Interview with R. Seshasayee, company honcho-turned-novelist

The business veteran says he needed to query the stereotyping of artwork and faith together with his ebook ‘The Dance of Religion’

The business veteran says he needed to query the stereotyping of artwork and faith together with his ebook ‘The Dance of Religion’

Zaheer, a Muslim boy from a small village on the foot hills of Yercaud, has been obsessive about dance from childhood. His early classes are from Tamil movies. Stars like Padmini and Vyjayanthimala maintain him in thrall. Rhythm, actions and expressions play in his head always at the same time as his classmates sneer. He needs to be taught Bharatanatyam however his father is not going to permit him to pursue his ardour. Nevertheless, no impediment goes to discourage him from his chosen path.

The Dance of Religion, a multilayered novel by R. Seshasayee, raises questions in regards to the stereotyping of artwork and faith. Can a practising Muslim change into a Bharatanatyam dancer? The ebook delves into the query of id because the protagonist pursues a life in artwork.

Seshasayee has held a number of management positions within the company world. He was government vice-chairman and managing director of Ashok Leyland, chairman, Infosys, and chairman, IndusInd Financial institution.

At the moment, vice-chairman at Hinduja Group and unbiased director at Asian Paints, the 74-year-old explains his selection of topic for his debut novel. Edited excerpts:

You’re one of many senior business leaders within the nation, and on the board of so many firms. How did you discover the time to write down fiction?

I give credit score to the lockdown. Though I began the ebook a few years in the past, I used to be capable of make substantial progress in the course of the lockdown, when, like everybody else, I used to be left with time that was earlier spent on ready at airports and in unproductive conferences!

One would have assumed your first novel to be in regards to the company world. Why didn’t you need to do this?

I feel there was an inside urge to get away from the company world, and take into consideration different issues in life.

You’re educated in Carnatic music and have additionally been the vice-president of The Music Academy in Chennai. One would have anticipated music to be the main target of your ebook.

The query I used to be making an attempt to handle transcends artwork types. Whether or not artwork as an id must be tied to religion, which is one more id, is value considering.

It is a very visible ebook. The village, the honest, the multicultural folks, Chennai’s lanes and bylanes, Mylapore, dance lessons, sabhas, all come alive. How lengthy did the analysis take?

Not a lot. All of us observe, be taught and assimilate many issues in the midst of our life. I needed to merely retrieve these reminiscences and data from my psychological library. However I did try many particulars — as an example, on Islamic practices — with my buddies.

What’s your tackle artwork and faith? Our classical music and dance are filled with devotion and religiosity. Do you suppose it’s attainable for artwork to result in non secular unity?

Basically, I subscribe to the idea that we’re all a bundle of various identities. Religion is only one of them. There are others — citizenry, language, occupation, artwork. Even the identical religion, Hinduism, as an example, has a number of sub-identities. I feel society must always discover methods to unite humanity with what’s frequent between social teams, somewhat than permit division on the premise of what’s totally different. In an surroundings the place religion separates folks, artwork and different identities can and must be deployed for unity. If artwork or language is bundled with religion, it solely exacerbates the divide. This novel is an expression of my views on societal stereotyping and the interface between artwork and religion.

The interviewer is a Chennai-based journalist and writer.

By- The Hindu

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