ALSphere Foundation
Sangeeta Bahadur is an Indian Foreign Services Officer. A post graduate in English literature from Bombay University, Ms. Bahadur joined the IFS in 1987. Since then she has been posted in Indian diplomatic missions in Mexico, Spain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Belgium, and UK. She has also served in various capacities in the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi. Ms. Sangeeta is a published author of speculative fiction. Her heroic fantasy, the Kaal Trilogy, has received wide appreciation.
Here’s a detailed interview with the diplomat:
Vandana Bhasin: Ma’am you had been posted to various countries like Mexico, Spain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Belgium, and UK in various diplomatic capacities. How have the cultural differences of these countries defined or impacted your individuality?
Sangeeta Bahadur: Somebody asked me recently about the posting I enjoyed the most, and I discovered to my surprise that I really couldn’t play favorites! There might have been a couple of things I admired more in one country than in others – the sheer joie de vivre of Spain, the giddy familiarity of London for a Georgette Heyer fan like me, the unexpected beauty of Bulgaria, the freezing, snow-swathed winters and warm-hearted people of Belarus, the magical little islands of Malta. However, every country I have lived in has added to my oeuvre as a diplomat and as a person. From learning the value of time to appreciating the value of womanhood; from recognizing the unity of the human experience across cultures and civilizations to rising above the fear of differences; from recognizing my own prejudices to learning to deal with theirs; from expanding my mind to expanding my heart; from learning new ways of looking at familiar things to dealing with unfamiliar things in ways I already knew; from taking pride in my own civilizational strengths to learning from theirs; from understanding that just because I’ve always done or thought about something in one way doesn’t mean that there is no other way of doing or thinking it; from loving my own food, music, dance, films and architecture to appreciating and enjoying theirs… the list is endless. Perhaps all these learnings would have come with age even if I had not been exposed to other ways of life, but the exposure certainly expedited it! I am a better, more compassionate, confident and open-minded person today than I would have been without living and experiencing such a variety of thought, word and deed!
Vandana Bhasin: Besides being a diplomat, you are also the author of the Kaal Trilogy, which contains impactful stories. What was the inspiration for quilling fiction around Indian mythology, a genre whose readers are quite sensitive to the content?
Sangeeta Bahadur: It always surprises me when I hear people referring to what I write as mythology. I think of it as speculative fiction or heroic fantasy, very much in the tradition of JRR Tolkien, David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Raymond E. Feist and Janny Worts – to name just a few of the greats of the fantasy genre. The Kaal Trilogy is not based on any extant mythology, Indian or otherwise; instead, I have created an entire universe from scratch. It may bear some resemblance to Vedic India; the characters may have Sanskrit names, and rishis, gandharvas and rakshasas may play a role in the story – just as sorcerers, elves and ogres do in Western Fantasy. However, no hero, no story from the Ramayana or the Mahabharata has been borrowed or reworked. Why I chose this genre was because of two reasons: (a) because I have thoroughly enjoyed reading heroic fantasy and wanted to write one myself, and (b) because, since the brilliant Devaki Nandan Khatri, no other Indian author has penned an original heroic fantasy. Books based on our mythology abound and may invite the kind of sensitivity that you are referring to. I didn’t want to go that route; for me, the excitement lay in creating something new and totally different.
Vandana Bhasin: Travel is certainly enticing, and being posted outside the country has its own perks. But what repercussions, if any you feel, your professional life may have entailed on your family life, especially from the standpoint of the perceived role of a woman in our society?
Sangeeta Bahadur: I have loved being a diplomat and, given another chance, would choose that life again. It’s not just about the travel, although that was the basic reason that I opted for IFS in the first place. The experience of not just visiting but actually living in so many countries around the world is something over and above mere travel; if you open yourself and imbibe the culture, lifestyle, cuisine, art, traditions and attitudes of the countries you live in, you find yourself enriched beyond measure. The downside, of course, is that you tend to drift towards the periphery of the life of your family and friends, often missing out on their joys and sorrows. They learn to do without you while you learn to survive on your own. Unless you are very lucky, even close relationships slowly turn remote and formal as people move on with their lives, of which you are no longer an essential part.
