Her Palace of Words

Prolific, positive and passionate, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni places women firmly at the centre of her literary canvas, crafting her characters with empathy and compassion and reflecting a deep understanding of the human story.

- Arati Rajan Menon

This January, in its 10th edition, the Jaipur Litfest was less literary event and more jamboree. With an international cast of authors spanning geographies and genres, the charming Diggi Palace could barely contain the surge of humanity—from scribes and students to socialities and selfie-seekers—that invaded its expansive grounds.

On the morning of Day 2, the Front Lawn of the Palace, the largest of its six venues, was the epicentre of action, people packed like sardines, standing room only for tardy arrivals. “I’m a little nervous,” confessed Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni as she took the stage to discuss her new book, Before We Visit the Goddess (Simon & Schuster; ₹ 375; 210 pages). She needn’t have been—the welcoming roar she received from the audience kicked off an hour-long session of insight and inspiration, revealing the empathy that has made her so beloved an author.

Right from her debut novel, The Mistress of Spices (1997), through her body of work, including Sister of My Heart (1999) and, of course, The Palace of Illusions (2008), her retelling of the Mahabharata through Draupadi’s perspective that has gained her near rockstar status with younger Indian women, her focus as a writer has never wavered. “I always want women at the centre of my canvas,” she says. “I want her voice to be heard.” In her latest, ...Goddess, we meet three generations of them —Sabitri, Bela and Tara—as Divakaruni takes us on an emotional crossing bridging countries and cultures, chance and circumstance, a journey as compelling as the spiritual voyage of her protagonists. “Life is a mixture of character and destiny,” she says, and this truth suffuses every page of this remarkable book.