JABBERWOCK ONLINE

Who is the one fictional character you would like to be?

I think Victor Hugo's Jean Valjean. My favourite character from when I was a kid.

 

Which writer would you like to spend some time with?

Either Hemingway or Arthur Miller. I just want to know how these people write, you know? Arthur Miller was just awesome! Historic. He ended up marrying Marilyn Monroe (laughs). He was just the most incredible intellectual you could think of, you know? Like, extremely sober, knew about the world, was in charge, was not a bohemian of sorts. And yet he adapted it, balanced it. That is one of the reasons why I’m doing my research on Said also, because he’s a contradiction.

 

Who is one character or historical figure you could never get along with? Pinochet. And Thernadier from Les Miserables.

 

What would your biography or autobiography be called?

The only title that comes to mind is not an original title. But it’s the most apt title. Out of Place. I feel like I’ve never really fit into any city that I’ve lived in.

 

Which was the last novel that had a powerful impact on you?

I think it was Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude.

 

One book you would hurl out of the window?

Other than the usual crap we see these days? Most of the books in Crossword. There are several books I would like to burn (laughs). (When goaded to be more specific) I don’t mind mentioning names, but these books are so unimportant that I just forget their names. It’s a kind of book.

 

At least tell us the kind of books.

Oh, that would be self-help books.

 

What is your pet peeve?

What is a pet peeve? (Once we explain) Oh, too many things. I think self-delusion.

 

Delusions of grandeur or the kind of ‘delusions’ we associate with Coleridge?

Self-delusions are usually delusions of grandeur. Coleridge-type delusions are absolutely okay! (Laughs) I’m all for it.

 

Your weapon of choice?

(Immediately) Machete (laughs). I’m Old Testament that way.

 

Which fictional place you would like to visit?

I think I’d like to visit Hogwarts. But to give a more literary answer, Macondo.

 

If you could arrange for any two fictional or historical figures to meet and have a conversation, what conversations would you most enjoy being a part of?

I’d like to witness a conversation between Hemingway and Modigliani. Also Tennessee Williams and Marlon Brando. I’d like to have a chat with Don Corleone from The Godfather. 

 

You were moved by The Godfather?

The sense of community and bonding with family was something I could really relate to. That’s also something I’ve always loved about Marquez’s writing. My cousins and I grew up together; we were very close. The way the passions and compromises of these people are depicted. A sense of community is something I miss about my childhood. We used to go out in the evenings and play sport together. I miss sport so much.

 

What is your favourite thing about this English Department?

Favourite thing? I think it’s the students.

 

What about them?

They make your job difficult (smiles). Some of them are uncompromising, which I like. One thing that I like in general among the students of LSR, not just specific to the English Department, is that they’re efficient. I like their work ethic. They deliver on what they do. Many students of LSR I have seen do things wonderfully well, which I think is a rare trait. In people in general. And I think LSR encourages students to do so. It’s a very important quality in human beings for me; you take up something and you do it well. That’s something I’ve found very significant about this place.

 

What do you think your students think about you?

I have an almost schizophrenic thinking about that. Sometimes I think they enjoy my classes, sometimes I think they’re dead bored, and sometimes I think they tolerate me. I think there’s always a general balance. Some people hate me, some people don’t.

 

Do you think people in this college lack a sense of humour?

I think people in general lack a sense of humour. In this college, some people do (grins).

 

Your artwork has been featured in many college publications, and been a topic of public discussion. What are your views on the reactions to your art?

I wasn’t aware of this! The fact is I haven’t come across a lot of ‘reactions’ as such. I know two people came up to me in two days and said ‘it’s nice’ (okay, it’s nice?) and ‘really good artwork, sir’. It was very encouraging, but then, my Pol Science students last semester told me that they loved my work. And they had found it online, I hadn’t told them about it. So yeah, its incredible when other people say something. The thing is, I haven’t really made much of an effort to talk about my paintings because I’ve never been certain of how they are, you know, where I stand as an artist. And it’s also born of guilt - I haven’t really spent a lot of time working on it, you know? I make one painting a year sometimes, and over the last two years I’ve made two paintings. That’s why I feel very guilty about my work, and anything I hear just sounds nice.

