There's thunder in the background," says Nayantara Sahgal, speaking from Dehradun, where she lives. Our own voice may not be clear to her, but the 91-year-old's voice is loud and clear — whether it's over the phone, or in her latest piece of fiction, The Fate of Butterflies (Speaking Tiger). "In no age is it possible to remain apolitical because every age has its own political atmosphere and events," says the veteran writer. "And we, who are there in any country and under a certain political system or atmosphere, we are reacting to it in various ways. So, whatever you may be writing about — whether your grandma's cooking or rain on the roof — you are taking a political stand in some way."

The book, written last year, revolves around several characters — a professor, restaurant owners, a rape survivor, a Muslim chef — all caught in a wave of Hindu extremism, a phenomenon she says is true of the country in reality. "Well, I should think that is very obvious to any observer that Hindu extremists are ruling the country," she says.