Interview with Diptendu Chatterjee
Exceller Books is thrilled to inform you that your book ‘21 Cards’ has been successfully published. Thank you for choosing us as your publisher, it has been an honour working with you. We also need to acknowledge your patience and constant support without which we could not have finished the process effectively.
It will be really great if you give us a few minutes from your busy schedule and have a brief chat with us regarding your newly published book.
Q. Diptendu, how do you feel after releasing your book?
A. It’s always a great experience for me to publish a new book. I am glad that Exceller Books have brought out ‘21 Cards’. For me, this is the third book that has been published. Now I just want people to know about all of my published books and I hope they would like them.
Q. Was it always your dream to become a writer? How did you pursue this? Who was your biggest inspiration in this journey?
A. I started writing when I was eight. Rabindranath Tagore has always been an inspiration in my life because of his creative excellence and for his large contribution to Bengali literature, in particular. I have been reading many books of various Bengali and English authors since my childhood.
Initially I used to read poetry and children’s literature only. Later, I started reading the Bengali periodical ‘Desh’ and books of other genres. I sent some poetry and short stories to some magazines, from time to time and a few of them got published.
Writing has always been my passion. I am very grateful to all my family members for supporting me throughout my journey.
Q. How did you come up with the stories?
A. Initially, I used to write poetry but later I switched to short stories. I even have written a few skits for drama. Maybe the idea of writing short stories has always been there on my mind. By the time I got in touch with Exceller Books, I had already published two books by the title ‘Timothy’s Garden’ and ‘The Buddha Convergence’. Thanks to Exceller Books for bringing out my third book, ‘21 Cards’.
Generally, I think of the whole story in my mind first and then start writing it. It takes about two to three days for me to give the story a complete look.
Q. Why did you name your book ‘21 Cards’? Why ‘cards’?
A. Just like cards I wish my book to be a good pass time for people and there are twenty one stories in this collection, so I decided to name it ‘Twenty One Cards’.
Moreover, in the game of cards there is unpredictability, ups and downs and I tried to bring the same flavour in my book to keep the readers hooked with it.
Q. We have seen that each of the chapters has a quote, a message. Are these something you have always felt and wanted to convey?
A. Different ideas are strung together in my book therefore I used the quotes to help the readers get accustomed with the shifts.
Q. Your stories are completely different from one another, how did you string all these different stories in one book?
A. Every story conveys a new idea and to make a collection of these I had to put them together.
The common idea behind the book is written in the beginning of the book itself, that is, it is all about social and scientific issues.
Q. How have you planned the future of your journey as an author?
A. I don’t have great plans at this moment. The only thing I can say is that I have some good ideas to write more books in English and Bengali. I have already started writing stories, poems, songs, essays, and I wish to write novels and dramas. A self help book is also in the offing.
Q. Do you have any message for your readers?
A. Definitely, I would like to thank all those who have read my stories patiently and wish that people would read all my upcoming books.
Thank you for your time. We wish you all the best for your future endeavours. Have a wonderful career ahead.
