“Sometimes, we do not get a chance to thank each one who has helped us in our Journey.”  Let the readers get a chance to know about all the important people who have played a part in this Author Journey of yours.

 From a young age, I have tried to pen down words. So, the journey has been shaped by different people at different stages of life. I owe it to my parents who exposed me to stories and books at a very young age. I owe it to the Hindi teacher who liked the poem penned by me so much that he asked me to recite it to the whole class. I owe it to the judges of the Kavi Sammelan in school who awarded my poems with first prize for three consecutive years. I owe it to the editors of the school magazine who found my stories and articles good enough to publish them in the magazine. I owe it to my friends from college who encouraged me to tell them stories during power outages as a means to pass time. I owe it to my wife who found the diary with a few unfinished stories, which I had kept hidden in a closet and convinced me to finish them. I owe it to Muse India and Ateya Sharma Uppaluri Sir for publishing my first short story. I owe it to Neil D’Silva Sir for giving me my first big break. I owe it to Suhail Mathur for getting me my first book deal and movie deal, and Locksley Hall Publishing for agreeing to publish the book.

The list goes on….

Can you tell a bit about the books you have written and share a few lines from any of them?

My first book was the outcome of a contest by Publisher Half Baked Beans which I won and I was teamed with my co-author Shruti Jain to write a book on any genre of our choice. The only catch was we had to write it jointly. After hours of discussions over WhatsApp calls, (Shruti lives in Canada) we jointly authored ‘2035’, a dystopian novel. The book has received a positive response from the readers. My favorite line from the book (which is Shruti’s brainchild) is ‘Technology is the mind, the mind is the technology’.

My upcoming book is a historical fiction titled ‘The Legend of Lachit Borphukan’ which narrates the inspiring tale of the Ahom general Lachit Borphukan. Published by Locksley Hall Publishing and represented by The Book Bakers, the book chronicles the life of Lachit Borphukan from his childhood, his rise in ranks in the Ahom army and finally being appointed as the Generalissimo of the Ahom army that dared to attack the mighty Mughals and defeat them in their own territories. The book is now on pre-order on Amazon and is getting an overwhelming response.

What kind of research did you put into before writing a sci-fi book?

Though I am from an engineering background, my line of study was nowhere related to computers or IT. But I have had the first-hand experience in the field of IT, Banking, and administration due to my previous jobs to figure out a believable connection between the three. But in-depth research in Artificial intelligence, the Big Five of the internet- Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Apple, the future technologies, etc was necessary to build a convincing plot. We both went through a few books and numerous articles on the internet. Finally, when we figured out the plot to the last detail, we went ahead with the writing process. The research took more time than the writing. 

Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers?

Though I have never associated myself with a particular genre, I am most comfortable writing dark stuff. Currently, I am working on a true-crime story set in the 1970s in Assam. The book is halfway done and I am contemplating finishing it by the end of August 2021.  

In addition to it, I am also working on a script for an Assamese movie to be directed by a dear friend who happens to be an amazing director with National awards to her fame. The film deals with many social issues in subtle as well as elaborate ways. Fingers crossed on this one.

According to you, which are the 5 books, everyone should read, and also who are your top 3 Authors?

Although it’s hard to list five books out of so many wonderful books I have read, I will list them out and tell you exactly why it’s on my list.

• The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni was the first book I picked up when I started reading again after a few years of gap and no other book could have been a better choice.
• Poonachi by Perumal Murugan made me understand that even the story of a goat can be written in an interesting way. I like Perumal Murugan’s writings because his books carry a rural and rustic feeling which is rare in English literature.
• Rebirth by Jahnavi Baruah because it felt like home when I read it. Her writing flows like a river and you can’t arrest the flow of a river.
• Five-point Someone by Chetan Bhagat because it made me believe that even I can be an author. In fact, he made every aspiring storyteller confident enough to complete his story and pitch it to publishers.
• The Robert Langdon series by Dan Brown. No justification here. It’s more than enough that the series exists and I could read it.

Top three authors: Rabindra Nath Tagore, Ruskin Bond and Bhabendra Nath Saikia.

Tell us a bit about your family, likes, and dislikes as a person.

I live with my wife Bipanchi and daughter Janvika in Guwahati, Assam.  We both work with the Government of Assam in different capacities. My parents reside in a town called Nagaon, about 120 km from Guwahati. We visit them during festivals and ceremonies. 

I like to travel. I know it’s a cliche but I actually do. There was a time when my wife was posted at a faraway town and I used to travel to her on extended weekends. I had to drive for about six hours to her place and I loved those drives. It was the time when I could listen to audiobooks, podcasts, etc uninterrupted. Moreover, I like cooking. Feeding others gives me satisfaction. I feel content when people like the food prepared by me. 

I hate it when people try to be what they are not. One should be honest with one’s appearance, emotions, and motive. 

Could you share a few tips for Young Authors?

I believe I am not that old to guide young authors. By God’s grace, I still have some years to go before I adorn that ‘Know-it-all’ hat. But, for aspiring authors(even though I am still an aspiring author myself) I would say ‘READ, READ, READ. Read enough before taking that plunge to be a writer. A good story is much more than just a good plot. Learn the craft before giving it a try and the only way you can learn is by reading good literature. 

Secondly, perseverance is the key. You might have written an amazing book or an awesome story but the book or the story might not have generated the buzz you anticipated. Don’t give up. Write the second one. Figure out what didn’t work. Keep honing your skills. Don’t be a one-book wonder. Be courageous enough to run the marathon. 

How can a writer keep the mental block or writer’s block away from his/her creativity?

Mental blocks can be for various reasons. Some reasons are tamable, some are untamable. You had a long day at work, you feel exhausted. But if there is a deadline to be met, you better get that laptop on. But if there is a death in the family, you will need time to mourn and accept the loss. Creativity goes for a toss in those tough times. So, it is necessary that you take a break till you are back to your old self. 

However, at times, you need a break for no reason. Though personally, I have never faced that blank screen staring back at me(probably I have not written enough to be out of ideas yet), I believe taking some time off and indulging in other activities such as taking a walk, reading, watching a movie, etc will get the creative juices flowing again. That’s what I have heard from the Biggies in the industry.

At Sharing Stories, we have an ongoing campaign ‘Empowering Our Kids’ where we are trying to encourage and inculcate reading habits from a young age. We are trying to pick up 20 to 30 must-read books for children and try and make them available at our library in Jaipur, also to take this initiative across the globe. Please suggest some books which you think every child should read before the age of 15 (mostly the character-defining age).

•  Enid Blyton books.
• Jataka tales, Panchatantra tales, Betaal Paschisi
• Ramayana and Mahabharata for children (Devdutt Patnaik has written them recently)
• Arabian nights
• Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver’s Travels, Pinocchio… there are many.

Rapid Fire Round

1. Favorite Place- Guwahati, New Delhi, Chennai

Person- Too many to name here.

Food– Indian, Chinese, Cuisines of Northeast India. 

beverage- Tea, Coffee, Beer

2. Your other Talents- Cooking.

3. Your First Love- My Car

4. Favorite Quote– I suppose, in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye.

5. Favorite Character from a book- Ayyan Mani from Serious Men

What if Round 

1. What if you had to live with only three things all your life, what would the three things be?

My phone, Water, and A place to stay for free.

2. What if you were given the power to change one thing from this world, what would you change?

Patriarchal mindset of the society.

3. What if you had all the money in this world, what would you do first?

If I had all the money in the world, then money would not have any value. Keeping a huge chunk with me, I will circulate it back in the market.