'Not be able to write the books you had longed to...'

Three years to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown has taught us all many a lesson, that (hopefully) will not be forgotten in a hurry. Amidst all the changes that we have lived through -- WFH to WFA, hybrid work models, 'new normal', and connecting with almost the entire world online -- here are some stories of how those in the creative field plodded on.

Here's a series with authors and artists on how the virus affected their productivity. We start off with Deepa Agarwal, a prolific writer, poet, who has written for children and adults. Read on...

Many publishing houses hosted interactive online sessions to connect readers with their authors. How was your experience?

There were several requests from publishers for sessions with schools and on social media like Facebook and Insta Live interviews. There were also requests for pre recorded videos. Not only publishers but other writers, book stores, reading groups and various organisations and individuals contacted me. Schools too, requested workshops and author interactions on their own. 

Personally, I prefer a face-to-face session with kids since you can connect better. However, it was the only possibility at this time and as an author I was conscious of the necessity to stay engaged with my audience. It was a mixed experience. 

Some sessions were excellent, in others the teachers were not able to control the kids, which is understandable or there were technical issues. In the social media sessions, the audience varied. Often there was a combination of children and adults, so the comments varied too. The one advantage I found was that it was possible to reach out to a much larger audience and since some of the videos were put up on You Tube it was possible for interested people to find them later at leisure. 

But I must mention that there were issues concerning the honorarium writers usually receive. Some schools did not want to pay even a token amount or made promises to prescribe books for supplementary readers which they did not fulfil.

Could you manage to stick to your writing routine during the lockdowns and unlocking period?

It was extremely hard. When the lockdown began, I was faced with the deadline for my book Kashmir! Kashmir! and had to force myself to get on with it. After the manuscript was submitted, I could not think of starting another book but making videos turned out to be a stress buster in an odd way. 

Then I decided to compile my collection of poetry for adults which had been getting postponed and that brought some sense of accomplishment because the book Forgotten Kaleidoscopes was eventually published last year. As a writer who is constantly working on something or the other, it was demoralising for me to experience this kind of block, particularly because at my age you are conscious of the passage of time and the fact that you might leave incomplete manuscripts behind and not be able to write the books you had longed to. 

After I got Covid it was worse because it took a long time to recover the energy to sit at my desk and my output remained very low. I still haven’t been able to return to my old routine but have learnt to be grateful that I am still writing, though slowly.

Would covid and the dystopian reality we lived through find their way in some of your work at some point?

It definitely will. I do have one short story on the lockdown in Kashmir! Kashmir! and have made some outlines for others. Some writers managed to produce excellent work during the epidemic, but it has been difficult for me. I need to distance myself to get the right perspective.

Did you write for yourself during these three years to seek hope or introspect?

Well, most of my writing is actually for myself, even if I put it out in the world. When I was able to write, it was a way of coping with the all-pervasive anxiety. My poetry helped me to introspect and writing at least one story with a happy ending enabled me to hang on to hope for an end to this nightmare. 

Were your views of the health or human crisis in conflict as a writer and as a common person?

These two parts of me are inseparable. However, when writing for children you do tend to tone down some of your stronger views or harsher judgements. At the same time, these will find their way into my writing for adults.