Avni Doshi was already a few years into writing her Booker-shortlisted novel Burnt Sugar when her grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
“It was a really big shock for me,” the Indian-American author, who now lives in Dubai, said. “I felt like all these things that had preoccupied me for years and years were sort of coming alive in my real life.”
Memory is a central theme in Doshi’s book. Her main character, Antara, tries to reconcile the fact that her mother is developing dementia, thus forgetting all the ways she has neglected and mistreated her.
Though it was difficult watching her grandmother suffer with Alzheimer's, there was also a "strange literary potential" in the disease, said Doshi, who gave a talk at the Jameel Arts Centre on Friday, the inaugural day of the 2021 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.
“There are a lot of afflictions that when we suffer we can come out on the other side and write about them,” Doshi said. “Depression, for example. There’s a possibility that you can come out on the other side and tell your story. But with Alzheimer’s, there is no possibility of that. So their experience is always mediated through the experience of their caregivers, especially when they reach a kind of peak in their illness.”
Writing Burnt Sugar was Doshi's way of better understanding the nature of Alzheimer's. She said she had a desire to tell a story that not only showed the heroic aspect of the disease, but also the side that was full of terror, in particular for those who are entrusted with taking care of someone with Alzheimer's.
“It is really difficult to look after someone whose understanding of reality is kind of loose,” she said. “That daily experience can make your own feelings of reality slowly come unhinged. How that madness can almost be contagious in a sense.”
Alzheimer's was not the only condition that Doshi unpacks in Burnt Sugar. The novel's protagonist, Antara, experiences postpartum depression, something that Doshi said she had suffered from, too.
“It’s one of those things many women all over the world suffer in silence and feel shame about,” she said. She added that even during the darkest hours of the condition, it seemed jarringly normal.
“I would go to the bathroom every day and pray for death, but I thought that was normal,” she said. “So, for me, it’s important to talk about it and bring it to the surface.”
Doshni hopes that by sharing her own experiences, she inspires others who may be going through it themselves or know someone who has just given birth to ask questions. “Because it is possible that the person suffering is not completely aware of what they are suffering.”
The story behind the book's different titles
The author also gave some insight into why the book, which took seven years and eight drafts before it came out, was released under a different title in other parts of the world. In India, it is called Girl in White Cotton.
Doshi said she found “the title aspect of it harder probably than writing the book.”
"Girl in White Cotton was the original title of the first draft of the book. This was back in 2013," Doshi says. "The thing is, white cotton has a lot of different resonances that I think it doesn't have outside the subcontinent. In India, white cotton is the fabric of grief. Widows wear white cotton. Anybody in mourning wears white cotton. For me, it was an interesting title in the context of India because there was this tension between a young, innocent girl and a fabric that could refer to purity and on the other [hand] refer to something darker."
Doshi began wondering whether the title would work outside India as the book got closer to publication. Audiences in India, she said, would immediately pick up on the complexity of the meaning of white cotton. She wasn't sure whether the title would resonate in the same way in other parts of the world. So she opted to name the book Burnt Sugar for the worldwide market instead.
"You have a few seconds to grab a reader with the title," she said. "We picked Burnt Sugar because we felt like it contained that tension. It's sugar and, well, I don't want to give any spoilers away, but sugar is an important part of the novel. And the title Burnt Sugar for us had the feeling of some darkness, something looming, something that's boiling over."
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Scoreline
UAE 2-1 Saudi Arabia
UAE Mabkhout 21’, Khalil 59’
Saudi Al Abed (pen) 20’
Man of the match Ahmed Khalil (UAE)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More coverage from the Future Forum
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStreaming%20on%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMBC%20Shahid%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make
When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.
“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.
This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).
|
Age
|
$250 a month
|
$500 a month
|
$1,000 a month
|
|
25
|
$640,829
|
$1,281,657
|
$2,563,315
|
|
35
|
$303,219
|
$606,439
|
$1,212,877
|
|
45
|
$131,596
|
$263,191
|
$526,382
|
|
55
|
$44,351
|
$88,702
|
$177,403
|
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RESULTS
Bantamweight: Jalal Al Daaja (JOR) beat Hamza Bougamza (MAR)
Catchweight 67kg: Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) beat Fouad Mesdari (ALG)
Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) beat Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)
Catchweight 73kg: Mosatafa Ibrahim Radi (PAL) beat Yazid Chouchane (ALG)
Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Badreddine Diani (MAR)
Catchweight 78KG: Rashed Dawood (UAE) beat Adnan Bushashy (ALG)
Middleweight: Sallah-Eddine Dekhissi (MAR) beat Abdel Enam (EGY)
Catchweight 65kg: Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG) beat Rachid Hazoume (MAR)
Lightweight: Mohammed Yahya (UAE) beat Azouz Anwar (EGY)
Catchweight 79kg: Souhil Tahiri (ALG) beat Omar Hussein (PAL)
Middleweight: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Laid Zerhouni (ALG)
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Results
4pm: Al Bastakiya – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Dirt) 1,900m; Winner: Panadol, Mickael Barzalona (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)
4.35pm: Dubai City Of Gold – Group 2 (TB) $228,000 (Turf) 2,410m; Winner: Walton Street, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
5.10pm: Mahab Al Shimaal – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Canvassed, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
6.20pm: Jebel Hatta – Group 1 (TB) $260,000 (T) 1,800m; Winner: Lord Glitters, Daniel Tudhope, David O’Meara
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (TB) $390,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
7.30pm: Nad Al Sheba – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Final Song, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
Sonchiriya
Director: Abhishek Chaubey
Producer: RSVP Movies, Azure Entertainment
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Manoj Bajpayee, Ashutosh Rana, Bhumi Pednekar, Ranvir Shorey
Rating: 3/5
The biog
Age: 30
Position: Senior lab superintendent at Emirates Global Aluminium
Education: Bachelor of science in chemical engineering, post graduate degree in light metal reduction technology
Favourite part of job: The challenge, because it is challenging
Favourite quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” Gandi
Qosty Byogaani
Starring: Hani Razmzi, Maya Nasir and Hassan Hosny
Four stars
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Bookshops: A Reader's History by Jorge Carrión (translated from the Spanish by Peter Bush),
Biblioasis
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
