We chat with debut author Pallavi Sharma Dixit about Edison, which is a Bollywood-style love story brimming with song and dance, action and comedy, a love triangle, an angry parent, an evil villain, and cameos by real Bollywood stars—a hilariously entertaining masala film in the guise of literary fiction.
Like an epic Hindi film, EDISON is a sweeping love story. When you conceived of the novel, which came first? The structure — which itself is a tribute to the film genre — or the romantic narrative?
Definitely the romantic narrative came first. All the way back in college, when I first had an inkling that I might want to write fiction, it was just a given that it would be a love story. Much later, I learned about structure and started working out the plot. And it wasn’t until I had already begun writing it that I realized I was writing a Hindi movie, of sorts.
EDISON’s main protagonist, Prem Kumar, is male. How did you make that choice? Were there particular challenges that came with that decision?
I made that decision all the way back in graduate school, when I really had no story yet. But I knew whatever it would be, the protagonist would be male, so as to avoid readers (and by “readers” I mean my mother ☺) thinking that I was writing about myself and my family. I think the biggest challenge that came with that decision was how to make Leena a strong and independent figure, though she was in a supporting role that could easily have seen her as weak and ineffectual.
Prem’s love interest, Leena, and for that matter all the women in the novel have strong and indelible personalities. Are any of them inspired by people you know or other figures from literature?
Actually, after a few iterations of sketching out Leena, she really came to life for me when I pictured her as the actor Priyanka Chopra, who seems to me to be a powerhouse –passionate, in control and full of life. Some of the other women are amalgamations of women from my community and my extended family that I’ve encountered over the years.
Of the numerous eccentric and vivid supporting characters, or “sideys,” which was the most fun to write? Do you have a favorite, or a secret favorite?
Gosh, I would feel guilty choosing one! I really enjoyed writing the scenes with the actors. They are real-life people, not characters, but I had fun imagining what they might say and how they might behave. Also, I really loved writing Wristwatch, creating an unexpected backstory for this supposed cold-blooded killer.
How long did it take to write the novel?
This seems like a straightforward question, but it’s one of the hardest ones to answer! I would say about 10 years. During that time, there were periods during which I wrote intensely and periods during which I didn’t write at all, for example when I was pregnant (and sick) and just after both kids were born. Also, I didn’t write for 6 months after we got our puppy! There were times when I was focused solely on research and other times when I was experimenting with plot and structure. But once I was done with all of that, the writing flowed more easily.
You’ve said you were “accidentally” born in India and grew up in Edison. Could you please explain?
Yes! My parents had already immigrated and were living in New Jersey when they returned to India to attend a family wedding. My mother was pregnant with me and I was born while they were on that trip. So, incidentally, I had Indian citizenship until high school when I was naturalized. I took the citizenship test and everything!
You’ve lived in Minneapolis for a while, now. Do you still have close ties to Edison?
My parents still live there and my brother and his family are in New York City. So we visit New Jersey pretty regularly. And when my parents come to Minneapolis, my mother brings along bits of Edison for me in the form of Indian snacks, spice mixes, rotis and anything else I might need from the Oak Tree Road stores there.
The novel is such an ode to the Indian American community of Edison. And how do you feel about the city now that you’ve lived away and are raising children of your own?
I just adore Edison. Before I even knew the characters or plot of my book, I knew the setting would be Edison. I really wanted to write something that celebrated this uniquely American town and the feeling of walking through its Little India district with its many shops and restaurants that harken back to India. Having lived away from Edison for so many years, I appreciate it even more. Not only because every Indian thing one could ever want is so easily accessible there, but also because Indian culture is so easy to soak in there. I think about this a lot with regard to my son and daughter; we have to make a very conscious effort to impart the culture to them, whereas in Edison, it’s everywhere. I love taking them there to visit my parents and eat unlimited masala dosa. And I’m glad they’ll be able to read my book and learn about this magical Indian town where I grew up.
