Myth has been an important structure of Kamla Kapur’s work, for the author feels Indian myth has become the repository of all our wisdom and solace. “In my work, the myth is transformed to the modern context, it’s instinctive,” explains the author, back home in Chandigarh from Devbhumi in Kullu for a holiday. Kamla is really excited about her latest book, Ganesha Goes to Lunch, which has been published by Mandala Press and comprises the kind of stories which Kamla “always wanted to do, but didn’t have the appropriate space to place them.” Two poetry books, stories, many of which have been published in the journal of myth tradition, a play, novel, Kamla has been writing since she was 13 and the structure of her writing is human — darkness to light. While she was encouraged and inspired to write Ganesha Goes to Lunch by Raoul Goff, the publisher, her abode, Devbhumi, “the earth of the gods,” or more commonly, “Valley of the Gods” has also a lot to with this book taking shape in a short span of about four months.

Stories of Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha, Krishna…find place in this book, the seeds, explains Kamla had been lying in her and when she devoted herself to the job, they sprouted and she had as many as 24 stories in place! “They have all been drawn from Indian mythology, legends and folktales, and the books also contains some lesser-known myths, two of them which I’d heard just orally. The well-known classics have got a modern twist from me and there has been a lot of restructuring as well,” adds the author, who studied at GCW-11. India, pronounces the author, has an inexhaustible storehouse of mythic stories, with manifold versions of each myth and development of the narrative has been Kamla’s primary focus, along with retaining the essence.

A lot of research has gone into each story, admits Kamla, who read up on everything she could lay her hands on. “There’s been no systematic and methodical selection, the mention of any myth that made me sit up, and stopped me in my track was picked, basic instinct worked here and each story has been a process of self-discovery, they’ve all moved me,” smiles Kamla. Ganesha Goes For Lunch which will be in bookstores in March.

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