I was nervous as well as thrilled when well-known author Dr. Kiriti Sengupta gave me his consent for an interview. My as usual impatient and over-eager self was about to bombard him with a barrage of questions, when he calmed me down with a steaming cup of Aloevera tea. The beverage did have its tranquilizing effect, and what followed was a wonderful and heartwarming conversation, providing me an insight to his personality, his hopes and fears and what made him tick. Here is an excerpt from the tête-à-tête we had.
Ananya Chatterjee: First of all, congratulations on the resounding success of My Glass Of Wine. So, how does it feel to see your book making it to the bestselling category?
Kiriti Sengupta: Thank you so much, Ananya! I really don’t feel any difference except for the fact that I now find myself more accountable towards my readers and critics. I’m slowly progressing for my next literary publication that was conceived long time back. This will bear some nonfiction based on The Srimad Bhagavad Gita along with shreds of autobiographic elements, and of course a few poems will find their place in this book under the title The Reverse Tree.
Well, as far as My Glass Of Wine making it to the bestselling list of titles, I’m indeed thankful to my readers whom I consider my roses! I have said this for several times, you know: What is an author without the readers? My reviewers have been kind and I’m grateful to them. My family has been consistently patient and supportive towards my literary journey. God has graced my existence with His blessings to say the least! And finally it was Vishal D Joshi from Ahmedabad; he is a guy, who with his powerhouse of energy has supported me through thick and thin. Look, I forgot to take a name, Prabir Roy who gave me ample of free space to dwell with my old baggage! He is my pal; my sweet little brother!
Ananya: Out of all the books you have worked on, which do you feel is closest to your heart?
Kiriti: All of them, and I mean it really! I do admit that My Glass Of Wine has witnessed much commercial success that did not quite happen with my other titles until now, but then I can’t expect an equal acceptance for all my books. I think, The Reciting Pens and Desirous Water (here I have contributed as a translator) deserve to be seriously researched and reviewed. And again it was only with My Glass Of Wine that took me to the list of the bestselling authors in India, plus it gave me recognition in The Statesman, an esteemed national daily.
Ananya: How do you think working on poetry translations helps a poet/author?
Kiriti: Hey! What is your source? On the contrary, I believe, translating other’s poems into another language temporarily exhaust the cerebral and emotional wealth of a poet. Translating poems into other languages is extremely challenging, and a translator needs to convey the same feeling through his/her creations that are essentially based on the original works. A translation should read reliable or authentic; a translation should sound good to the target audience. A translator’s task bears multiple facets, the foremost being developing a unique bondage with the original poet. Now this bonding may not develop overnight, or it may not be directly proportional to the number of interactions the translator had with the poet. A successful translator must possess the ‘X-factor’ that is but essential to make the translations live and appreciable!
Ananya: Please enlighten us on your upcoming projects.
Kiriti: I have recently translated a few poems by the celebrated Bengali poet Bibhas Roy Chowdhury for the forthcoming book Poem Continuous – Reincarnated Expressions. This title includes thirty poems that I have translated into English, and I’m delighted to say that Inner Child Press, Limited (a publishing house based in New Jersey, U.S.A.) has agreed to publish the translations. We will soon have a limited-edition India version of the book that is scheduled to release on 18th of June, 2014. It has indeed been an honor to have worked with Roy Chowdhury who is an established poet of contemporary Bengali literature.
Ananya: Do you feel coming from a different academic (non-literary) background deters the success of an author?
Kiriti: Ananya, I’m an author of a few literary enterprises, and I’m happy with my readers and reviewers who trust & love my writing style. I’m not in a position to comment on what if I had been to the conventional literary background, etc. Look, coming from a different academic background has its share of merits that affect your saturation with tons of experiences. And this will certainly reflect on your writings, which may be cherished by a large section of readers across the globe!
Ananya: What steps do you think are required to popularize poetry among readers?
Kiriti: Good question indeed. You know, I would love to popularize poetry among the readers who should not feel repulsive as they tend to pick up a poetry title or two from the bookstores. There are poets (in fact they form a major chunk) who think poetry is to be cherished by her exclusive readers, and they are simply not worried about the readership, for they nurture the notion that across ages poetry has only enjoyed limited readership. Ananya, let me tell you that I have tried my hands in popularizing poetry with My Glass Of Wine where I have packaged a few poems in layers of autobiographic shreds, and the title has fetched much accolades. You are free to develop your distinctive style of writing and delivering poetry in order to attract more readers! Now it is up to you whether you follow the purists or your mind.
Ananya: Do you have any plans of venturing into the genre of fiction? Why or why not?
Kiriti: No, fictions or fiction-novels are not my things; I don’t have the ability to keep on writing lines after lines that are essential to develop a plot, or the characters. I’m quite weak at writing essays, you know.
Ananya: Does the fear of failing to strike a chord with your readers, irk you ever? If so, how do you deal with it?
Kiriti: If I’m writing my mind I fear nothing at all, but if I write to satisfy the taste of a certain group of readers I would be inviting much apprehensions, and it is best avoided. In a line: I write my mind, and I don’t actually bother if my writings fail to strike a chord or more!
Ananya: My final question for you … your signature ends with “My Readers Are My Roses.” Could you elaborate on this a little?
Kiriti: Ah! This seems unavoidable and inevitable as well. Roses are exotic; roses are eternally aromatic, and they symbolize love. Ananya, my readers are my love-points, hence, my roses!
Ananya: Please accept my heartfelt wishes for your success in every future endeavor. Congratulations again on your journey so far!
Kiriti: Thanks again from the bottom of my heart. This has indeed been a wonderful session with you.
Tags: author interview Interview kiriti sengupta My Glass of Wine