While EDISON is entertaining and ultimately joyful, there is a through-line that tethers the story to a real time of transition, sometimes punctuated by racial tension, in the city’s history. Like other cities that became the loci of immigrant diasporas – the Bronx’s Arthur Ave for Italians, South Boston for the Irish, or L.A.’s Olympic Boulevard for Koreans, for example – Edison was transformed by waves of Indian immigrants. Why was it important to include those somber base notes? Were any of the incidents in the novel drawn from personal experience?
I don’t think I debated whether or not to include those moments of historical tension in the story; it was just a given. I set out to tell the story of Indian immigrants in Edison and, unfortunately, that’s just part of the story. The incidents I describe were not drawn from first-hand experience, but I did draw on some of the emotions I felt when I was growing up in New Jersey and when I would hear about these events in passing or read about them in the India Abroad I clearly remember feelings of disbelief and indignance mixed with fear, which I definitely brought with me when writing the book.
Was there one movie that made you fall in love with Hindi films? For the uninitiated, what would you recommend as essential or foundational reference film(s) to watch?
Though I’d watched Hindi movies throughout my childhood, it was when I was a teen that I became temporarily *crazy* about them after watching Maine Pyar Kiya, which I talk about in my novel as being one of those early 90’s films that shifted the focus away from serious socio-political subject matter to romance and star-crossed love. That particular movie was Salman Khan’s big breakthrough role and I was definitely there for it.
Are all the films and stars mentioned in EDISON real or fictional or a combination? Have you ever met any actual Bollywood stars?
The films and actors named in the book are all real (except for the ones in the fictitious, short-lived movie that Prem tries to make). Of course, their dialogue and actions in EDISON are completely invented, and were so much fun to write. And I actually have met some Bollywood stars! As a teenager, when I spent time in India with relatives, my cousin and I successfully plotted to see a movie shooting in Bombay where we briefly met a slew of stars, including Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Juhi Chawla, Manisha Koirala and Jackie Shroff. It was the most fun we’d ever had! In my early twenties, when I worked as a writer at an Indian American web magazine, I got to meet or interview a few stars, including Aamir Khan and Sanjay Dutt, which was an awesome perk of the job.
You capture the patois of Indian American immigrant English in laugh-out-loud dialogue. Do you think your lifelong affinity for films makes writing dialogue easy?
Thank you so much for that compliment! It’s especially meaningful since I find writing dialogue to be quite daunting! I don’t think I drew from the movies for that, but rather from the dialogue that I grew up hearing around me, in Edison and in India, and now, as an adult, when visiting my in-laws and hearing them speak with their friends. Also, my favorite sitcoms (Friends, Seinfeld, The Office) are usually on when I’m writing (I prefer those to music) and I think I was influenced by hearing so much of that kind of dialogue as well.
Who are some of your strongest writing influences?
Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera, probably my favorite book ever, was always in the back of my mind as I wrote about Prem’s very long wait for Leena. I love The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier & Klay by Michael Chabon and how it’s a love letter to comic books that also tells the history of that genre (and its main characters even carve out a career within that genre), which is what I’ve tried to do with Bollywood and EDISON. More recently, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow does a similar thing with the world of gaming, which I learned so much from. Those books, as well as books by Gary Shteyngart and James McBride, infuse stories about people struggling to find a place in America with humor and wit, which I really admire and enjoy.
EDISON came to Third State Books’s attention as an unfinished manuscript you submitted for a contest, co-sponsored with the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, called “Pages In Progress.” How meaningful to you is the support of the Asian American writing and publishing community?
Immensely meaningful! The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is of course so respected for the work it’s done over the years and I’m honored to be connected with them. Publishing with Third State Books has been such a gratifying experience – they immediately got what I was trying to do with EDISON and they are just fiercely supportive of writers in our community. Everything from editorial decisions to marketing plans have been made through an Asian American lens; I know that my book is in the right hands with them.
