Sauptik is my favourite amongst my works, because it is the hardest, the least “successful”, the underdog. Adi Parva has incandescent, affirma- tive feminist stories about unsentimental mothers and ambitious queens, it’s a Go-Girl kind of a book. Sauptik requires you to acknowledge your dark side, it complicates the discourse by taking on heroic masculinity from the inside, via an injured male character. The reader needs to be ready for that sort of thing. I’ve realised that whether we want it or not, like it or not, we’re always playing sūtradhār [the one who holds the threads, i. e., the storyteller]. When Yogi Adityanath gives his hot take on Islam and Indian culture, he turns sūtradhār; or when Modi tells the Hindu rāṣṭra story, he turns storyteller. When I tell a story, I’m a storyteller. A lot of societal hokum and narrow- ness is because the storytelling is bigoted and unimaginative. People like me are now too ashamed to have anything to do with sanātan, and we’re handing over priceless traditions on a platter to a group of fundamentalists. After Kari my readers were confused by the shift in track: why has this cool chick gone godly on us? But while I’m persona non grata in the larger picture, I had a clear sense that it was my role to leave some grains buried under this soil to germinate when it was time. Flawed as they are, the books are around for those who want to find them. I am relieved that the three books are done; I would not have embarked on the journey now: the socio- political situation is just too toxic. I have done my bit. Now other story tellers can come and take over. You asked about how I see myself in that storyteller space or tradition. The Sufis have a concept futuḥ, or opening, and they believe that it is giv-