Welcome back to “Tea Time with a Janeite,” our series where we get to learn more about our members, digging into their love of Jane (and tea) and letting us get to know them a little bit better. The series is produced by member Mayra Garcia Mastin. Enjoy this latest interview!
Janeite: Anvita Budhraja
Member Since: 2019
What is your preferred tea or relaxation beverage?
Nothing I have ever had relaxes and refreshes me as much as my mother’s chai, brewed with loose leaf black teas, on the stove, with milk and sometimes cardamom. It is a very particular flavor that I have tried (unsuccessfully) to recreate on my own, and of course the warmth the tea provides is as much from the tea as from the person making it.
Tell us a little about your background (career/real life):
I am a PhD Candidate in English Literature, and I study the urban novel in the 20th and 21st centuries. I am fascinated by how a novel that engages with a specific place becomes its own unique creature–the space quite fundamentally affects the form, content, structure, and protagonists of the novel. My quest is to understand how… and why. It also draws on my love for urban spaces–I was raised in and by big cities. I love an urban environment, with all its swirling dynamism.
When did Jane Austen become part of your life?
When I was 12 or 13. I was on a long flight and I happened to watch the 2005 Pride and Prejudice adaptation, of which I didn’t remember much except laughing out loud in a silent airplane at Mr Collins’ proposal to Elizabeth. When I got home, I looked through our extensive home library for this author named Austen I had never before considered. I found an omnibus with all six novels–and that was the rest of my summer right there.
What do you love most about Austen?
Two things primarily. First, at a formative reading age, Austen’s novels taught me about nuance. If her female protagonists had been faultless, I don’t think I would have come back to her novels. But that we can understand the complex depths of someone like Elizabeth or Emma without dismissing them as people is a great triumph. I also loved that she gave all her women the space to make mistakes and still live full, good lives. Second, as I got older, I found myself returning to Austen’s sentences–which are a masterclass in craft.
Who is your favorite Austen character?
Anne Elliot, who was forced into prudence in her youth, and learned romance as she got older!
Least favorite Austen character?
But they are all so nuanced! Maybe Fanny Dashwood… she is quite difficult to read sometimes.
Other favorite authors/genres?
City novels! Currently, I am thoroughly enjoying Colson Whitehead and Renee Gladman. I also would recommend the book Intimacies by Katie Kitamura to everyone.
Other passions/interests?
I love to travel – last year I experienced Yosemite in the snow, which was breathtaking. I enjoy a good cocktail and some nice wine. I’m also fascinated by house-museums (like Austen’s in Chawton!); I think they are a particularly intimate kind of museum.
What are you reading now?
Calamities by Renee Gladman. It rethinks space and architecture in very interesting ways.
What do you enjoy most about our chapter, JASNA-NC?
When we have had our Zoom meetings, I always enjoy the opening few minutes of small breakout groups when we get to chat with members – being new to the group, I really appreciated everyone’s warm welcome and the chance to talk to people from all across the region.
One fun fact about anything about yourself?
In high school, I founded the Jane Austen Book Club, Mumbai in my hometown. I hosted panels, readings, and other events with local faculty, bookstores, and cultural institutions. We even published our own anthology of member-essays on the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice (2013). For those few years, I was known to many around town as “the Jane Austen girl” — a personal highlight!
If you had to recommend one of Jane Austen’s novels for someone just starting out, what would it be?
So tough because I would always want to recommend Persuasion, my favorite Austen novel. But I don’t think you can appreciate it as much if you haven’t read her other, lighter novels first. So perhaps Pride and Prejudice, or Emma.
Thank you, Anvita, for the interview and to Mayra Garcia Mastin, our producer for this series. If you would like to be featured next, see the Tea Time form here. All JASNA-NC members are welcome! We look forward to continuing these Tea Times with