 

You have been actively involved as a staff advisor for a number of societies in your two semesters in college - you’ve advised Hive, Expressions, Jabberwock (briefly) and even DramSoc. You’ve also worked for Antardhwani and the Dalai Lama visit. What has the experience been like?

It’s been incredible. Exhausting, but very challenging. Exhausting because it forced me to push my own limits, test my own creativity. And then to accumulate other creative ideas; tested my patience sometimes (laughs). But, generally, helping me re-evaluate myself. And interacting with the students has been the most important part.

 

What was your first class as a professor like, and how is that experience different from your teaching today?

My first class ever? I was damn nervous. I still am, sometimes (which I don’t show because I put on a serious face)(laughs). 

 

My first class was at JMC and it was a class of 70-plus students and I was very sure that half the class couldn’t hear me, because I have a soft voice and I’m not audible. Knowing that they could not hear me, I got through the next 55 minutes convincing myself that they are just waiting for the bell to ring. That was a nightmare, yeah. Because you know that people on the back seat are judging you (laughs).

 

But you can judge them right back. You do judge them right back. We get the feeling that you are judging us!

Judging? No. I don’t judge people. On any human being I may have an opinion, but it’s not fixed. I don’t put a label on anyone. It’s a constantly evolving thing. But usually by mid-semester you kind of get a feeling - some people are listening, some people are not, some people are not bothered and some people are still listening when they’re sleepy and all those those things.

 

The biggest challenge of teaching is to ensure that you continue to motivate yourself while knowing all this. It’s an extremely difficult task to negotiate all the expressions in one class. It’s extremely challenging. That’s why I always defend the teacher when a student tells me that a teacher is acting weird or going nuts in a class, just not being fair or not being just and all that. I just say that a teacher has to do this five hours a day and it’s an incredible intellectual pressure on an individual, because you have to talk constantly knowing fully well that half the class doesn’t give a damn about what you’re saying. No matter how experienced you are, it can be extremely demotivating and can be upsetting even.

 

What do you see as your job in a classroom?

To inspire students to continue thinking, that’s all. I don’t think that I have any special knowledge that I can give them. That is why a teacher is not someone who just gives you facts or information, it is also someone who has to fashion himself or herself in a way that will help others to think in a different way. Therefore I think that a teacher has every right to be uncompromising. Which is why I’m okay with a teacher being labelled as an attribute. Several teachers in my life have taught me several things, and someone who I loved the most was someone uncompromising in his approach. My idea of a teacher is someone who inspires me, because I’m not looking for information from a teacher. A teacher has to inspire me to go look for things. But, doesn’t that also sound so clichéd? But that is really what I’m looking for in a teacher. And if I’ve been able to do that, I’ve done my job well. I still have a lot to learn, though.

 

Tell us the first thing that comes to your mind when we say the following. This is Rapid Fire. Like word association.

Speaking of word association, I forgot to mention David Hartley in class today.

 

Problemitize.

I hate that word.

 

Text

Boring.

 

Selfie.

Ugh. Unimaginative.

 

Nerd.

Glasses.

 

Interesting.

Boring word.

 

This is not a pipe.

This is not a -? This is not a pipe? What does that mean? Oh! Okay. This is not a pipe. Hemingway, I think.

 

Tradition.

Dull.

 

Aesthetic.

Aesthetic, aesthetic. Van Gogh.

 

Truth.
Subjective.

 

Fishing.

I love it!

 

Internet.

Useful?

 

Good writing.

Difficult (smiles).

 

How has studying and teaching Literature changed you?

I guess it made me sensitive to everything around me. But more than ever, it reminded me of how conflicted a person I really am. And it assured me that it was okay. That it was okay to be conflicted, and it was okay to not have a negotiation or a compromise. Because I am a paradox in so many ways. There are so many things about me which cannot be resolved inside my head, but which I think is everything that is unique to my personality and therefore I think I should keep it alive, and maybe nurture it. But the most important trait is sensitivity. Everything has to be encompassed within a sensitive framework.

 

What is your message to the graduating class?

Don’t mess up (laughs). And the usual cliches, you know, just be yourself.