Interview of Abhijit Dasgupta

This interview with Abhijit Dasgupta was first published in April 2006. To find out more about the author, you can visit
our Abhijit Dasgupta page at www.authortrek.com.


Where were you born and raised?

I was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India, in 1960 and have since lived 40 of my 45 years in the city. I have also lived and worked out of
Delhi and Madras.

What was it that first got you into writing and when did you start writing?

I wrote my first short story when I was 15. It was, if I remember correctly, some five pages long (foolscap) and it was written with red ink.
Nobody read it except my parents who, at that point of time, felt confident that their only son would become a celebrated author some day.
Unfortunately, that priceless MS has vanished but I do remember the storyline: it was about a middle class grocer called John Hawkins
(influence of Treasure Island?) who could "hear" things that would happen. Meaning, our grocer was a clairvoyant of sorts, only he "heard"
events. I remember that the last line went something like this: "At that point, John realised he was alone". Why, I can't remember but I have
scratch of a feeling that this was my first entry into existentialism! Since then, I went to college, studied literature and forgot all about
writing. Then, subsequently, a quarter century later, when I realised that I could do something else apart from editing newspapers, I was
thrust into writing a short story, "The Money Carpet", which I had to dish out in a two hours to save my paper because a contributor had
played truant. Now, having had enough of journalism, I realise now that the only way I can possibly survive is to have a go at the Booker. Or
may be, the Pulitzer... I am not choosy.

Which writers have influenced you the most?

Enid Blyton, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Aleister Crowley, Sylvia Plath, Maupassant, Sunil Gangopadhyay (Bengali author, Indian) and, of
course, Thomas Hardy. Among poets, it's T.S. Eliot, Eliot and more Eliot. I have read Shakespeare only as college text.

Where do you stand on the nature v. nurture debate? Were you born a writer, or were there factors in your environment that
enabled you to become a writer?

Born. I was born into a family which nurtured literature and the arts and the time when we grew up was dotted with hectic literary activity in
Calcutta. I still remember hearing stories of Allen Ginsberg having marijuana on the Maidan next to our residence, sitting with his legs
crossed and having the stuff straight from the pot. However, any master of language (which though I am not by any yardstick) has to be
born, even with some pretensions thrown in. He must behave like literature itself; unpredictable, moody and soothing, all at the same time. I
seem to have all these possibilities lurking somewhere inside.

There are a lot of courses teaching creative writing nowadays, but do you think that good writing can be taught?

Nope. No way. Perhaps, the structure. But good writing comes only through personal flair and a lot of reading.

Do you have any short stories or poems published online? (If so, please provide the URLs):

I have a non-fiction book on India which is right now online (in that, it was published last month). It's called "India: Troy's Boys. Is the country
wilting under Western pressure?" It's a take-off, as the name suggests, on the Trojan horse and the havoc its infiltration created. Read it,
please, if you are interested in our exotic land of rope tricks and snakes and dead bodies and see how wrong you were all this time!
Visit Abhijit Dasgupta's blog - http://blog.myspace.com/abhijit_indian

What kind of things do you write?

I love fantasy but I am a great lover of biography. I am now writing a set of 10 short stories on women which I intend to finish in two months
from now. That will get me a prize, I am convinced.

What, for you, is the best piece of prose that you have ever written?

"The Money Carpet" and "Troy's Boys" would vie for first place.

What are you working on now?

The anthology.

What is your writing day like?

In the evening and late mornings. I am an owl, you see, since my journalism days.

Where would you like to be in 10 years time?

I can't possibly predict but gut feeling says it would be nowhere. However, I am optimistic and hope it will be somewhere.

What's the most exciting thing about writing for you?

Nothing. Nothing exciting as such. It's in the system, has to come out, flush itself out. Bowel movement, almost.

What's the most frustrating thing about writing for you?

Getting the last line first.

What's the best piece of feedback that you've had from your audience?

Somebody once told me that I have a way with words and that it feels like drinking moonlight in cupped palms!

Do you write for a particular audience, or is your first priority to satisfy your own creativity?

Audience, always. I write not for myself but to hear people say that I have written well.

Do you have a homepage? If so, what's the URL?

Visit Abhijit Dasgupta's blog -http://abhijit7.sulekha.com