Author Rheaa Mukherjee explores the futility of rules and social constructs, grief, and the role of gender in love through her second book, 'The Girl Who Kept Falling in Love'.
Author Rheea Mukherjee. (Supplied)
Rheea Mukherjee wears multiple hats. She’s a writer, mental health crusader, and a passionate animal rights activist. Her debut novel, The Body Myth (2019), was shortlisted for the TATA Literature Live First Book Award 2019. Her work has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, Buzzfeed, Scroll.in, Electric Literature, Out of Print Magazine, and Southern Humanities Review, among others.
She also co-founded the Bangalore Writers Workshop in 2012, and Write Leela Write, a design and content laboratory, in 2014.
On the heels of the success of her debut novel, Rheea is now back with her second offering, The Girl Who Kept Falling in Love, which is set to release in September 2023.
In this exclusive interview, she opens up about her journey as a writer, the themes that drive her work, and the need for authenticity in both writing and life.
Q: Did The Body Myth help you find your voice as a writer?
A. I began writing short fiction at 22 and completed The Body Myth at 34. Before that, I had two unsuccessful attempts at novels. Prior to getting it published, I had written numerous short stories.
This book allowed me to find a more confident voice and delve further into themes I had previously explored — such as the futility of rules and social constructs, grief, the role of gender in love, and the subtle ironies in our approach to relationships.
The book is set to release in September 2023. (Supplied)
Q. What can readers expect from your upcoming book, The Girl who Kept Falling in Love?
A. The Girl Who Kept Falling in Love explores themes similar to my previous work but takes a different approach. It examines contemporary Indian events and delves into various facets of the Indian immigrant experience in the US (having spent a significant part of my life there).
Additionally, it explores the profound influence and absurdities of social justice rhetoric on platforms like Instagram, particularly in urban India. While there are unexpected surprises in the story, I’d rather not reveal everything just yet.
Q. How important is authenticity in writing and in life?
A. To me, authenticity means showing up as awkwardly and courageously as you can in the world. So much of our life is shaped by assumptions, narratives, and binary ideas about the world.
Keeping it real means figuring out your own responses to the world as honestly and consistently as possible, given your circumstances.
If this resonates with you, then I believe you would agree that authenticity is crucial in both real life and writing.
It’s time for the cover reveal of my new novel! The Girl Who Kept Falling in Love, in bookstores this September with @PenguinIndia! Many thanks to @stacy_testa and @sorcerical <3 More updates soon soon! pic.twitter.com/3Us7hGUpA5
— Rheea Rodrigues Mukherjee (@cashewcutlet) June 20, 2023
Q. Resilience, empathy, values — do you seek to redefine these terms through your life and works?
A. I’m not sure if I seek to redefine them, but I certainly hope to be part of the voices that are evolving and expanding the ideas behind these terms. I think we often overlook the social context when it comes to these concepts.
I believe these words — resilience, empathy, values — are immensely important for humanity to broaden its imagination.
Rheea with her first book, “The Body Myth”. (Supplied)
Q. You have been documenting your struggles with mental health on social media. Do you think such engagement helps people?
A. Talking about things we were taught not to talk about can help us all. Not everyone has the privilege or the personality to share certain things with the world.
But vulnerability helps us in tangible and intangible ways. I have battled depression for decades and have lost people to it. Mental health needs to be understood within a social context as much as within a biological and medical one.
Speaking about my struggles allows me to express myself and creates a space where I hope discussing mental health doesn’t feel isolating or taboo for others.
Q. As a staunch proponent of veganism who writes extensively about animal rights and abuse, what do you think of the vegan movement in India?
A. Veganism is often seen as an urban or Western oddity with health benefits, rather than a social justice movement. However, animal rights is a complex issue.
Humans have misconceptions about food, nutrition, and health, and we tend to prefer binary ideas, even if we consider ourselves liberal or progressive. Killing billions of animals each year for consumption is a grave injustice.
We must address this violence for the animals and to understand our capacity for it. I want to have meaningful conversations about animal rights and our relationship with food.
Any social justice movement that overlooks caste and class in India offers only superficial solutions to our mistreatment of animals.
Q. Can one subvert the system simply by existing?
A. Certainly. Many of my actions and the way I exist might make certain spaces and individuals uncomfortable. However, I firmly believe that every individual has the ability to subvert the system simply through their existence.
The notion of being confined to a binary — either “this” or “that” — is an oversimplified narrative that we find easy to digest.
The truth is, we all possess an inner voice. Some people lack the necessary space and resources to develop their authentic responses to the world. Others find it difficult to confront social repercussions. And there are those who subvert the world in ways that defy labels or categorisation.
Above all, I believe that there are countless acts of radical kindness that go unnoticed each day in our world.
While there is undoubtedly much evil, my greatest inspiration to continue evolving lies in my belief in the magic and transformative power of acts of kindness.
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