If you are a woman, things become even harder, as you have hinted. The fact that your job takes you away from the usual family structure, often entailing a long-distance marriage, in-laws who are disappointed that you are not there to tend to them and play the traditional role during family get-togethers and emergencies, and children who might not be happy being uprooted and transplanted every three years, often creates negative dynamics. Things that would be easily accepted as a part of the deal for a man are held against you because you are a woman. A wife would, for example, be expected to follow her diplomat husband around the world, but a man would rarely agree to do the same for his diplomat wife! Most of my women colleagues, whatever their nationality, seem to go through the same kind of loneliness, taking care of their diplomatic obligations by themselves. The vilification of you as an undutiful wife and daughter-in-law is, however, unique to the Indian – or perhaps the South Asian – experience! Personally, I have had to pay a heavy and bitter personal price for my career choice and have come to understand why so many women diplomats choose to – or have no choice but to – remain single. The one silver lining has been the fact that both my daughters have thrived on the exposure they have received and have never suffered from the identity crisis and other emotional upheavals that many other Foreign Service brats, as they are called, tend to go through.
There was a time, during the first couple of decades after Independence, when women were actively discouraged by the Government from joining IFS on the grounds of destabilizing the family unit. While rules and regulations have changed over the years, removing official hurdles from the path of those of us who are determined to explore this globe-trotting lifestyle, the social preconceptions and pressures continue to make life tough and uncertain for female diplomats.
Vandana Bhasin: In the world of social media, the attention span of readers is decreasing from minutes to seconds. In such a scenario, what tips or suggestions would you like to give to the writers of our community, with regard to the genre or theme for making their writing interesting enough to hook the reader’s attention?
Sangeeta Bahadur: Well, if we are talking about the Indian market, I could go on about the style and content. How to grab the reader’s attention with your opening sentence itself… how to develop a snappishly crisp writing style – short sentences composed of simple words, because the lyrical beauty of the language has fallen by the wayside in this increasingly prosaic world where vocabularies are contracting at an alarming rate. How to stick to straightforward themes and plots that avoid complexity, are easy to understand and require very little by way of imagination or thinking. As you said, attention spans are becoming painfully short; instant gratification is all that counts and, sadly, a tale well told has little value anymore. Connoisseurs of the fine wine of literature are few and far between; if you are looking for money and success, go for the table wine of quickly consumable stories, originating either in your own experience, in your neighborhood or in media reports. A healthy dose of gaalis and sex doesn’t hurt either!
The alternative route to take is that of giving gyaan. Self-help books are, I’m told, sure shot winners. Readers queue up to be told how to make a million bucks in two hours, how to deal with difficult in-laws, how to be the perfect spouse or parent, how to navigate office politics or, indeed, how to write an instant bestseller! So go ahead – try it out! Who knows – you might turn out to be the next John Grey (Men are from Mars…) or Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad)!
Vandana Bhasin: We live in a world where we have to constantly strive to make our voices heard. We, at ALSphere consistently endeavor to provide a riveting platform to literary enthusiasts and artists. What do you feel about the role of communities like ours in supporting the upcoming as well as experienced players in the field?
Sangeeta Bahadur: Being a writer or an artist is, I think, one of the toughest career choices you can make, particularly if it’s your only one. Unless, of course, your family money allows you the luxury of being a full-time writer or artist without starving on the streets! It usually takes years, exceptional talent, luck and/or an enviable aptitude for self-publicity and promotion to make your mark in the direly competitive world of art and literature. Particularly these days when everybody thinks they can sing, dance, paint, write books or churn out reams of poetry with the help of the right computer software. So, for a true artist or a writer to stand out, the support, help and recognition provided by communities like yours become crucial. Your attempt to recognize and encourage true caliber and potential and to provide an opportunity to artists and writers to reach out to and connect with readers and audiences provides exposure to upcoming talent, and reaffirmation to established players, enabling both categories to communicate with those who read, hear and watch them.
You are acting as a bridge between those who create and those who enjoy those creations, giving that interaction the immediacy and intimacy that is lacking on social media platforms. ALSphere seems to be doing an amazing job on this front. Keep up the good work!
