Deshpande believes that men and women write differently:
"I
think it is very clear that my own writing is very much
a woman's writing. I think just one little example, the
beginning of That Long Silence for example: it's a very
stark beginning - at the same time it uses a metaphor
of childbirth for the act of writing. It uses the idea
of looking into mirrors to speak of different images.
I somehow feel that anybody who reads this would know
this is a woman writing."
Deshpande believes that men and women write differently and that they write about different subjects. Deshpande herself writes in English and her books are translated into Indian languages. She thinks writing in English has a dramatic effect on her style …
"
I think my style is really a very simple and stark style,
which rarely draws attention to itself. I think I'm always
very wary of melodrama, from florid flourishes. We have
a particular problem of writing in English which is not
really our mother tongue, but I find that writing in English
suits me fine. It's a very utilitarian language and I
think Indian languages are extremely flowery. I find myself
much closer to English for my writing style and, of course,
I use English in a very natural way. "
"Strange - I always found it easy"
