Sabko Chetan Bhagat pe gussa kyu aata hai?

HersquoS 33 Shersquos 21 Hersquos divorced Shersquos never had a boyfriendhellip They shouldnrsquot be together But they canrsquot stay apartrdquo Does this sound like romance or a red flag Itrsquos a question that has divided the Internet since author Chetan Bhagat announced his new book 12 Years My Messed up Love Story HarperCollins India Online some have called the agegap plot ldquocreepyrdquo others have even termed it as ldquogroomingrdquoBhagat tells Sunday midday ldquoThe book hasnrsquot even been released yet Nobody knows what the story actually is or how the agegap issue has been treated I think some people on the Internet might have been quick to jump to conclusionsrdquo So why the moral outrage over Bhagatrsquos novel Is it as Bhagat says do people just love to hate him Or are our ideas of ldquomoralityrdquo and ldquomoral policingrdquo increasingly spilling over into our TBR To Be Read lists tooChetan BhagatLiterature of course is rife with MayDecember romances mdash relationships between a young person May and considerably older partner December The most notorious example is Lolita a 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov in which a professor abuses his 12yearold stepdaughter Despite the paedophilic plot Lolita is now considered a classic Even in classics written from the female gaze the age gap persists Take Jane Austenrsquos Emma where the difference is quite similar to Bhagatrsquos new book with Emma aged 21 and her love interest Mr Knightley aged 37 Or the far bigger gap in Charlotte Brontersquos Jane Eyre where Jane 19 gets engaged to 40yearold Mr RochesterBut time and context matter says Pia Oza 19 a Literature student at St Xavierrsquos College ldquoA 10 or even 20year age gap was normal when these books were written things are different now The more aware we become as a society the more discerning we get and this generation is quite critical of what we consumerdquo ldquoBooks like Lolita are considered classics because of the literary valuerdquo she says ldquoOn the other hand Chetan Bhagat is seen as an unserious author It all depends on how hersquos written this book of courserdquo Itrsquos a challenge the author has stepped up to intentionally ldquoI wanted to write a story exploring a difficult conflict like an agegap romance mdash I wanted to see for myself if I could execute it wellrdquoItrsquod be unfair to make a snap judgment before wersquove had a chance to read the book says Manisha Ghatage associate professor at the Department of English SNDT Womenrsquos University She offers the example of Love Again written in 1996 by Doris Lessing telling the tale of a 65yearold woman writer in love with a 28yearold male actor ldquoAt the time it came out it was quite controversial But it went on to be taught in colleges as feminist narrativerdquo she recalls ldquoIt is a postmodern narrative about whether an ageing woman has the right to romantic longing especially for a younger man Therersquos a beauty and complexity in the writing that challenges readers putting up a kind of resistance to what was considered the norm of the dayrdquoThere have been several instances of moral outrage over books some of which have even been banned due to risque content or religious or political objections But many of these same books mdash from Salman Rushdiersquos Satanic Verses to Lajja by Taslima Nasrin or even Riddles in Hinduism by BR Ambedkar mdash have also earned critical acclaim for broadening perspectives ldquoHow a writer tackles the charactersrsquo conflicts their resolution their chemistry and whether they can reflect on deeper issues such as the dynamics that come with age power and cultural stereotypes makes all the differencerdquo says GhatageA file picture of a protest in Mumbai in 2004 against Salman Rushdiersquos Satanic Verses which was banned in India and several other countries due to religious outrage PicGetty ImagesThis is why Arundhati Royrsquos God of Small Things while featuring sexually explicit scenes mdash including incest mdash met with brief outrage but went on to win the Booker Prize in 1997 for its nuanced depiction of the caste system and the associated ldquolove lawsrdquo in Kerala ldquoArundhatirsquos book may have been sexually explicit but she was writing about deeper political issues This may be why the right wing is making an issue out of her new bookrsquos cover toordquo says OzaRoyrsquos latest release Mother Mary Comes To Me a memoir centered on her complicated relationship with her mother has come under fire for the unconventional choice to put a photograph of the author smoking on the cover with some labelling her ldquoambassador of cigarettesrdquo and calling it immoral And yet the image is hardly newClassic like Jane Eyre and Lolita both featured wide age gaps between the protagonists Lolita is now acknowledged to be paedophilic in nature but is still read widelyldquolsquoThe cover features a photograph of Arundhati Roy by Carlo Buldrini who as readers will discover is himself a character in the bookrdquo says Manasi Subramaniam vice president and editor in chief Penguin Random House India ldquoThe image has over the years become something of an iconic portrait of the author widely circulated on the Internet Its use here is entirely in keeping with the spirit of the work intimate unflinching and true to the life and story being toldhellip We have included a disclaimer at the back of the book stating that we do not endorse smokingrdquo she addsLike any other medium of art books mdash especially fiction mdash arenrsquot always meant to be taken literally The problem is they often are Marathi erotica writer Sayali Kedar recalls the furore over her debut book Desperate Husband the bizarre reason behind it ldquoWhen I started there was very little erotica from the female gaze and nothing about a husband and wifersquos relationship especially in Marathi For a country obsessed with marriage and making babies why donrsquot we consider married sex eroticrdquo she questionsPia Oza and Sayali KedarShe was prepared for the backlash from society over the risqueacute content but what she didnrsquot anticipate was how ldquoreaders were imagining themselves in the story but with the protagonist and not with their partnersrdquo ldquoI would get messages saying from men saying they found it weird to fantasise about the female protagonist because she is lsquosomeone elsersquos wifersquo I had intended for readers to fantasise about them being with their partner in the story But either way it shouldnrsquot matter because these are fictional charactersrdquo she saysBut there was also a flood of messages from those who did enjoy the book with an open mind ldquoI would get messages saying that my book helped them to open up to their partner It encouraged me to keep goingrdquo she recalls And therein lies the problem with slapping morality on fiction mdash ldquoWho decides what is acceptable and what isnrsquotrdquo Kedar questions ldquoTwo people might look at the same story in completely different ways One person might find it objectionable another might find it illuminating But never before have we had such easy access to authors and creators so when we donrsquot like something itrsquos very easy to voice our objections on social mediardquoAnd thatrsquos great too says Prof Ghatage ldquoAuthors should have the liberty to create as they wish Only with this creative licence can they question social issues and imagine a different world And as readers we should develop courage to read and think about these unconventional ideas mdash of course you are free to agree or disagree toordquo