has in store for us.
Hello sir! This is Naaz with my colleague Souvick, your interviewer, and we welcome you to The Insight. Today, we are super excited to interview you. Thanks for being with us.
To begin with, please tell us something about yourself.
Hello Naaz and Souvick! I’m pleased to meet you as well. Talking of me, I’m professionally a doctor. I am intrigued with the diversity of human nature right from my childhood days and I have a passion to play with words and go through the works of some contemporary and past literary greats. However, I have taken to serious literary writing since about seven years or so.
Tell us where you write from.
After going through a roller-coaster ride all over our country through most of the 57 years of my life I have finally settled at Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, in India following my resignation from a large public sector undertaking.
‘Boltu’ is quite an unusual title. What is your book all about?
‘Boltu’ is the nickname of the protagonist of the story and this is the name that does the rounds in his known circle rather than his formal name. The book is all about his journey through the brickbats and laurels from his boyhood to transformation into a man. Other characters have incidentally been interspersed in between, albeit with equal colour and flavour. Ultimately, all trickles down to the extraordinary odyssey of Boltu. That’s why I felt the title would be apt.
Boltu, as we see, is the protagonist of the story. Is the character inspired from any real-life character around you?
Well, yes and no. To start with, it had a similarity with a character known to me in my boyhood days and the characters were etched in one of my familiar surroundings. As the novel kept building up, the protagonist and the others went on being an amalgam of many real as well as imaginary characters; as generally happens in fiction writing.
Tell something about those you found by your side while penning down this masterpiece.
Maybe ‘masterpiece ’-ing the book is somewhat overrating. I only tried to be honest with myself and my possible audience. There were quite a few I can mention including my family and friends. Most important, however, were my past readers. In spite of their number not being huge, they boosted my confidence about my literary abilities.
Please tell us about your experience with the publisher.
My publisher, Petals Publishers and Distributors was good and straightforward enough with their promises and services. Thanks to the CEO Mr. Harpreet Makkar and team for providing remotely known authors like me and others a platform. They are supportive till date as well. On the leeward side, the editing of the book desires a bit more. Hopefully, it can be bettered in the next edition.
That’s great sir. We wish you all the luck and success. Well, what do you love to do apart from writing?
Reading, following sports and movies, and of course, seeing my patients depart with a smile.
That’s wonderful! Who are the authors you love to read?
Though I go through whatever crosses my hand, I am an avid follower of PG Wodehouse, Dickens, Agatha Christie, Chekhov (English translations), VS Naipaul, Ruskin Bond and RK Narayan; to name a few.
What message would you give to the aspiring authors of today?
Though I’m not sure whether I deserve the
position to advise aspiring authors, I would like to share a few points with
the newcomers:
a. Never venture to write a single page before you
have read 100 pages of quality literature.
b. Have patience of a saint. It pays.
c. Be true to yourself.
d. Quality is the buzzword.
e. Your audience is not fool.
Thank you for sharing. Hope your words continue to inspire the budding authors.
Please tell us your
experience of this overall interview session.
Souvick, you are a master interviewer. Enjoyed
every bit of interaction with you both. Thank you so much.
Thank you sir, for being with us. We ourselves had a great time with you. We wish you the best for your days to come.
