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The Shobha De Chat

De was eloquent, as only a writer can be -- full of insights into her work which always manages to work people up wherever she goes -- even on the net!


Anil K.Babladi (Mon Feb 24 19:45:21 1997 IST):

Hello

Hasn't Ms De come in yet?

hello everyone! waiting for ms. d huh?

Ms De, you claim to have a lot of experience about men in all aspects. Is it practical or just theoretical?

Hullo, Shobha, welcome to the Rediff Chat. I know this is your first encounter with the Internet,and I do hope you enjoy the experience.

Hi, Shobha!

is she here yet?

Why is that your all novels start with the letter 'S'? (Strange Obsession, Sisters and Sultry nights)

Namashkar, Ms De, it is great to be speaking with one of the living legends of this country. How do you masgae to write so many betsellers? What is the secret of your success?

Dear Ms De, Do you honestly believe that men and women can do without one another, whatever their respective foibles might be ?

You may think I am old fashioned, but I am curious to know why you are obsessed with sex. Is it part of a marketing strategy?

Ms De: It is a good experience to chat with you. CAN YOU DEFINE FEMINISM?

Hi guys here I am. Shoot shoot shoot.

hi mrs. de

i really appreciate you being prompt mrs. de! hail to the women of the 90's

What has been the greatest triumph of your career-- and please don't say it is the one that's yet to come -- founding Stardust, founding Society, founding Celebrity, having all those wonderful kids, or just being the biggest selling writer of your time? And why?

Hi Shobha didi, Nomoskar from the land of the midnight sin

Andromeda: In my opinion, men and women need each others company, isn't it, Ms De???

Sharda, 'cos she also got a strange obsession for sex, which also happens to start with 's'

Good evening Ms De...What I've been most curious to know is how are your books of any help to your female readers...or is it written more to evoke shock in the Indian social structure. Can you specify?

James Salians: Yeah, you are definitely old fashioned. I'm living in the nineties, I don't know about you. I'm not obsessed with sex and I have no problems dealing with it in an upfront way either. Sex has its own validity in fiction. Besides which I love writing about it.

Dear Ms De, Do you honestly believe that men and women can or should live without one another, whatever their foibles might be ? Or do you write what you write about men to avenge male chauvinism and the harm it's done to women in the past?

Ms De, what kind of a relationship do you share with your children. Do you think that a woman who painstakingly creates a career for herself can also be a good mother with enough time for her family?

what is your theory of why men are so different mentally than women are?

Ms De: India is a country with lot of other social problems. So, why don't you write on other subjects????? OR IS IT A MANTRA ALL OVER THE WORLD THAT SEX SELLS?????

Cornia: In a repressed society like ours shock has its own value and I recognise it. It is also important for me to provide a voice for women's sexuality a topic that was considered taboo for centuries. Women across the board in India and the subcontinent write to me to say that they often find themselves within the pages of my books.

Hi Shobha, I wonder if Bollyhood has made a movie out of your novels.

Ms De: Can you tell me, out of the approximately, 500 million women in our country, how many of them read your book seriously and follow it?????

Regardless of being read or not, your books gain extreme popularity. What would you rate this popularity to?

Hi Shobha! There's is one question that's had me wondering for a long time and I'm still no nearer to an answer. Why do Indian women let themselves go after marriage? Why do they put on so much weight and, for a race that is so inherently beautiful, how on earth do they manage to look so dowdy?

Sajida: I like to think I share a warm and close relationship with my six kids , there is no doubt in my mind and more importantly none in theirs as to who or what comes first. It has always been family in my list of priorities. And if a question of choice ever arises they know they win. Yes it isn't a cakewalk combining a writing career with a rewarding family life . I often feel like a tightrope walker but if I had to do it all over again I would still make the same choices. Being a wife and mother have been the two most rewarding aspects of my life and opting to work from home the most sensible decision.

Dear Ms De, Would you concede that there are some notable exceptions to your prototypal male, albeit few and far between ?

Ms De besides writing books, being a socialite and as I've heard even a great mother..what are the other things you are involved in?

Why can't men and women get along?

Six Kids !!!!!!!!!!!

It doesn't matter, since I am the biggest fake there ever was around...so lump it guys and babes, I'm outta here...getting hot under the negligee...

Shobha Ben, How many Indian women has the chance of getting your 'message'. I would like to know if any of your writings have been translated in any indian language. There was a write-up in the Swedish press about you lately

Outside India, which countries have the greatest demand for your books, who are the fans abroad of your writing?

mrs. de do you consider yourself a feminist?

hi. don't you ever get tired of playing the role model? first, it was a model, then a model celebrity editor, then a model best-seller writer, now a model wife and mother. do you recognise yourself at all in any or all of these models??

mrs. De what motivates you to write book like Surviing men? I am not saying that there is something wrong with it but just curious?

hoy??

Hi Ms De,haven't read much besides your Skeptical anti-columns

Ms De in your perception how has the Indian woman changed in the 90s?

Thank you, Ms De, for answering my question. I was also curious why you are such a hate figure for so many people. Why do people hate your guts?

Hi everybody, My work schedule will transfer me to some other location in a few minutes. So I have to say goodbye and wish you all good chatting. Hole to follow up the discussion by retrieving from the archives. So long, folks!

I like the stuff you write; it's makes for excellent time pass reading. I would definitely pick up your next book and make it a point to read your columns, but do you honestly feel that your books merit being included as part of a university syllabus course in English literature? Or is this just an indication of the dearth of talented female writers?

gone?awwwway???

Dear Ms De, Don't you think that a certain degree of socio-economic affluence lends a big helping hand to a lady who wants to capably manage marriage, home and career ? Alas, many Indian women don't have this luxury. What is your advice to them ?

Ms De: Two years ago, if I am not mistaken, when I was in India, there was lota controversy about your novels being introduced in colleges for English literature language? What is the position now, can you tell me????

The biter bit? Cat got your tongue babe?

R Venkatesh: English fiction continues to be an elitist option restricted to readers in the bigger cities. Rural India is not my audience where books are seen as a luxury at 200 rupees a paperback . The readership I cater to is necessarily urban, educated and affluent. We will let history decide just how inflential or otherwise my books have been .

Dr Krishnamurthy: 'Surviving Men' is a tongue in cheek book which need not be treated like a feminist diatribe . I'm not a male basher; this book isn't about male baiting . But I do believe strongly that the next millenium will be defined by how men and women regard each other. There is no question of doing without one and another. The idea behind writing this book was to generate a constructive positive dialogue between the sexes. In Asain socities gender alone defines an individual. A male child is born into privilege and lives his entire life a pampered creature placed on a pedestal only because he happens to be born male. It is time to knock the undeserving off those pedestals and give the seriously disadvantaged females a shot at the same options and opportunities.

Would you put yourself in the same league as Anita Desai? Do you consider yourself as good a writer as Vikram Seth whose Suitable Boy was just a huge Mills and Boon!

since we know everything else about you, can you tell us exactly how old you are?

Photographs: Jewella Miranda