City makes heavy weather of light read

What is it about Kolkata authors that makes them averse to the genre of Indian chick lit? Or lad lit, for that matter? Why is it that those writing in English from Kolkata are usually drawn towards the more serious stuff and largely happy penning literary fiction and poetry?
Is it out of a sense of literary snootiness? Or simply a disinterest towards a genre that is often accepted as light reading?
For those not familiar, chick lit is the sub-genre of fiction that is written in an airy and irreverent tone and features hip single working women in their 20s or 30s while tracing their emotional lives and professional struggles.Lad lit, in contrast, would refer to similar writings from the guy's point of view. From Rajashree's 'Trust Me' to Anuja Chauhan's 'Zoya Factor', from Advaita Kala's 'Almost Single' to Swati Kaushal's 'Piece of Cake', the Indian avatar of the highly popular 'Bridget Jones' Diary' and 'Sex and the City' is offering food for thought with their saucy depiction of the life of today's urban women who prioritize career over personal life, ridicule arranged marriages, break their head over weight loss and love to shop at the drop of a hat.
Literary agents are pleasantly surprised with this apathy of Kolkata writers towards this genre. Says Jaipur-based literary agent Mita Kapoor: "While I get writings from Kolkata authors who are into serious work, it's strange that I have never come across anything from Kolkata in the chick lit or lad lit genre. Perhaps authors from Kolkata carry on their shoulders the legacy of creating works that are far more rooted. But the publishing industry is opening out and it's time that writing emerging out of Kolkata experimented in other genres as well."
Delhi-based literary agent Urmila Dasgupta admits that Bengali authors are by and large inclined towards fiction. "They want to attempt something which is multi-layered and subtle. The humour is also not the street smart variety. It's rather more into the tragi-comic or satire variety. There are quite a few graphic novels coming out of Kolkata. I have worked with some first-time authors whose works borders on chick lit. I feel the choice of Kolkata writers might be governed by the connotations of the genre. Chick lit is about quick entertaining read. Many feel it doesn't challenge the intellect and those who take pride in intellect, like Kolkatans, or rather Bengalis, are not open to embracing that genre. However, it's never easy to write anything. Nobody who writes is unintelligent."
While publishers get submissions for chick lit even from very small towns, Kolkata is very aloof. Says Saugata Mukherjee, publisher, Pan Macmillan: "Kolkata considers itself highbrow. I get a lot of writing in the literary fiction genre, but certainly not in the commercial mass market category. That could be because readers and writers here have been subjected to great literature in Bangla. Kolkata might associate chick lit or lad lit with low literature. Ever since the Chetan Bhagatization of Indianized English, we have had so much contribution even from small-town India in terms of campus fiction or chick lit. This genre has really taken off in the past five or six years. Young writers from Lucknow, Ajmer and Jaipur are contributing in this genre. Kolkata, in contrast, aspires for literary fiction or midlist kind of writing."
Says Sidharth Pansari, managing director, Crossword Kolkata: "Recent successful fiction writers in India still treat writing as an alternative career. Initially, writing wasn't a high paying job and an author would earn approximately Rs 2.5 lakh as royalty in two years assuming a successful print run of 10,000 copies worth Rs 200 each. That isn't enough to sustain anyone. So, it's imperative to have a stable career otherwise. With most headquarters shifting outside Kolkata, these professionals also need to move out. For authors, Delhi offers a lot of interesting opportunities in the publishing industry. In Mumbai, Bollywood writing opens up for them. So, you will find highly placed Bengali professionals shifting out of Kolkata and writing as a side venture."
Rimi B Chatterjee, who has published work in English and teaches at Jadavpur University, agrees with Pansari. "We have exported quite a few talents to other cities because Kolkata offers very few corporate jobs. I can't remember a single name of a click lit author. This genre has a lot of potential. It's part of the immigrant culture where the authors are talking about the excitement of living alone. In Kolkata, most young people usually stay on with their parents and so that experience doesn't lend itself to chick lit. And why just chick lit? I can't also name any new nationally famous Indian writer based in Kolkata who is penning in English today." Chatterjee is now working on a science fiction novel that is set 600 years into the future and plans to write a chick lit some day.
Raju Barman, partner, Rupa & Co., Kolkata, is more optimistic. "I'm sure Kolkata has such authors. But it's just that they haven't been able to establish contact with the right publishers," Barman insists.
Mumbai-based author Rajashree, who penned 'Trust Me' during the early days of chick lit in India, is now writing a chick flick that she intends to direct soon. Says Rajashree, "Swati Kaushal, who wrote 'Piece of Cake', studied at IIM-Calcutta. But I suppose she has moved abroad now. Kolkata has a very different culture from Delhi. Chick lit also reflects that culture. If the city has to pick up a book, it would be more serious stuff."
Advaita Kala's next is a novel called 'Kahaani' that is set in Kolkata. "Though I no longer live in Kolkata, I have written this based on my memories of this city. I don't know whether it can be called chick lit though," Kala says.
Devapriya Roy, who launched 'The Vague Woman's Handbook' last March, says: "I can't think of a single other author in Kolkata writing chick lit in English though I personally have no problems with the tag. I am now writing a sequel to that book. The problem with Kolkata is that young people are deserting the city by the droves. Delhi is where I'm told one has to be to get the networking right. There is an author - Depanjan Roychowdhury - who has written two books, 'Triolet' and 'The Tryptich'. Both are collection of novellas. He is an exception and has loved to stay back in Kolkata. He didn't even want a Delhi launch for his book."
But that's a rarity, one would say. If young filmmakers and musicians can try out different genres in Kolkata, why not our authors?