Last year, when Aparna Upadhyaya Sanyal released her debut book of stories in verse, Circus Folk & Village Freaks, never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined for it to be an instant hit and #3 on the Amazon India Bestseller list. She never expected that her book, which is centered on themes of sexuality, caste, mental health, racism, classism, and feminism, would garner such widespread appreciation, with her being compared to the likes of Rupi Kaur. What’s even more impressive is that Aparna had only begun to write poetry about a year ago.

Urging people to take a peek into their inner freak before pointing fingers at others, Aparna’s book takes readers through the journey of a village and a circus via 18 tales that are told in rhyming couplets.

As of now, Circus Folk & Village Freaks is at number four on the Amazon Poetry Bestseller Charts, yet again! With Indian Women Blog having its fair share of bibliophiles, it was about time that we learnt more about this author.

Excerpts:

How did you celebrate the news of your book being on the bestsellers list?

I was travelling with my family when I found out. I did a little impromptu jig and then went back to putting my five-year-old son to sleep. Just another day in the life of a mum who is also a writer.

‘Circus Folk & Village Freaks’ is at no. 4 on the Amazon Poetry Bestseller Charts, yet again! ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Profoundly grateful to the wonderful #bookstagram community of readers and reviewers for their enthusiastic and beautifully written reviews and gorgeous photos too! ❤️ This week I’ve been compared to Dryden and Rupi Kaur and have had people rave about the cover of the book and its contents too. It has an average of 4.5/5 stars on Amazon and a whopping 166 reviews already. It has consistently been sharing space on the charts with works by such luminaries as Javed Akhtar, Gulzar, Rupi Kaur (of course), Harivanshrai Bachchan, and one of my personal favourites- Stephen Fry! I pinch myself multiple times a day and thank my lucky stars for this incredible stroke of fortune. Thank you so much to everyone who is making this ongoing journey so amazing. To everyone who is reading, reviewing, appreciating and spreading the word: thank you, thank you a million times from the bottom of this author’s heart. Truly, it may take a Circus to birth a book, but it takes a Village to raise it. Deepest, deepest, deepest gratitude. ❤️❤️❤️ #amazoncharts #poetrylovers #bookreviewers #bestseller #amazonbestseller #poetrybestseller #rupikaur #readersofinstagram #booklovers #fivestarreviews #bestsellingbook #beatsellingauthor #indianpoet #indianauthor #womanpoet #womanwriter #javedakhtar #gulzar #harivanshraibachchan #stephenfry

72 Likes, 9 Comments – Aparna Upadhyaya Sanyal (@aparnasanyalwrites) on Instagram: “‘Circus Folk & Village Freaks’ is at no. 4 on the Amazon Poetry Bestseller Charts, yet again!…”

Coming back to your bestselling wonder, I would like to know the reason behind using the background of a circus to put your thoughts forward.

My first recollection of a circus is traumatic. My parents took me to one when I was about eight years old and I remember the evening so clearly. The opening act had a bunch of dwarf clowns who ‘performed’ by smacking each other with cricket bats. As the crowd around me laughed hysterically, I burst out crying and could not stop. Overwhelmed with an emotion I could not even identify, much less explain to my parents, I sat through the act weeping.

I calmed down somewhat when the acrobats performed, but then the caged animals came on and I burst out wailing again. I refused to sit through the act. My parents took me home and we never went to a circus again. I realise now that the feeling overwhelming me on that day was one of utter despondency and shock at the plight of these living things being displayed for the callous entertainment of others. I couldn’t tolerate the hopelessness permeating that atmosphere and the pathos behind those painted-on smiles.

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Suffice to say I’ve never forgotten that day. When the stories in the book came to me, they pretty much told themselves. The characters came fully formed, with purpose, like they were just waiting for me to take up my laptop and listen! Starting with Subramaniam, then onto Pablo, as each story unfolded, I realised that my characters were recreating the circus of my long-ago childhood, one that to me held a seminal trauma.

Many people who know me have since told me that the book is almost autobiographical, in that it speaks of my own struggle for self-acceptance through various traumas and mental health matters. So, now I look back and realise it’s very natural for the book to find its centre in a circus, that circus from my childhood that made me question my humanity.

Mental health rarely finds the freedom of being discussed in urban areas and here your book talks about mental health and the suffocating stigma around it in the setting of a village and a circus, where people are already considered freaks.

I have spent over 20 years of my life battling Major Depressive Disorder. So, it’s safe to say that mental health finds a say in everything I write. Even if I’m not writing about mental health concerns consciously, it colours my work on some level. The need to not just start, but sustain a conversation around mental health is so pressing, so urgent because it affects everyone – urban, rural and in between. There are no exceptions.

And I would love to ask people, who are the real freaks? Those who are trapped, caged and bullied into leading a life on display just because they were born different, maybe with an atypical physicality, or the scores of people who go to watch these poor souls for entertainment and who laugh at another human being’s misfortune?

Typically, our society rarely has the answers to these questions. Talking about society, we read that your book also touches upon the issues of caste and patriarchy?

In my opinion, caste and patriarchy are two sides of the same coin, not just in my book, but in our society as a whole. Their interplay takes on a large role in the arcs of the stories in this book, particularly the village stories. The circus here is a melting pot already, containing those discarded bits of humanity whose condition mostly takes them past the set roles of caste and patriarchy. So in a sense, the characters in the circus mingle more freely. The circus master loves the female wrestler, the snake man has a Siamese twin lover, and so on. They have more real worries than the made-up rubric of ‘caste’ or even ‘gender’.

In the village, however, lives are governed by rigid systems and an often devastating set of rules. Rules that boil over with corrosive might and ruin innocent lives.

So, the female characters in this circus battle the evils of society to reclaim their dignity?

Yes, the book has some really strong, determined women characters- girls who cock a snook at patriarchy and follow their hearts. Whether it is Luxmi, the dart thrower who abandons an affluent family hell-bent on getting her married to the highest bidder in exchange for a life at the circus, or even the ‘fat woman fire-eating hermaphrodite’ whom I refer to in quite a few chapters, but who does not have her own poem, the girls of this circus are strong characters who refuse to be browbeaten by circumstances.

They are all outcasts making their way through life with their heads held high and a sense of humour. These are the tales of their magnificence, their passions, their wit and their will to lead lives of dignity despite trying circumstances. I think that in this book at times it may appear that the circus women are more emancipated than the women of the village. For example, the wife of Murugan, the astrologer who does not have a say in the matter of her son’s health care. But then, we have the story of Urvashi, the village devadasi who breaks stereotypes without blinking! So, I guess, what I want to convey is that women are strong, no matter what their circumstance. And their strife is what burnishes them to shine bright.

So, of the 18 tales in the book, which one is the closest to your heart?

Murugan, the Astrologer- a devastating tale for me personally. It wrung me out and made me cry! Without giving away the plot, I can say that this story has a strong intersection of caste restrictions, blind faith, superstition and the overwhelming emotions of being a parent. It’s a harrowing tale that I think speaks to some of my darkest fears.

What’s next on your plate? Another amazing book, perhaps?

Yes! Amazing or not, the next book is on the anvil. Short stories, but in prose this time, and ready in the first draft already! In fact, one of the stories from this book was shortlisted for a major international award too (The Third Coast Fiction Prize). Any publishers reading?