My Father's Garden

"I really love this book. It’s written in three parts which together speak to the emotional, chronological, and sexual maturation of a gay man from the community that Sowvendra himself is from—a tribal community called the Santhals from the state of Jharkhand. An important fact about Sowvendra is that his previous book was banned. In fact, two of the writers on our shortlist have previously had books banned. In a country as multi-religious and multi-ethnic as India, there are constant sensitivities about how different groups are represented, and the pretext for banning books is usually that they might otherwise inflame sectarian sensibilities. Hansda’s banned book, The Adivasi Will Not Dance , was a book of short stories about his own community, which included one about a poor woman who was forced to sell herself into prostitution in return for bread. He’s a very fine writer and the book did well. But members of the Santhal community started protesting on the streets against their women being represented as “whores”, in this pornographic way. It became very dramatic. Effigies of Sowvendra were burned in the streets. The book was banned by the government. He was removed from his employment as a medical officer in a government hospital. It was terrifying. “Effigies of Sowvendra were burned in the streets. The book was banned by the government. It was terrifying” The book that he’s just written comes out of that context. He wrote it very fast, and I think it was, for him, a very angry gesture, a gesture of defiance towards everyone who had tried to suppress his previous book. (The ban was eventually removed, and he was reinstated in his position.) This book is intensely personal. It is divided into three acts: ‘Lover,’ ‘Friend’ and ‘Father.’ He refuses to comment on precisely how autobiographical it is, but the first section, which contains very explicit sex scenes, describes an extremely moving love story between two men. The protagonist is eventually rejected by his lover, however, and he’s devastated. He realises that this kind of love is very difficult to sustain in this social context, and he progressively abandons his own desires. There is a resolution of sorts at the end, but it’s a sad one. He resolves much of his conflict with his father and comes home. Father and son find peace working together in a garden. It is a kind of refuge."