He has a day job and by night, he is a writer. With a background of marketing, Abhijit Bhattacharya recently released his debut book of short stories titled Some of the Whole.
There are ten stories in the book which have a common thread — a mix of flashback and current situations — the blend pushing up the curiosity level and finally finishing it with a twist that undoes all that the reader thinks while reading the initial parts of the story.
Contemporary set-up, real-life kind of characters and situations keep the story in the realm of being real. He speaks to DNA in a chat:
Could you explain the title Some of the Whole?
I knew I had a lot of stories inside me while I was writing. But I decided to pen down just ten, in the first go, for the book. And then, while I was looking for an apt title, a friend suggested the name — simply, because these ten are just some of the many that are yet to come. So, these stories are just some of the whole.
Did you start out by wanting to write a full length novel considering that short stories don’t have mass appeal, apparently?
The three cities that I have lived in and the kind of people that I have met in them have inspired me to write these stories. I wrote keeping them in my mind. Literature fanatics may find my book simple or ‘lacking depth’. But that is the idea — my book is for the youth — for the people who love 10 minute episodes on TV versus three -hour-long movies; for those who love snacks and not a long, healthy brunch. My book has uncomplicated plots, characters that you and I will be readily identifying in the streets and simple language. My stories are targeted at youth, who incidentally represent more than 60 percent of the country. So, if these do not have mass
appeal, then what does?
Which is your favourite story?
I like Papa Don’t Preach and What Goes Around, Comes Around — primarily because these stories have a very strong connect with reality. I would have loved to describe the situation but that would give away the plot. Thus, I should refrain.
Papa Don’t Preach seems to be very popular. What is it about?
The story is about a boy returning back from the US to Kolkata, a city where he grew up and how he unearths something really eerie happening in his city. The story has been a media favourite and significant people like Bharat Dhabolkar, Mohan Kanan and Saurabh Shukla have also lapped it up. I guess the contemporary set-up, real-life characters and a twist in the end has made it the favourite.
