A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya

Interview
PALLAV IN CONVERSATION WITH
SWAYAM PRAKASH
Pallav
Pallav—You have completed forty years of writing without break
or breather. During this period you have written almost 250 short
stories, hundreds of articles in newspapers and magazines, a few
plays and five novels. You have published more than 30 books;
edited two significant magazines and translated a good number of
works by important authors. How do you look back at all this?
Do you look back in anger?
Swayam Prakash—Not exactly. Anger... but anguish...certainly yes.
We started our journey with a strong belief that the world will change
the way we want it to change. It may take time but later or sooner
it will have to change as per our desire and design. But like they
say somebody somewhere was listening to us and laughing at us.
As if remembering Ghalib 'baaji ch e atfal hai duniya mere aage;hota
hai shabo roz tamasha mere aage'...and when in the eighties every
thing had fallen apart we were just aghast! Just speechless!
Pallav—But retrospection has also been done.
Swayam Prakash—Yes...But I don’t think it has been done honestly.
Like true communists used to do in good old days.
Pallav—Why do you think so?
Swayam Prakash—Everybody said there is nothing wrong with
the theory, just the practice went wrong. Tell me is it possible that
more than one countries went on doing wrong practice for seventy
72 :: January-March 2012