“Know your urge, listen to the call to be a writer : Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay
By Somorita Ghosh Kolkata : The speaker who mesmerised everyone with her knowledge and insight on the 7th day of #MediaNext 2020 that focused on Writing In Digital Time (Fiction and Non-fiction), was Author Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay, an internationally acclaimed Bengali author and a writer at the ABP Group. This writer of the article has also interacted with
By Somorita Ghosh
Kolkata : The speaker who mesmerised everyone with her knowledge and insight on the 7th day of #MediaNext 2020 that focused on Writing In Digital Time (Fiction and Non-fiction), was Author Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay, an internationally acclaimed Bengali author and a writer at the ABP Group. This writer of the article has also interacted with Bandyopadhyay personally to dip deeper in her pursuit of excellence.
#MEDIANEXT 2020, a webinar organised by Kolkata based Adamas University in association with Sharda University, Birla Global University, DME, AIMEC, Lok Samvad Sansthan, exchange4media, ABP Education and IndiaReal.in, The media conclave is being organised over a period of ten days from June 1, 2020 to June 10, 2020. Each day of the conclave focuses on one specialised domain of the Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in that specific domain.
Penned nine novels and over fifty short stories, Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay is an Internationally acclaimed Bengali author and a writer at the ABP Group. She is an eminent novelist, a newspaper columnist, an essayist and a film critic. Writing is her full time profession. Four notable novels of her- Sankhini, Panty, Abandon and The Yogini has also been translated in English and published by a UK based publishing house- Tilted Axis Press.
Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay began her session with this powerful comparative study ,”Orwell feared about those who would ban books. What Huxley feared that there would be no reason to ban books for there would be no one to read. Orwell feared those would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those would give us so much, so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth could be concealed from us. Huxley feared that truth would be drawn in a sea of irrelevance. In short, Orwell feared that what we feared will ruin us and Huxley feared our desire will ruin.”
Then she shared how she had worked as a writer twenty years back, writing down with pen and paper by hand then taking it to the publishing house where it would further typed and other procedure took place. Fast forward she continued how emergence of computer, internet and email services a decade back eased the working process. She said,” We are trying to muddle through with this digital media while this corona led us to such a situation that we had to cope with it more precisely”.
Writing in digital age
Speaking on the webinar’s topic she shared how the coming up of social media and several other media platforms made abundance of writing available. Anyone can easily set up a website and engage people with his or her writings. “We are getting abundance of work to read. But these are not coming in a filtered way so that we can consider it to be something credible. Even information, a single true fact also comes up with several interpretations” she stated.
How to be a writer
“To be a writer one has to understand first the artistic call” she said. She emphasised on understanding the call, the urge especially when writing in Bangla – as it becomes difficult for them to survive and continue to it lifelong is a “big challenge”.
Knowledge is vital and its profundity plays a great role. She advised to read a lot even literature as ancient as 4000 years ago. Writing is a basic thing and having a good knowledge of literary works available worldwide is essential. Even the knowledge of world history and socio-economic structure are vital rudiments of becoming a good writer.
Inspiration for writing
She said that observing is a very important thing for a writer. She stated, “Experiences are also inspiration. This also comes as a new fabric for writing. Social issues that haunt often, where there are many gaps could inspire one on how to fulfill it as a thinker. An imagery or a scene can haunt and become an entire writing piece, it becomes relatable with our lives, opens up in various folds and work as magic realism.” She elaborated how she had framed protagonist characters of her novels “The Yogini” and “Panty” with magic realism.
Controversy and translation of work
When her second novel Panty was published a large section of the society even many stalwart writers did not accepted that well.
On translation she considers language is not a barrier when content of the work has similar appeal in societies.
Effect of pandemic on printed publications
Due to this pandemic many print platforms are suffering and are unable to publish hard copies now and turned to digital publications.
The session ended up with a Q&A session where she was asked questions from her area of expertise, suggestions for budding writers and applauded her UK based publishing house who have taken an initiative to help Kolkata’s Boi para market in reviving from the loss caused by Amphan cyclone. The day’s host, Ujjwal Kumar Chowdhury, Pro vice chancellor of Adamas University concluded the webinar with his insightful opinion on increasing of digital media platforms over print media and thanking all the five speakers of the day.
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