Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's passage to India

How did you get acquainted with Jhabvalarsquos stories I got acquainted with Jhabvalarsquos work as a student in Temple Universityrsquos creative writing programme in 1997 There was a story in the New Yorker I had picked up I remember feeling excited that it was set in India with characters who were given a particular sensibility that I too was struggling to render accurately Her presence in the New Yorker meant possibility it signalled that there was a space for stories about people and places outside America in the mainstream literary conversation Ruth Prawer Jhabvala What strikes you the most about Jhabvalarsquos work Her style Pared down unadorned threadbare even Itrsquos almost as if she is consciously trying to resist the lushness of the country the constant invitation that India seems to present to fill pages with the scent of mangoesu00a0Especially in her later work she makes her characters essentially mysterious their motivations obscure Their responses to the perturbations that ripple across their lives are fascinating in that they are unexpected and unpredictable In a story called Farid and Farida Farid reunites with his wife after 20 years when he finds her in India ldquoholy under a treerdquo Yet in the end he refuses to follow this woman he has loved since childhood back to England The final image is of Farid gazing after Faridarsquos motorcade stranded in the detritus of the dismantled ashram I love that there are no neat reasons given for his decision no tidy knots tied up at the end She gives her characters this moment of expansion grants them the last word Her character may initially seem like stereotypesmdashthe charlatan guru the rich lonely women the obedient smalltown wives wellheeled white girls flirting with spiritualitymdashbut there always comes the moment when they resolve into wholeness become delineated and individual Meera Nair How did Jhabvala influence your writing I like her attention to the small intimate gesture that marks characters as being of a particular social milieu her preference for emotional delicacy Her recent story in New Yorker The Judgersquos Will the judge of the title has had a mistress for 25 years Binny his wife in one of those characteristic transformations that occur in Jhabvalarsquos stories ends up assuming responsibility for the mistressrsquos welfare A lesser writer would have staged an elaborate apology and reconciliation between husband and wife but all she does is have them argue over chess He sweeps the pieces to the floor ldquoHe allowed her to lead him from the chair to his bed She brought him water and after he had drunk it he gave the glass back to her and said ldquoIrsquom sorryrdquo Thatrsquos all there is to it She understands as we do ldquowhat this was aboutrdquo Jhabvala has said that in India she was not an insider but also not wholly the outsider I think that defines the writerrsquos stance to the people and places one writes about To be observant and empathetic to care deeply but also be cleareyed and detached enough to find the appropriate language to shape the writingu00a0 Meera Nair is the author of Video Pantheon Her childrenrsquos book Maya Saves the Day will be published later this month by Duckbill Booksu00a0