Meet Namrata Poddar | Writer and Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Namrata Poddar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Namrata, what role has risk played in your life or career?

Like many, I see the ability to take risks as crucial to success; it’s played a huge role in my life and professional path too.

Taking risks has much to do with being attuned to one’s inner voice, to the intelligence of one’s body (loudest, perhaps, in the heart or the gut) as opposed to the rational mind that is often a sum total of other people’s voices, even if, by saying this, I don’t mean to imply an easy binary between the mind and the body.

I grew up in a very middle-class Mumbai (India) which may be considered as poor according to North American standards, given the staggering gap of resources that divides a so-called First World from the Third. The reason I migrated to the U.S. was because I wanted an easier life than the one I grew up with *and* I wanted a life with enough creativity in it. In other words, I wanted to have a career in the Arts, a possibility I didn’t see in the gritty, urban India I grew up in, unless one came from upper class or caste, and with access to the right networks, or one was okay living paycheck to paycheck for all of their life.

At every point of my professional path, whether in India or in the U.S, I took risks toward my artistic aspirations (here is a much longer story)–and I’ve been blessed to have a family who always supported me in the path that would bring me joy over money, first. This support, of course, has also to do with the fact that my mother was an academic and my father an artist, and the fact that while we lived with very little, we were never really starving or risking survival at a very basic level. So I will say yes, risks are about getting quiet and going within, but the ability to take risks is greatly enhanced by a few, supportive loved ones and a minimal ease with one’s bank balance. Who gets to choose and pursue freedom (professional or otherwise) is so closely tied with the question of class–something people can forget.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

I’m highly interested in exploring the relationship between storytelling and P/power, in exploring how storytelling can resist and subvert dangerous forms of power in the world, how storytelling is among our greatest power as human beings, and latter means, exercising this power with responsibility and care. 

For about two decades, all of my writing, teaching, editing and research has focused on exploring and talking about this relationship between storytelling and power, as it often manifests in my work through the questions of race, class, caste, gender, ecology, place, and migration. That said, this relationship between storytelling and power has been explored by countless writers across the world. In fact, the whole history of literature and storytelling across media, as I see it, is about an exploration of storytelling versus power. So my writing is a tiny drop in the ocean, yet what sets it apart from others is the unique perspective I bring to my voice: a voice inflected by my specific identity as a first-generation Indian American writer of Hindu Marwari heritage with roots in the Thar Desert who has lived in different parts of the world, and always, in urban coastal spaces. This life trajectory translates into the perspective I bring to my understanding of food, music, culture, humor, clothing, culture, and most of all, to English as a language I predominantly write in, even if I’m multilingual. This specific perspective, and consequently, my writerly voice, is what sets my work apart from those of others, I believe—it’s what I’d like my readers to know first about my brand, so to speak. 

On how I got to where I am today, I credit the role of risks, a support system and the right mentors and allies on the road, things I’ve shared earlier today.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

Orange County, or “L.A. suburbs” where I live is bigger than L.A. and is made of a couple of dozen cities, and home to huge ethnocultural diversity despite its stereotypical image of being a home to old White Republicans. A week hardly feels enough to offer even a glimpse into the area, but of course, my bestie and I will work with what we have. Based on our shared interests (food, nature, tea, art and culture) and an assumption that we’re past a global pandemic, or at least in a safer space with global health, this itinerary is what I have to offer:

Day 1: We’ll start with my current hometown and visit the pier at Huntington Beach–home to a global surfing culture; get lunch by Duke’s–seafood restaurant by the pier with gorgeous views of the Pacific; visit the underrated Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum—a great place to learn about the Polynesian “roots” to the North American surf culture that is often consumed as a white history; take a long walk by the beach, read or bike, and wrap up the day with dinner at LSXO, brainchild of chef Tin Vuong, with great views of the beach again and a contemporary Asian fusion menu centering Vietnamese cuisine with Chinese, French and other influences.

