Gita Mehta, 1994
Gita Mehta at Waterstones, Thursday May 5 1994. For The Bath Chronicle.
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I cannot imagine anyone talking about the colours of music so convincingly as Gita Mehta, who also reminded us that the population of India accounts for one sixth of all human experience. Ms Mehta interrupted her reading to take some questions from the floor.
I ask her to what extent A River Sutra is autobiographical, to which she replies with a long-lashed glance: “I don’t even play music. I have never seen the river Narmada (A River Sutra is based upon it). But you know, India is a static nation, there’s not a tree or a mountain which is not infested with myth; a writer in India can draw upon this myth.”
Ms Mehta is in flow. “And, you know, all Indian arts interconnect in the spiritual. From one discipline you feel you can relate to another, you can hook into it in a way that I couldn’t writing about western music.”
“Karma Cola was more autobiographical; it was about the experience of how it was to see all the westerners seeking instant salvation.” This said with a twinkle-eyed smile, the audience are enraptured and endeared to this feline grace.
Asked how long it took to write A River Sutra, Mehta replies: “I wrote a rough draft in ten days. I’d say it took me six months to write the novel; the fluidity of the setting helped me.” Again, her teeth glint seductively as she smiles.
I ask her if she has any further works in progress. “Yes, I’m planning a trilogy. The next one is “A Mountain Sutra”. It will be quite erotic, and dance will form the undercurrent in this one.”
