Anirban is a final year student of Electrical Engineering at Haldia
Institute of Technology. He lives in Haldia, West Bengal. He has always wanted
to write. Reading books is his favorite pass time. His anthologies “A Phase Unknown
Women-A Tribute Season 2” , "Dream-Castle" and "The Paid
Eminence" are due release in April, 2015. He has also published some of
his works at www.themicrotales.com and in “Indian
Authors Association”. Though he is a student of technical intricacy, he loves
to read novels more than engineering textbooks. His favorite authors include
George Orwell, Harper Lee and Khuswant Singh. You can get in contact with him
via. email (anirban.igp@gmail.com), Facebook or his blog Alphabet Speaks (www.anirbanigp.wordpress.com).
~When did you first realize
you wanted to be a writer?
When I was at class twelve,
I started taking part in different essay writing competition and all kind of
writing competition. Participating in those events helped me to grow aspiration
to write stories, poems etc. When I read deep impact fiction by Indian author
in my mother tongue like Rabindranath, Saratchandra, I realized the power of
writing and from then I have decided to become a writer.
~Tell us about your
story, ‘Heat Of Knife.’ How did you get the idea for it?
This story is about a girl,
named Durga who struggled and survived the
bleak world of slum-life. When I first saw the call for submission in this anthology, I was in the midst of preparing for GATE exam. I felt like writing something on women empowerment but could not find a story. Then while travelling to the centre for the exam I witnessed life in slums from bus and right then I got the idea of my story.
bleak world of slum-life. When I first saw the call for submission in this anthology, I was in the midst of preparing for GATE exam. I felt like writing something on women empowerment but could not find a story. Then while travelling to the centre for the exam I witnessed life in slums from bus and right then I got the idea of my story.
~Tell us about the
character of Durga. How did you develop the character?
In our mythology, Durga is a symbol of
rage and protection ─the true image of women. Parvati
is another name for Durga who is the mother of Durga in my story. I visualized
the current situation of women in our society in not like the Durga or Parvati
in mythology. To name the character Durga is ironical. I tried to imagine the
possible situations in the slum and tried to develop a character as fit as
possible for our society.
~How long does it take you
to write a story?
It depends on whether I am
trying to write a simple story or an artistic one. I took nearly six hours to
write this story and another 2-3 hours for correction.
~What is your work schedule
like, when you're writing?
I like to write after midnight, but it always
not have to be the case. I read many short stories to experiment with my
writing style ─there
is a drastic change in my writing style from this story to the most recent one─ and I normally write one
story in 2 weeks.
~What would you say is your
interesting writing quirk?
I always like to write about
dark sides of our society; never loved much romance in writing stories. It is
not that I hate romance, I do write romance but they are different ─not sweet flowery love
tales.
~Where do you get your information
or ideas for your stories?
I get ideas from our
society; real life events of people around us.
~When did you write your
first story and how old were you?
I wrote my first story in my
first year B.Tech, at age of 17; it was a science fiction.
~What do you like to do when
you're not writing?
When I am not not writing, I
read novels, watch movies or do my final year project.
~What does your family think
of your writing?
My parents are very
supportive for my aspiration to become a writer. They think I write well and
have the potential to become a good writer. I am very fortunate to born in such
family.
~What was one of the most
surprising things you learned in creating your stories?
When I realize naked truths about
our society and behaviour and express it in my friend circle, they make joke of
it. But when I write the same in a short story or a poem, everyone appreciates
it.
~How many stories have you
written? Which is your favorite?
I have written total nine stories, of which I
love “The Act of Smiling” the most which will release in the anthology named
“The Paid Eminence”.
~Do you have any suggestions
to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Just keep writing regularly,
you will improve for sure. It is true for everyone who wants to become a
writer.
~Do you hear from your
readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
I got mixed reviews when I
published my first story in Facebook. Those reviews helped me a lot to write
better stories now.
~What do you think makes a
good story?
A good story must be racy
and thought provoking at the same time. The narration should not be like a news report, it must be interesting.
~As a child, what did you
want to do when you grew up?
When I was a child I wanted
to become a bay-blade fighter shown in cartoon network. J It was very famous
in those days and in my locality every afternoon there was a fight between the
spinning lattoos or bay-blades.
~How was experience with
Sanmati Publishers?
It is vey pleasant and
beautiful. They are supportive and very helpful.
~What would be your message
for our readers?
Just be yourself, follow
your heart and keep smiling.
Thank you Anirban for your precious time. Wish you Good luck!
~Interviewed by Enakshi Johri & Kumar Vikrant
