1. Your journey to the literary world.

I was an absolute loner as a child, as far back as I can remember. With the sense of loneliness, came the urge to look inward and introspect, and with the world of books, I had found my closest confidante, and they enabled me, gradually, to extend the emotional landscape of my imaginations.

In my seventh grade in school, I had first scribbled a poem for our wall magazine about the changing seasons and their impact on my young mind. I was a fan of rhyming verses those days and a secret admirer of romantic poetry, in whatever little exposure I had. I read voraciously, outside textbooks and even the lyrics of Hindi films, especially written by Gulzar, used to ignite a poetic spark in me. I would secretly translate them into English in the back pages of my math and science notebooks. I was quite a precocious child with a tremendous attraction towards fiction, especially love stories, and wanted to write love stories and poems since those days. Writing small poems in Bengali, English (mainly influenced by the songs of Bollywood) and also indulging in writing ‘sher-o-shayaari’ for a while (since my college days), I discovered writing as a strong, irresistible passion which was mainly a clandestine pursuit in my student life. Much later, I discovered it as my true calling, and that came while I completed my coursework in Journalism. Reading English literature at the University of Calcutta opened whole new vistas of literary discoveries, and my favorite part was delving into the novels, short stories and also plays by the master authors and playwrights of the classic era of literature. It is a truth that

I did not find the theoretical part of dissecting the literature solely for the sake of exams exciting enough, but it is also true that the world of words, imagery and their strange concoctions did wreak havoc in my young mind since then, and are still part of my subconscious when I embark on my writing journey. It all started with writing articles and essays online, also occasionally in newspapers and magazines in 2002-2003, and there has been no looking back, in spite of the occasional stumbling blocks and rejections that have threatened to pull me apart.

2. Tell us about your book... 

My recently released memoir ‘Thwarted Escape: An Immigrant’s Wayward Journey’ is an emotionally charged memoir where a naïve small town girl in India, later relocated in the American Midwest, attempts to uncover the slices of her soul while looking back at her roots in Kolkata and Barrackpore, her ancestral home, and her cultural traditions. In this transformative journey, she seeks the meaning and essence of home, family ties, relationships and her own culmination as a woman. In the process, she also attempts to trace the definitive forces that bring forth my sexual and spiritual awakening.

The kaleidoscope of memories which form the splinters and shards of her home in India beckons her as refrains and memorabilia. The narrative employs both the elements of a memoir and a novel to take the readers along a roller-coaster ride where she documents her transition, subtly and organically. With the lens of a time-traveler, her narrative journey encompasses her first sexual abuse, her first tryst with death, austerity, the strangeness of rituals, the inexplicable feelings of puberty and also her surrendering to love, procreation, motherhood. In this ruminative emotional journey, she encounters her pent up, calcified memories, and also, on the way, recognizes the creative forces that shape her idea of femininity.

The title ‘Thwarted Escape’ touches upon the metaphor of home and the act of sub-consciously embracing the physical and emotional landscape of our birthplace, however much we evade it. It is a difficult emotional journey of oscillating between assimilating and disintegrating, which forms the core of her homecoming. 

3. What are your views on Feminism? What is feminism for you?

‘Feminism’, the coinage to me converges with the social construct of being a woman and also with pushing many of the boundaries that patriarchy has inflicted on a woman since the advent of myths, allegories and scriptures. It is definitely a sensitive word, keeping in mind the still rampant trend of female feticide, dowry deaths, lack of education of girl children, female genital mutilation and other evils inflicted on the ‘fairer sex’ in certain parts of India and the world. However, having said that, I must also add that the idea of sensationalizing feminism by one-time slogans and mad outpourings, male-bashing and ludicrous advertisements makes little or no sense to me, since the need of the hour is the sensitivity to understand and acknowledge the inner strength of a woman, the inexplicable bounty of a girl child. When the members of my own family call me a ‘feminist’ as I have gone ahead and written about women-oriented issues, about how discrimination towards females have impacted my psyche, I feel it is because the patriarchal construct ingrained in our minds till now limits our peripheries, and compartmentalizes into various ‘isms’ because somehow, that kind of categorization is the easy way out. On the other hand, it is high time we understand that a woman, as a human, is above and beyond the stereotypical denominations of ‘feminism’. It does not limit her role if she chooses to stay out of the so-called ‘assignments’ designed for her, including matrimony and motherhood. She can be her own universe and be a complete entity in her own right, if she is blessed with inner strength.

A few friends have said that in my newly released memoir ‘Thwarted Escape’, there is a strong feminist undercurrent. I feel this is because in the first volume of the book, I write about how as a woman, my emotional, psychological journey is strewn with challenges, bruises and despondency, and how ‘life’ itself becomes a metaphor which enables me to filter them, question them as I walk along, and look up, while attempting to attain my catharsis as a woman.

4. How do you see social media?

 I had been initiated to the world of social media as early as ten years back, egged on by a friend and ex-colleague who introduced me to Orkut. Before that, all I had known was the yahoo global chat room where a bunch of absolute strangers with no mind connect passed time with each other virtually. With time, as I migrated to Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress, I discovered that the world of social networking is a beautiful window to the literary and artistic expressions of an artiste or a creative individual. Through this world, I am fortunate to have made a handful of friends for life. The joys of writing and editing collaborations, the excitement of coming out with anthologies, all of them being labors of love created by individuals geographically dispersed all over the globe, yet united by a common passion have been unparalleled.

The joy and instant gratification of sharing a piece of writing or artwork, sharing the link to your published book and connecting with the like-minded audience can be exhilarating, but at the same time, since there is this entire ocean of content being seamlessly and instantly shared among all, the filtering of it all is also essential. One has to strike the right balance between absorbing whatever one finds in this overwhelming online world and whatever is truly worthwhile with a discerning eye.

5. Your message to writer's community...

I personally do not think I have yet reached that stage where I can dispense a cartload of writing tips and advice to the new, aspiring writers out there, since I feel it is an ongoing learning curve I am myself a part of, but I would just like to share that it is important to know your inner voice and strive to chisel it as much as you can. I would like to add a favorite quote by Mary Rose O’Reilly: “Writing would be merely an act of crazy hubris were it not a means of discovery, cunning and patient.” It is this sense of discovery which has pulled us all into this journey, and we must honor it and strive to attain it.