"My writing is not fantasy; it is grounded in reality"

IN Hindi literature Shivani is a very well-known name having written numerous novels, short stories, features and essays. Some of her most acclaimed works includes Apradhani, Krishan Kal and Smriti Kalash. Her style of writing is her own. The simplicity of her language and the universality of the emotions she portrays immediately touch a chord in the reader’s heart. The backdrop of most of her works are the Kumaon Hills. Her description of the scenic beauty of Kumaon is breathtaking. The characters she sketches are simple, Pahari folk, about whose problems and life Shivani writes with great empathy.

Meeting Shivani at her daughter’s home in Delhi was an enriching experience. One look at her serene face was enough to show what a beauty she must have been in her heydays. An embodiment of grace and tehzeeb, she reminisced about her life and times as she spoke to Belu Maheshwari in an exclusive interview. With all her four children well-settled and now her grandchildren also doing well, she seems content and happy in Lucknow surrounded by her family retainers, who are like family members.

She belongs to an era when idealism was embodied in a person, when art and literature were not commercialised, life had an easy pace. She now lives in relative anonymity. Excerpts:

What are your earliest recollections?

I remember some of the most revered leaders of Independence struggle and learned men visiting our family. We grew up in a very cross-cultural environment, amongst strong, educated men and women. We had a very liberal upbringing but we were deeply rooted in our tradition and heritage. Women of the family were treated with respect and there was no purdah, even during my grandmother’s times.

What was your family lineage?

My grandfather Pandit Hari Ram Pandey, was one of the most prominent Congress-men from Kumaon region, and a personal friend of Madan Mohan Malviya. My father was Ashwini Kumar Pandey who was the Diwan of Rampur state, and later of Orcha in Bundelkhand. He also became a member of the Viceroy’s War Council. My mother was a Vidushi in Sanskrit and was the first student of Lucknow Mahila Vidyalaya. I came from an educated family and had the good fortune of having parents who exposed me to various cultures.

What was your education like?

I had the good fortune of studying in the best institutions.

I know Gujarati, Bengali, Sanskrit, Hindi and even Urdu. We had access to the best libraries. We imbibed the best of East and West. For nine years I was at Shantiniketan. I did English (Hons) from there.

How would you describe your experience of Shantiniketan?

It was a unique experience. In fact I feel it was because of some good deeds done in my last birth that I got a chance to study at Shantiniketan. The curriculum was so well designed that it brought out the best in the student. We were not just given lectures but were exposed to the top most writers as well. There was a lot of interaction with prominent personalities like Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and, of course, Rabindranath Tagore.

We got rare education. We studied under trees, worked in the kitchen. We had story-telling classes. My contemporaries were Indira Gandhi, Maheshweta Devi, Arundhat Mukerjee, Kanika Devi. Amartya Sen’s grandfather has taught me. His mother was a beautiful woman. I interacted a lot with Satyajit Ray. We both shared a lot.

How much of an interaction did you have with Rabindranath Tagore.

Tagore was my mentor, I was close to him. We were all influenced by the Brahmo Samaj tenets. It was the golden age of Shantiniketan. Tagore used to say the ‘biggest truth is man’, and ‘no river is spread by its own waters’. We had the Guru-Shishya parampara, where every student’s needs were looked after. Pehle ka guru used to take us from darkness to light. Today you have teachers who just impart bookish knowledge. Gurudev taught me a lot.

You lived in princely states. What do you remember of their splendour?

The riyasats were centres of learning. They patronised art and culture. Women kept within limits of decency. The mistresses of nawabs, princes and nobility were traditional women, and there was no cheapness. I imbibed the good of Muslim culture at Rampur.

How do you feel about the onslaught of western culture, and our mother tongue not getting its due.

There is good in all cultures. I have been enriched by the influence of western culture. I have read a lot of their classics, poetry, philosophy. No culture is bad. It is up to us to take the best of all and retain our own sanskriti. I believe all

religions are alike but we should retain our language. I feel sad about the decline of our mother tongue. I have not lost heart, I feel Hindi is a beautiful language. It will come back to its former glory.

What are your writings inspired by ?

I have never been inspired to write for awards or rewards. My writings are about people, people around me, their lives. My writing is not fantasy, it is grounded in reality. Another thing I feel is when a writer becomes arrogant, he loses the biggest asset of writing —

humility. The backdrop of my novels is normally Kumaon (my ancestral land) and Bengal (place of my education).

Why have you stopped writing?

I do not feel like writing because too much commercialism has crept into today’s publishing world. I cannot cope up with the present cut-throat competitive world. Nor can I sensationalise my writing to suit the present marketing demands. My idea of writing is what can be read by all, even a villager. It is not description of a naked woman. I cannot stoop to that level.

Your writings have been so popular that you would still find readers.

I owe my readers a lot. To be able to retain their love for 50 years, is my good luck. I wrote about what I felt. I wrote a lot. I had a popular column in ‘Dharamyug’ and Hindustan, which got me so much mail that it was difficult to read. God has been kind. I have no regrets.

When you compare your times with today, what are the things you feel have changed for the worst?

What I have seen is unique. Very few people have the opportunity to live the life of richness (in terms of spiritual and mental growth) that I have. Relationships earlier used to be the life blood of a family and society. Today children are neglected, not in monetary terms but in terms of mother’s time, love, guidance. And the worst factor is the politics of today. It has reached an all-time low. Where are the leaders who gave their all to the country? We were blessed to have leaders who dedicated their lives to the freedom struggle and to building a new India.

Not that everything was good in our times. We could not give our children the opportunities children have today. Though I do not at all like this hi-bye culture, no one has time for each other.

Can you tell us something about your personal life?

My husband, S.D. Pant, was in the Education Department. He died young. He had encouraged me to write. I have four children, three of them daughters. Now I am a great-grandmother. My son is the youngest. He is the vice-president of Reebok posted in America. They are all well settled, doing well. My daughters Mrinal Pandey and Ira Pandey are both writers.

Now I like to live in Lucknow with my old retainers. Their families are like my own. I have brought up their children like mine.

What do you feel about the women of the present generation?

Today’s women have got a lot of independence, especially economic. Definitely, there has been progress in education. A woman is the pivot of a family. Seeing a child you can say what the mother would be like. A woman should not forget her role as a mother. Future generations depend on her and should retain her dignity at all cost.

Ira Pandey on her mother: My mother is unique. She has not only written some great novels but her essays have also been compiled and published. She has been a very good singer. She used to sing at Shantiniketan. She has been on the advisory committee of AIR since 1954.

One has lost count of her publications but even then as her child I never really saw her writing. My father was an orthodox man, who liked his wife to do his work, even to the extent of testing the temperature of his bath water. She had four children of her own and two of my cousins lived with us. She looked after the whole household.

I remember she came to Chandigarh when my mother-in-law was in the P.G.I. for a week. My mother used to sit in the hospital for about three to four hours. In that time she wrote her travelogue Ratriki. She writes by hand and has never dictated. She is really batty, never bothered about royalty, payments. She has always been ready to help anyone in need. What more can you say about a mother you have always respected and admired? She has lived her life with values and is at peace with herself.