Day 2: We’ll drive to the neighboring city of Costa Mesa for an early lunch at Seabirds, my favorite vegan restaurant in O.C.; indulge in some retail therapy (wallet willing) or window-shop at South Coast Plaza; catch a music or dance performance by The Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and wrap up the day with a late-ish dinner and drinks at either The Water Grill (for seafood lovers) or Vaca (for serious meat eaters), both upscale-ish restaurants, but hey, the women are on a hard-earned break, I safely assume.

Day 3: A trip to Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, a stop by my favorite bookstore in O.C.– Libromobile—to buy all kinds of books by BIPOC for both adults and children alike, and dinner at one of the many restaurants after a walk in downtown Santa Ana.

Day 4: Reserved for coastal hikes as our coastline is among the most beautiful in the world. We’ll start with a breakfast at the Mexican restaurant Las Brisas, because of the views again, then hike down the adjacent Heisler Park with stunning views of the Laguna Bay. Next, drive to Newport Beach and a hike along the beach across from Cyrstal Cove shopping center, and around sunset, drive to my favorite hike in O.C., Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve—a quirky patch of wetlands in H.B. that brings together nature and the urban side to the city in a unique way, and is among the country’s largest home to migrant birds. Wrap up the day with a fave local restaurant serving tapas and drinks in H.B., The Black Trumpet.

Day 5: Visit to San Juan Capistrano, starting with The Mission, historic landmark and museum that is also seen as the birthplace of Orange County. Late lunch at Ramos House Café or The Tea House on Los Rios, walk around and window-shop in the historic district of Los Rios, and stop by Xavier’s in Newport Beach for dinner and drinks while on the drive back to H.B.

Day 6: While Cerritos is technically in Los Angeles County, it shares borders with O.C. and no visit by my bestie would be complete without me taking them to the only place in Southern California that does justice to traditional Indian food. An inevitable first stop to try all kinds of chaat at Surati Farsan, then visit the South Asian grocery stores to replenish spices in one’s kitchen, window-shop for all kinds of South Asian and Indo-Western clothing in the boutiques of Pioneer boulevard, and finally, a South Indian dinner at Podi Dosa.

Day 7: If the bestie were visiting with her child, a visit to Disney Land or Knott’s Berry Farm is a mandatory one; we’d be no exception here. And then, wrap up with dinner at the predominantly Asian, newly-opened mall in Buena Park, The Source, with several Asian restaurants to choose from, starting with probably a much needed cup of caffeine by then at Basilur Tea & Coffee. If without kids, this last day would be reserved for a visit to the largest Vietnamese enclave in the U.S., Little Saigon spread along Westminster and Garden Grove, then lunch at Brodard Chateau in Garden Grove, one of the most popular Vietnamese restaurants in the region, followed by a facial or a massage at a local Asian spa. As for the bestie’s last evening in O.C., this would have to be very special and depend on the moment itself and how she wants to end her visit.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

Gosh, there are just so many people without whom I wouldn’t be where I am in life today. But I speak as a writer here, so a shoutout to all my teachers and peers who supported me on my path to becoming one. UCLA Extension’s Writing Program where I first took writing workshops while teaching at UCLA. My peers and mentors at Bennington Writing Seminars who upped my game with the craft of writing. My doctoral and postdoctoral mentors as well as colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania and UCLA who held high standards and taught me to take reading seriously–the biggest gift any writer can have.

The American literary world is known to be 85% at all levels of executive decision making, from those who acquire and edit books to the juries of its most prestigious awards. Breaking into this industry as a brown migrant woman author has never felt easy. So my biggest shoutout here to writers who taught me how to navigate P/power from within a system built to erase voices like mine and bring that voice to the page in as “authentic” a way as possible. I don’t know these writers personally but a shoutout to Sandra Cisneros, Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni, Edwidge Danticat, Natalie Diaz, Cathy Park Hong, Tiphanie Yanique, Elissa Washuta, and so many more who I see as my literary parents or siblings.

Website: www.namratappodar.com

Instagram: @writerpoddar

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/namrata-poddar-b858161/

Twitter: @poddar_namrata

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLDsXcFHi3A&t=14s

Image Credits
Cover of my novel, Border Less: releasing in March 2021 from 7.13 Books, Original art on the cover by: Harshad Marathe. All 5 author photos I shared are by: Elena Bessi