The two most common tags people in science often get stuck with are nerdy and geeky. No matter what, you are destined to stay far from the esteemed world of creativity! Chetan Bhagat and few other prominent names in the field have definitely brought in some much awaited change but this perception runs too deep to be wiped off by such discrete attempts.
Through twelve long years in school; my diary used to hold up all my secrets. In Calcutta where my home was once, an old briefcase probably still lies in silence, filled with the cuttings of me featuring in the student column of The Times of India, those letters of appreciation for winning Saturday short story competitions in Bangalore Asian Age, certificates received in essay writings and what not! They were undoubtedly my parents’ most prized possessions.
And then the infamous battle of survival of the fittest, every Indian student religiously go through, began for me too. Writing took a back seat. Like old scented pretty memories; I kept it aside.
Time flew. I eventually settled in Montreal.
The cruel weather-the rough reality-the loneliness-and I wanted to look back; to pick up my pen; once more.
At first, most of what I wrote back then; started getting published online. Thankfully I really didn’t have to wait that way. Slowly, I could feel that I was being noticed. Known online sites started asking for more write ups. Just to gather some extra experience, I started working as a freelancer with a Montreal based newspaper called Bharat Times for almost two years; apart from working as a regular reporter, I had my own monthly column on lifestyle and relationship there. This phase gave me substantial idea about the nitty gritty of today’s print media.
And finally that moment arrived; as a professional Biologist, when I understood you can’t really defy your gene, perhaps my grandfather and father passed it onto and the baton is in my hand now. I couldn’t afford to let them down. There is this distinct difference between just having a passion and letting your guard off for the true calling; it took me a while to get in tune with that realization. And it was indeed embarking on a new sojourn onwards.
By this time, a German publication house got in touch with me. They wanted to make a compilation of twelve short pieces of non fictions I wrote, all of them were previously published online. Thus, my first book Rain Drops in Her Heart was born.
A very strong connection got built up between me and my readers through Rain Drops in Her Heart. My readers started reaching out in facebook, through mails. The essences of their messages remained constant; that they were touched, as if I have told their stories.
Given my age, probably I have witnessed a little too much of what you call life. I lost both my parents and granny within a span of five months. I couldn’t cry. I bled through my pen instead.
One day, a friend from US floated the idea and asked me, “Why don’t you make it a memoir?”
And my second book, Life as she sees it over a cup of latte, a memoir of molten images, came alive.
My reader base took a giant leap with Life as she sees it over a cup of latte, honestly. Lines like “Indrani, my mother has been diagnosed with breast cancer stage II, whenever I feel low, I read you” or “you are probably of my daughter’s age but I have been learning so much from your thoughts” never stopped reaching me. And I couldn’t ask for more.
It’s extremely different a feeling to come closer to few moist hearts through your own words.
No, life doesn’t turn into any fairytale, problems don’t get solved overnight, the intense grief doesn’t leave either but the truth is writing sets me free with the soft white light of serene surrender on my shoulder.
Like every creative soul, I run away only to find myself back adding up some more dimension every time. I love to lose myself the way a burning candle leaves behind a silent aroma of aloneness only to love me back. And the story goes on like a soothing night song through which I destroy myself only to flourish in resilience. have surrendered my
From tasting freedom to the road of independence-I have come pretty far with the wings of word.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Indrani, moved to Montreal for pursuing higher studies. A biologist, by profession, she feels writing is her calling. She has been as a regular columnist in a Montreal based newspaper, Bharat Times. Her first book ‘Rain drops in her heart’ got published by a German Publishing house. Her second book, ‘Life as she sees it; over a cup of latte’ has been published recently. She writes in online magazines like hackwriters, Another Realm, Paragraph Planet, Bong Connect, eFiction India to name a few. She has also featured in the anthology Heartscapes- True stories of remembered love, published from US last year. She is presently working on her third book.
