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AUTHOR Q&A
A Conversation With
Amulya Malladi
I moved to Denmark from the United States in 2002 and was
immediately struck by how refugees and immigrants in general are
treated in this country. We moved to Denmark in large part because
my husband is Danish and we wanted our boys to get a dose of Europe.
Since I had already been an immigrant in the United States, I didn’t
think Denmark would be much different; needless to say, I was wrong.
The Sound of Language
almost didn’t get written. I had this idea about writing a story
about the friendship between an Afghan refugee and an old Danish
beekeeper–but I didn’t know where to start. One Christmas, while I
was doing the dishes with Dorthe Vejsnæs (my husband’s aunt), I told
her my idea about this story. She suggested I speak with her
husband, Flemming, a beekeeping expert. Flemming was kind enough to
help me with my story by telling me stories about beekeepers and
beekeeping. We recently spoke about the origins of the novel.
Flemming Vejsnæs: Why did you choose the title The Sound of
Language?
Amulya Malladi: Well, when I first came to Denmark, Danish
sounded like the buzzing of bees. I never ever thought I’d learn the
language. And that’s when I first started to think about the sound
each language has and when I thought about an Afghan refugee in
Denmark, I was sure she’d also think about the buzzing of bees when
she heard Danish. The title of the book was pretty obvious; I always
thought of this story as The Sound of Language.
FV: You wrote this story during a very turbulent period. 9/11
certainly changed the world, but the small kingdom of Denmark came
into focus because of the Mohammed cartoons that a Danish newspaper,
Jyllands Posten, published in September 2005. Did this unpleasant
situation influence your book?
AM: I can’t say it did. The controversy went into full swing
in January 2006 with people burning down Danish (and sometimes even
Swedish) embassies in Middle Eastern countries. The base of the book
was already in place and the timeline wouldn’t allow me to mention
these incidents in the book. But it would have been interesting to
see how Layla, Raihana, and Kabir reacted to the Mohammed cartoons.
Would they have been offended? Or would they have been like many
other moderate Muslims in Denmark who thought that Jyllands Posten’s
bad taste didn’t mean that there should be death threats against
Danes and Denmark.
FV: You came from an enormous country–the United States–to a
small country, Denmark. Now you have been here for almost five
years. What is your opinion about Denmark?
AM: That is a loaded question coming from a Dane and I really
want to be able to say that Denmark is wonderful–but that wouldn’t
be the truth. To be honest, I miss the United States very, very
much. I miss the friendly people, I miss the wide-open spaces, I
miss the online shopping, the excellent customer service, Barnes &
Noble with Starbucks, Denny’s for breakfast. . . .What’s interesting
is that I rarely meet immigrants who say they love living in
Denmark. It’s a difficult country to immigrate to and I can only
imagine how hard it is for people who don’t have my advantages–who
are not educated and don’t have the familial support system I do.The
hardest part about living in Denmark is that as an immigrant you are
expected to leave where you come from behind, completely, and become
Danish. But there are good things about Denmark too. My husband and
I love the Danish kindergarten and day-care system. First, it’s
top-notch child care; second, it’s subsidized, so you can actually
afford it. The companies in Denmark don’t expect you to work insane
hours, and coming from Silicon Valley, that was a surprise.
Companies constantly talk about reducing work pressure, and don’t
expect employees to work long hours or on weekends–they want you to
go home and be with your family. AND–and this is a big and–we get
thirty vacation days a year. The first year we had this luxury, my
husband and I couldn’t quite figure out what to do. We’d never taken
three weeks vacation in a row and we had to actually work at finding
out what kind of vacation we liked to go on.
FV: In the book you describe the horrors Raihana goes through
before coming to Denmark and I believe that her story is true. Are
the stories you tell about refugees in these books real?
AM: The stories are not real in their entirety. I did speak
to refugees and I also read a lot of refugee reports online. So I
mixed and matched, I think, to come up with Raihana, Layla, and
Kabir’s stories.
FV: Layla, Kabir’s wife, says, “We are here, Raihana, and we
live here. If you keep one foot in Afghanistan, you will be neither
here nor there.” She is right, but it seems like a very difficult
situation. Do you think a lot of refugees feel this way?
