An Insightful Interaction with Bestselling Author Sabarna Roy

Sabarna Roy is a much awarded, critically acclaimed bestselling author of 6 literary books: Pentacles; Frosted Glass; Abyss; Winter Poems; Random Subterranean Mosaic: 2012 – 2018, and Etchings of the First Quarter of 2020. He is the lead author of a technical book, which has been published from the European Union and has been translated into 8 major European languages.

He has been awarded the Literoma Laureate Award in 2019, Literoma Star Achiever Award 2020, Random Subterranean Mosaic: 2012 – 2018 won the best book of the year 2019, the A List Award for excellence in fiction by the NewsX Media House, Certificate for The Real Super Heroes for spreading a spirit of positivity and hope during the COVID-19 Pandemic from Forever Star India Award 2020, the Certificate for Participation in the Indo Russian Friendship Celebration 2020, and the Literoma Golden Star Award 2020: Lifetime Achievement.

Interview:

1: How has been your journey from a technocrat to a bestselling author?

It is not as if I have abandoned the job of a technocrat and I only concentrate on writing literary books. I shuffle between my two professions of being a Senior Engineering Professional and an Author of literary books. Yes, life has changed after I started writing books since July 2007 when I felt if I did not write I would die. Life definitely has become busier juggling between two different kinds of professions. As a Senior Engineering Professional, I am also involved in writing research articles in the environment sector in peer-reviewed national and international Journals. During the on-going Pandemic, I have been busy in various digital conferences as a Senior Engineering Professional as well as a literary author. Before the Pandemic I had to attend national and international conferences and literary meets.

2: Have you been writing since childhood or you delved into literature in your adulthood?

I used to write Bengali and English poems during my university days. In fact, my first slim book of English poems, titled: Pain was published in 1986 and created a sensation in the student community and the literary academia of Calcutta. Thereafter, I stopped writing after joining the Corporate Sector. Between 2002 and 2005, I had been an oral storyteller. It was in July 2007 that I realized that if I did not write I would die. It was then that I started writing seriously.

3: How can the interest of millennial children be diverted towards who are engrossed in gadgets these days?

Too much pressure on millennial children to move away from gadgets may not work. I am also of the view that millennial children do read literature, which they find contextual to their lives like, I have seen Haruki Murakami’s novels and quotations of Friedrich Nietzsche are very popular among millennial children. Millennial children also read varied kind of literature on Kindle and various other mobile apps. Technology and intervention of technology in our daily lives are here to stay. We cannot shun them away. They will be a part of our lives.

4: What should be done in order to inculcate literature as syllabus in the schools?

Well, enough literature is already there in the syllabus of our school books. In fact, the load of the syllabus needs to be reduced so that students can interact more on literature with their peers and teachers. The mugging business of literature in schools is killing the ethos of literature.

5: As you write in multiple genres, which genre do you find more exciting and why?

I find every genre exciting to write in because being a natural writer I allow my content to dictate the form instead of doing it otherwise.

6: How can we produce literature comparable to the west in our country?

In the west, there is lot of emphasize on research and they take much longer time in producing a book and this is also because book writing is comparatively more lucrative in the west than in India. So, an author can spend more time on a book for experimenting with various manuscripts, researching and editing back-and-forth.

7: What would be your suggestion to the budding authors from our platform; School Life?

I can give a few tips, which can work remarkably well for aspiring authors and poets in school: –

Maintain a journal or a diary for yourself. This is a tool where you can talk to yourself most privately and later your journal or your diary will reflect back the way you have progressed in life.
Read as much as you can and reflect upon what you are reading. Also, jot down your book reviews, however brief they are, in your journal or diary.
Capture all your thoughts, ideas and dreams and let them flow through you in the form of written pieces in your journal or diary.
If you are inclined enough, create and maintain a regular blog and socialize it among your friends, family and relatives and seek their opinion about what you are writing. This is a process from where you will learn.
Try to be original and authentic, however immature you are, because in being close to yourself you will reconnect with your soul during the process of writing. This is very critical and significant to become a good author or a poet.

We have pleasure in publishing two gems from Sabarna Roy’s Journal for all our readers

The loneliness of youth arises out of ones’ passionate and adventurous choice and spirit to traverse uncharted trajectories and goals in life (not-so-often tried out options in life) and facing the uncertain pulls and strains of the future. The loneliness of youth gives rise to melancholia and beauty. The loneliness of old age stems out of abandonment and estrangement and being consolidated by the overburden of memories of the past. The loneliness of old age gives rise to grief and decay. In that sense the loneliness of youth is very different from the loneliness of old age.

B.
Morning –
The ultramarine sky
Makes me cry
Day –
Losses and defeats
Ambush and retreats

The evening is misty

The night is frosty

From my lonely window
I watch the moving lights and shadows outside
Taking a deep breath and lamenting
The passing away of another day
The passing away of another night
Resign for sleep
Wishing
This sleep will take me away
Maybe

Source: schoollife.in