“I had a story to tell”

iNTERVIEW: YISHEY D

With a book on Lepcha folktales, a widely popular coffee table book on Sikkim amongst some of her published works, Sikkimese writer Yishey Doma has now got herself a place in ‘She Writes: A collection of short stories’ published by one of the leading names in this line, Random House India.
Yishey is among the twelve winners of the short story contest organized by Random House India in association with MSN in May earlier this year. The contest asked participants to write on one of the three themes given and Yishey’s story ‘Mantras of Love’ got chosen from among 400 participants from all over the country. In conversation with Tshering Eden, Yishey D on “She Writes”:

NOW: What got you to enter the contest?
YISHEY D: Of course the big names – Random House and MSN. Moreover, I had a story to tell and one of the three categories ‘The man in my life’ with which we had to develop a storyline, fitted well. I changed a bit of my original idea and it worked.
The news about the contest was relayed to me by my friend in Delhi and I thought ‘why not take the opportunity’.

Tell us something about your story ‘Mantras of Love’ in She Writes.
‘Mantras of Love’ is about a self-styled nun, who finds an unlikely love in a Tibetan monastery in Dewachen (Sikkim). The love between Yangchen, a nun, and Philip Bryson, a photographer from New York grows as they trek to Dzongri.

Considering that your previous projects have been in other genres of writing, what is short story writing for you? 
Short story writing for me is like a poem in that there is nothing lost. Everything is savoured. It is therapeutic – it can vent your frustration, work out a problem or allow your imagination run wild or organize your thoughts, fictionally though. This happens in non-fiction and travelogue, but to a limited extent.

Writing as a career choice is a hard one to make for anyone living in any part of the world. In this context what is it like being a writer in Sikkim? 
I haven’t yet taken up writing as a career. Writing for me is a hobby, a passion, though it takes a lot of strategy, persistence, patience and plenty of effort. When I don’t write I feel unfulfilled.
Writing, as everyone knows, isn’t an easy career, not if you want to feed your family on what you earn. I feel that most writers in Sikkim (myself included) do other works to sustain their interest in writing. I also feel that Sikkim will take a long time to allow its writers make a living out of it.
The best and safe indication is having written and sold several books. Unless a writer continues selling, you don’t have a career. As some say a career in writing is five percent talent and 95 percent hard work.

Finally, is there anything you are working on at present?
I prefer to keep silence.