Readomania: Hi Swarnendu, congratulations on the launch of your debut fiction book Secrets, Scandals and Lies -Tales from an Urban Housing Society.
Swarnendu: Thank you. I must also thank Readomania for giving me this opportunity.
Readomania: You are a professional journalist with over two decades of experience. What inspired you to shift gears from journalism to fiction writing?
Swarnendu: I have been nurturing a passionate interest in fiction and poetry since my college days and after doing my post-graduation, I thought about making a career as a creative writer of fiction. However, economic compulsion induced me to journalism, which I do not find that much creative and fulfilling. Though I would have disliked it even more if I had to venture into a career totally unrelated to writing, say for example, the construction industry.
However, story ideas keep on invading my mind every now and then and some of them are powerful enough to stay in my mind, despite my forgetfulness. One such corelated group of ideas dictated me to make them translate in words…and before knowing I was developing the complex, interconnected plots.
Readomania: How did the idea of weaving this book of interconnected stories, which is a rather novel format in the realms of Indian literature, come to your mind?
Swarnendu: It came accidentally. I was thinking of how slices of life of the characters, which had made their room in my mind and were continually disturbing me to come out in pages, would intersect one another at some junctures. All the characters in the book have their separate stories but they interact with stories of some other characters at some point.
It is like train journeys or road trips. Let us assume A is going from Delhi to Goa, B is going from Goa to Patiala, C is going from Ludhiana to Pune, etc.They meet each other in some stations or in a dhaba, restaurant, etc. in between for a few minutes and then they move towards their own respective destination. I think an analogy between life of human beings with journeys can be easily done with roads/tracks symbolising their stories.
Slowly, this exercise took the shape of a series of Interconnected Stories.
Readomania: Building of which of these fascinating and/or intriguing characters in the book challenged you the most and why?
Swarnendu: Developing the character of Sougato was difficult as he, like most of us, was a bundle of contradictions. He wanted to change the world but lacked the courage to do so. He loved his lady but like most of us, he loved his own life more.
He fancied himself as revolutionary but soon realised that he was a hypocrite. He ran away from some realities but couldn’t forget them. To portray these contradictory elements in his character with some nuance, without getting overtly dramatic, was somewhat challenging.
Portraying the origin of the dark sadistic elements in Sudha in an empathetic manner was also slightly difficult.
Readomania: Did you weave the individual stories first and then connect them or did you storyboard the entire tale in your mind before writing?
Swarnendu: The broad contours of the interconnectedness of the different plots were developed initially and then while writing many new detailing and improvisations were introduced, which were directed mostly by the compulsions of the plots.
Readomania: You have introduced some fantasy element in your book, which otherwise focuses on many dark sides of human nature. What induced you to do so?
Swarnendu: They are more of a literary device to give momentum and logic to the plots of the stories than efforts to inject thrill among the readers. Yes, sometimes the glue of fantasy becomes necessary to cement the narrative structure together in a logical fashion. Sometimes in our life, a real incident can be logically explained by a fantasy only. Often imagination can take us to our own realities (realities may differ from person to person) in a more comprehensive manner than through simple logical deduction. That is another dichotomy in art and life.
I think from this dichotomy and contradiction the idea of magic realism was sprouted, which Marquez honed and perfected. Today, magic realism is a fundamental pillar of post-modernist literature, like the Theory of Relativity is of modern physics.
Readomania: Which authors have inspired you the most, over the years?
Swarnendu: I am afraid, my choice of favourite writers may sound somewhat old-fashioned. Agatha Christie has inspired me the most. The supreme elegance in her plot construction and her insights on human nature, to me, are simply peerless.
Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, another great fiction writer of varied genres, who is most famous for his character of detective Byomkesh Bakshi; Sunil Gangopadhyay, with his non-conformism, magic realism (a central character of his travelogues stays 27 forever) and vast knowledge of history; Somerset Maugham, and of course Rabindranath Tagore have also inspired me time and again.
In non-fiction, Bertrand Russell is my all-time favourite. I also share lots of his progressive views. Lately, I have been very much influenced by Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens. He is a rare original voice.
Readomania: The stories of the book traverse through many decades. Was that a conscious thought?
Swarnendu: The book has several parallel stories, which in their process of being logically developed, needed to be spread through specific periods of time.
Readomania: You have explored so many human traits and emotions in your book. Do you like to study human behaviour? Also, do you think we are all some shades of grey?
Swarnendu: Like most writers, I too am forever fascinated and intrigued by human nature and behaviour, and its myriad shades. I attempt to study it continually but I am not sure whether I have acquired much grasp over it or not.
Yes, I think our mind is mostly of grey shades where bad and good, bravery and cowardice, candidness and hypocrisy, love and cruelty co-exist.
Readomania: What do you intend the readers to take away after reading Secrets, Scandals and Lies—Tales from an Urban Housing Society?
Swarnendu: First of all, I intend the readers to have an engrossing experience and enjoy the twists and turns and suspense elements in the book. If they also glean some insights on human nature from this book that is a bonus for me.
Readomania: How was the experience of getting published by Readomania?
Swarnendu: It was a very enriching experience. I must give special mention to Indrani’s meticulous but non-intrusive editing which never affected or unduly influenced my style of writing, and her intelligent suggestions. The support of the publisher, Dipankar Mukherjee at every stage of the production process of the book and his idea behind the cover design was also very much helpful.
Readomania: Thank you Swarnendu! Do keep us entertained with your creativity. We wish you the very best for everything in the future!
You can buy his book from Amazon. Click Here.
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