AM: The refugees I spoke with all said that they wanted to go
home. One man said to me, “You always want to go home. That’s how it
is. I’m sure you want to go home too.” I realized then that I was
different because I left my country by choice and I could always go
back, so I didn’t have this burning desire to go back. I wondered if
it would be different if I’d had to run for my life away from my
country. I think it would be.
FV: One of the main themes in your book is language barriers.
Confusion and misunderstandings are the results. Why is language so
important?
AM: When I was young I read a Reader’s Digest story about a
couple living on a boat. They spoke different languages and had been
together for nearly fifteen years. They had showed up in front of a
judge, asking for a divorce. I don’t remember the rest of the story,
but the idea of people being unable to communicate and still having
a relationship really stuck to me. I still think it’s interesting
that people get together even though they can’t communicate very
well. When my husband and I first started dating, we’d end up
getting into fights because I thought he was rude. Danes are in
general a little sarcastic and straightforward, which translates
into English as being rude. We had to learn to talk to each other
without hurting my finer feelings–we’ve been together now for nearly
twelve years, so I guess we figured the language part out. For
Gunnar and Raihana, the communication gap is more
extreme.
FV: I am a beekeeper, so a novel about beekeeping makes me
very happy. I read Anna’s diary with pleasure. The book actually
offers lessons on beekeeping. But why beekeeping?
AM: Since the language sounded to me like the buzzing of bees, I had
decided that Gunnar would be a beekeeper. It was a great help that
you are a beekeeping expert; otherwise, getting information would
have been very difficult.
FV: When you first told me about this idea I told you about a
couple similar to Anna and Gunnar. But that woman is fortunately
alive. You describe them perfectly. The man you based Gunnar on is
also a skilled carpenter and the couple is passionate about
beekeeping. Just like in the book, the husband loves his wife, who’s
smarter than he is, which also annoys him. For me these characters
are very real; and their story is beautiful.
AM: Thanks, Flemming. I was quite enchanted by this couple
that loved beekeeping–and it fit perfectly with who I wanted my
characters to be. I already knew who Gunnar was, but your story
about this beekeeping couple helped me flesh out Anna’s character.
FV: Does Raihana save Gunnar from becoming an alcoholic or
does Gunnar save Raihana from being caught up in her past?
AM: I think they both help each other. Raihana gives Gunnar a
purpose to live because she needs him. Gunnar gives Raihana a future
by teaching her a skill that could help her financially in the
future. They also became friends–which is precious to both of them.
FV: Is the relationship between Gunnar and Raihana realistic
or do you use it to provoke the reader?
AM: I think it is realistic. Someone like my father-in-law,
Ejgil, would happily become friends with an Afghan woman without
thinking anything of it. Do you think this is a provocative book?
How do you feel about how immigrants are treated in Denmark?
FV: I think this is a provocative book and it brings to light
an important point, as Christina, the Danish teacher, says, that the
homogenous Danish society needs different skills, cultures, and
perspective to grow. I think someone like Christina, who is
committed to her job, will bring change and that people like Maria
will realize that immigrants are just like regular Danes in what
they want out of life. But I do have a problem with one thing in the
book. People like Anders and his friends are a minority; why did you
feel they needed to be in your story?
AM: I meet many young people who say things like, “I’m afraid
of colored men.” Racism is rampant among Danish youth and I’m not
sure that boys like Anders and his friends are going to remain a
minority in the not-so-distant future. I think we need to be careful
about what we say to our children and how we speak with them. The
other day I was in my son’s kindergarten and this little girl came
and asked me, “Where do you come from?” I said that I came from home
and asked her where she came from. She said she comes from “Danish
land” and that I did not. It freaked me out. She was all of five. I
thought, where is she picking this stuff up and what’s she going to
be like when she grows up? Just a couple of years ago, seven
neo-Nazi teenagers attacked a Somali family in the town of
Langeskove on the island of Fyn. The family was in the house when
the young men started to break the windows with bats. The family had
to run with their children to a neighbor’s house to avoid getting
beaten up. This attack caused quite an outrage in Langeskove. I
modified this incident and used it in the book.
FV: Amulya, I think this is a very good and timely book. It’s
interesting for me as a Dane to read about an immigrant’s point of
view of what’s happening in Denmark.
AM: Thanks, Flemming, for all your help and support; and of
course, the honey.
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Raihana
put a finger into the hive and the warmth inside shot through her
finger. She put her finger in her mouth and the flavor of honey
exploded. It was like waking up, she thought giddily.
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