An interview with Esther David.

PJ: You have been awarded the Sahitya Academy Award in 2010 for “The Book of Rachel”. Recently, ‘BeneAppetit: The Cuisine of Indian Jews’ has received the ‘National Jewish Book Award, USA.2021.” Do awards matter, or are they incidental to the writing?

ED: It was an honour, when ‘Sahitya Akademi’ and the ‘Jewish Book Council, USA’ bestowed awards to me, as they gave world-wide prestige and visibility to my work.  

PJ: What do you think is the purpose of literature? Can it compete with the media invasion?

ED:Literature has survived time and will continue to do so, in one way or another. Literature enlightens readers about various landscapes about our inner worlds and outer realities.

PJ: You trained as a sculptor, under Sankho Chaudhury, the legend. How did the transition to writing take place? Esther David is a writer, artist, sculptor, also a great cook. How does expression change with the medium?

ED:My Guru taught me, that creativity is a room with many doors, which exists within us, so that one can open any door and become creative in the area of your choice.

Keeping in mind the above ‘mantra,’ I have worked in many mediums and developed some skills to use my creative energies…

PJ: You have a strong body of work dating back many decades. Is there any subject on which, you would like to write now? You have written extensively on your community, the Bene Israel Jews, the Jewish experience in India and  have received the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Research Award, USA.; in 2011 and 2017 for the study of Indo–Jewish life-style and cuisine. What kind of research did you have to put in?

ED:I will continue to write about Jewish life and the struggles women face to create their own identity within the walls of family, community and public life and retain a balance between them, while preserving their finer sensibilities. But, sometimes, I like to write about nature.

My novels are MY JEWISH VOICE…because; I had a dream; I wanted to create the genre of Indian Jewish literature.

‘The Walled City’ was my first novel. It was a search of a homeland.

As soon as ‘The Walled City’ was published, I found a home in it. I realized home is not a country, city, place, but it is within me and my novels. I just have to open my books and I am home.

Before that, I took the risk of changing professions, from artist, Professor of art history, art critic and columnist and became an author. I became known for my writing about Jews of India, as my novels journeyed from India to the world. I wrote The Walled City to understand myself. So, I wrote; the way I felt, straight from my heart. I knew, I had to understand myself through my own experience, of being a Bene Israel Jew and growing up in India.

Through this novel, I have bonded with Jewish women all over the world. Especially, when it was re-published by Syracuse University Press U.S.A. and included in their Library of Modern Jewish literature.

PJ: Tell us about “The book of Rachel”?

ED:I feel humbled and honoured that I have received the Sahitya Akademi Award for English Literature, specifically for my novel ‘Book of Rachel.’

‘Book of Rachel’ happened because of various reasons. While researching for my novels in Alibaug, I met an elderly Jewish lady living in a village near a Synagogue, which was no longer used for services. It gave me the perfect setting for ‘Book of Rachel.’ During those years, I received innumerable mails and letters from people who had read my novels. One such email was about Aunt Rachel, the last surviving Jew of Pakistan, as she protected the Jewish cemetery there…when she was very old, she was shifted to Israel, where she died. During this period, I became involved with the Vadodara Jewish cemetery dispute. And, with the help of prominent citizens of the city, we could save it from real estate agents, who had already started demolishing a part of the cemetery.

While researching for my earlier novel ‘Book of Esther,’ I had noticed that Jewish food habits had changed and realized that some of our traditional food habits would soon be forgotten. So, Book of Rachel was about the preservation of the Jewish heritage in India and I wove the story around the theme of love, food and heritage.

PJ: Is there a change in your perspective on life that has partly caused the writing to change?

ED: I continue to write about the preservation of the Jewish heritage in a multicultural country like India, as we are a mini-microscopic-minority community of India. Here, it is important to mention that   India is the only country in the world, where Jews have never been persecuted.   

PJ: Your last book – “Reuben David “The Jew and the Zoo”, is a documentary on your illustrious father Reuben David. Any interesting memory you would like to share?

ED:The book and the exhibition are a homage to my father Reuben David, who dedicated his life to the Zoo Complex of Ahmedabad. He dedicated his life to the preservation and conservation of nature and wild life with his heart and soul. I had the photographs, which were like a treasure of memories, which I wanted to share with the people of Ahmedabad.

PJ: We’ve talked about some of the struggles and process of writing. How would you summarize your experience? So what would you say are the joys of writing, if any? So many writers speak only about the anguish. Would you say most of the joy is inward rather than in praise, or in interaction with people?

ED:Writing means working in isolation. But, when a novel is published, read and launched, I feel a sense of peace…till I begin working on my next book.

(I like interactions with readers and audiences at Literature Festivals in India and abroad)

PJ: Lastly, what advice do you have for writers?

‘Keep writing….’