Sucheta asked Susmita Bhattacharya:

I am curious to know more about your book - The Normal State of Mind. What is it all about and what inspired you to write it in the first place?

Susmita Bhattacharya Dear Sucheta,

Thank you for your questions. Here goes:

The Normal State of Mind is a story of love and friendship. The story revolves around the friendship between Dipali, a widow and Moushumi, a lesbian, and the issues they face in their lives. It is set in 1990s India, the time around the Hindu-Muslim riots and the bomb blasts in Mumbai. As the blurb on the book says:

It’s the end of a millennium. India has made tremendous progress in science and technology, but in these times of economic boom can a friendship between two women give them the power to defy society, and law, to reach for their dreams?

Dipali, a young bride, is determined to make her marriage a success story. But her plans are cut short when her husband is killed by a bomb blast in Mumbai and she struggles to find her place in life. In Calcutta, as Moushumi’s parents discuss potential husbands, the school teacher prefers to escape to her high-flying lover. But how long can she keep her forbidden affair secret beyond the safe walls of glamorous art crowd parties? In the midst of communal riots, India too has to make her own decisions about which traditions she must keep, and which she ought to let go. At the end of it all, who can decide what is the normal state of mind?

I started the novel as a dissertation for my Masters in Creative Writing at Cardiff University. I knew that to be able to stick with the novel to completion, I’d have to write about a) something that I knew about and am familiar with, therefore it is set in Mumbai and Calcutta and explores friendship between women; b) look for answers to questions I had not asked earlier: homosexuality and its representation and acceptance in India and c) explore the concepts that are so important to me ie freedom of expression and freedom to live as individuals without having to conform to society (especially in the case of women).

I answered these questions in an interview here, http://theasianwriter.co.uk/2015/04/s... if you'd like to know more,

I hope you will read the book and find it interesting,

Best wishes

Susmita

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