HindustantT Interview Dystopic fic

Firstly, when news of a contagious novel virus started emerging, did you think it was going to get this bad? What are the bits you could never have predicted?    No one expected  the pandemic to be this prolonged, and serious. I couldn’t have envisioned, even in a nightmare, that migrants will be forced to walk hundreds of kilometres to get back home when their jobs dried up in the city, or the number of deaths worldwide . Nor the irresponsibility of thousands who do not wear masks or practice social distancing, thereby endangering families, friends and brave health workers.  The pandemic and its subsequent fallout is the type of thing that happens once in a lifetime, and has a devastating impact. How has this impacted your own thoughts and ideas about humanity and the human existence?    In many ways the pandemic has shown the best and worse in us as a species. On the one hand I am appalled by the callousness of many; on the other many are finding strength in these dark times to be more compassionate in word and action.  I prefer to focus on the latter.  In a sense, writing is analogous to the effect the pandemic has on us, for we’ve never been more self-involved yet, simultaneously, we’ve developed a heightened awareness of the sufferings of others and our need to reach out has increased.  What barriers has this broken in terms of the futuristic themes of science fiction and dystopian writing?   This is a large question. We recall Bertol Brecht's quote: 'In the dark times will there be singing? Yes, there will also be singing about the dark times.' Perhaps we see it thus: we sing about renewing ourselves in these dark times, we sing about love, hope, doubt, frailty, and dreams, about finding subterranean sources of strength  and flowing onwards. In my recent speculative fiction short stories I find myself sing about a more inclusive, equitable time which could be possible if we listen well to others, ourselves and to the earth; if we hear silences speak the wisdom of interconnectedness. This. sharpened, cultivated capacity for listening to the pain and rapture of others is significant to me.  In my near-future story, Listen: A Memoir, the narrator is attuned to various species speaking in their diverse tongues. For instance, she heeds, “  '-- plants speak through space, in the manner they open their leaves, spread petals, turn to the light, hold rocks with roots, drop fruit and leaves, scatter spores and scents through air – '  (Multispecies Cities: Solarpunk Urban Futures, WorldWeaver  press)  Many  speculative fiction writers currently stress acuity and intensity of listening to the world  in multiple ways, and being receptive to the larger picture over gloom and doom scenarios. Because as long as there is life, there is hope.  A year into the pandemic, considering this was something we all went through at the same time, together, how do you think it has affected our collective minds? What kind of changes have you observed in the way people think, do things, and spend their time?  It is time for each one of us to ask ourselves: what have you  done or not done to bring about these dark times? What are you doing to the planet and the future of your children if current political ecological and lifestyle choices continue? On what grounds can you say you love your children if you hand them an impoverished future? I think some are more aware and take action – like donate more freely to causes.  Time and again I raise these questions in my writing as  I accept I too am part of this, and, in my writing, work towards a more participatory mode with readers as in EcoLit Examination Paper where the researched ‘story’ is a quiz. E.g. ARE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE:(15 marks) Throughout the subcontinent, forests deemed ‘Sacred groves’ were not allowed to be felled. The widely implemented concept of ‘Restorative groves’ is its current version. Fossil images of trilobites ‘traffic jams’ in 480 million-year-old oceans reveal migration is intrinsic to life. The koala was not always an endangered species. Their fingerprints are so indistinguishable from humans that they were, on occasion, confused at a crime scene. 4 Early medical texts recommend deer as suitable companions for ‘disturbed’ maidens due to their gentleness which was regarded as an offshoot of the animals’ virtual colour blindness to all hues except blue. 5 Fungi warp our sense of time as we cannot accurately date when they are born or die. 6. Deep time mappings of the Antarctic revealed 3% of the ice in these glaciers was penguin urine. 7. Climate Change documents of the early 21st century state a cyclone would diminish within a week after landfall. 8. Macaques were noticed gazing at sunsets and similar spectacles while ignoring distractions like fruiting trees -- which indicated they were wonder struck and lost in awe. 9.The Cuckoo Agenda was the name given by ultra-nationalists of rich nations to climate refugees. 10 The bears’ sense of smell is 2,100 times better than that of humans. Black bears could follow a scent trail 32 kilometers away, now it is up to 18 kilometers. 11. Luring fish back to dying coral reefs through their recorded calls induced reefs to flower with color and become vibrant ecosystems. And so on. How did you spend the lockdown?  It's a time for reflection, taking stock, and finding faith in ourselves and others. I've been trying to face my fears.  Ponder questions like the ones above, writing hard, cherishing the time I have with family, friends, art and nature, and being grateful for every day and every little thing received. (Pl may I know where you were during the lockdown, and whom you spent that time with, to add to my introduction of you.)