HarperCollins Authors on Freedom of Expression

As India celebrates 76 glorious years of Independence from British rule, we asked our authors about what it means for them to have the freedom of expression, to tell their stories without fear. Read their thoughts in #FreedomToREAD series, through the end of this month!

Freedom to Write, Freedom to Read 

 

Manish Gaekwad 

In our present socio-political climate, we have begun to question our own clear and prescient thoughts as harmful in intent. Self-censorship has become so muddled that we doubt our basic right to think. And when our own thoughts become a real threat to our security and well-being then we are certainly not going to be free to read and write. What does a writer do then? Become a fugitive of their own thoughts? Or a rebel? Is there a middle path to toe? One can pretend and live oblivious of these factors but there’s a fat chance in that of becoming obtuse. Then to be relevant or shrug it, that’s the moral sword dangling above our very thoughts. 

Zorian Cross 

All great art is a form of rebellion. Whether it’s on a canvas, or a silver screen, or within a book—it was created by a mind that refused to submit to the status quo, a heart that dared to love even when the world around it was filled with hate, and a soul that dared to soar high above a world chained to its doom. 

To be able to write in my own voice is indeed a blessing. Writing is how I learned to access corners of my heart that I normally wouldn’t have access to. It’s through writing I learned how to navigate through my darkness, and in the process, bring light to the hearts and souls of the reader—uplifting their spirits. Healing is after all, a two-way street. 

The simple act of writing is powerful enough to defeat demons that haunt us from within, and terrorize the world around us. After all, the pen is mightier than the sword. 

Gautam Bhatia 

Writing is one of the fundamental means of expression, and a free society is, in large measure, characterised by the freedom it accords to anyone who desires to write. In India, this freedom is often a function of class, social, and linguistic privilege: the more axes of privilege you occupy, the less likely is your voice (written or spoken) be subjected to repression, and the greater is the ease with which you can access the infrastructure of expression, such as newspapers, agents and publishers, and so on. I have been a beneficiary of these axes; the hope is that in the next seventy-five years, these axes will become less inaccessible and more inclusive. 

Devika Rege 

The freedom to read is inseparable from the freedom of expression, because it is through the ideas of others, the majority of whom we will never meet, that we come into our own. To write in one’s own voice, as you put it, begins with securing the conditions that make honing a new voice possible. I was fortunate to grow up in an India where our sources of data, our presses and universities were less compromised, and I worry for those coming of age in these times. As for the freedom to express that voice, while the threats vary considerably depending on the artist’s vulnerability, subject and medium, across the board, there is a fear of writing about political or religious subjects. In such a climate, the dangers posed by external censorship are amplified many times over by internal censorship. For every page actually burned, hundreds more might never get written. 

Parini Shroff 

The freedom to read and write is indispensable to democracy, irrespective of personal beliefs or political affiliations. Beliefs are made stronger upon interrogation and inquiry; they need sustenance, to be fed a myriad of ideas, thoughts and stories. Storytelling inspires and challenges us and ultimately enlarges our world as well as the circle of our compassion. The starvation of the same can only mean we wither. It is through active discourse that we discover who we are and what we stand for, what we as a people will do and, perhaps more importantly, what we won’t. 

Minita Sanghvi 

Before the freedom to write, came the freedom to think, the freedom to imagine. In my story, Happy Endings, I imagine a brave new world that allows same sex marriage in India. I couldn’t even imagine that future growing up. There were hardly any lesbian love stories and most didn’t have a happy ending. I am grateful for the progress we’ve seen these past 20 years where I am allowed to imagine and express a world where Krish and Mahi, my protagonists, can get married, even if it just in fiction… yet. 

K.R. Meera 

A caged bird can only cry, it cannot sing. If you need to listen to the songs of the birds, spontaneously sweet and inspiringly melodious, you have to set them free. But humans on the other hand, produce arts to set themselves free. The more they are bonded, the more rebellious their creativity will be. The joy of writing for me is the sheer joy of liberation from all forms of bondage in this life. Only when I sit down to write, I enjoy the supreme freedom and become like God, a part and package of a supreme power, without shape, size or gender, at whose disposal the earth rotates and the life thrives on. Political power can impose censorship on the books, but not on the thoughts, dreams or imagination of the writers. I am not worried about the freedom of expression, because, we the People of India have always found a way to express ourselves, in every dark age in the history of our nation. We have always overcome, we will continue to overcome, too. 

Smriti Ravindra 

For centuries the Madhesi community in Nepal has had little to no voice.  The Madhesi woman has been doubly silent, suppressed both by the ruling mainstream and by the men she lives with. My experience as a Madhesi woman is central to me, and talking about it is essential for my expression. I have had many Madhesi people reach out to me to tell me that the Madhesiness of my stories is what touches them most, that my voice is not mine alone, it is also theirs. I hear in them expressions of joy and pride and I am filled with gratitude. Freedom comes with support, and support is not easily given when it can be easily withheld.  It makes me aware of all the ways in which I have been supported. I am still exploring the full range of my voice.  I am still hesitant to write about certain things in particular ways.  I realize this is the result of my training, of my struggle as a member of an oppressive and oppressed community. 

Ruchira Gupta 

The journey for independence never truly ends. Freedom is a daily struggle for countless girls and women in India. Besides hunger and homelessness, a vast number face discrimination and sexual abuse. The majority of our youth endure bullying, body shaming, and sexual exploitation at some point in their lives. More often than not their trauma is shrouded in secrecy. 

But here’s the deal: we don’t have to accept it as the norm. Through the written word, we wield the power to demolish the walls of silence, igniting conversations that breed understanding and incite transformation.  

Through my novel, “I Kick and I Fly,” I aim to amplify marginalized voices and confront literary norms that often overlook the real challenges faced by today’s youth. I introduce Heera, a girl who escapes the sex trade by mastering Kung Fu with the help of some bold women determined to take control of their destinies.  

My mission?  I aim to obliterate the silence veiling the struggles endured by girls like Heera.   

On India’s 76th independence anniversary, let’s seize the written word’s might to empower individuals, break the chains of silence, and redefine our collective destiny. Lets hold onto the freedom to write. Resting on the laurels of our freedom struggle, earned 76 years ago, is far from enough.