An Introspective Interview with the Author Sabarna Roy

Sabarna Roy is a much awarded, critically acclaimed bestselling author of 6 literary books: Pentacles; Frosted Glass; Abyss; Winter Poems; Random Subterranean Mosaic: 2012 – 2018, and Etchings of the First Quarter of 2020. He is the lead author of a technical book, which has been published from the European Union and has been translated into 8 major European languages.

He has been awarded the Literoma Laureate Award in 2019, Literoma Star Achiever Award 2020, Random Subterranean Mosaic: 2012 – 2018 won the best book of the year 2019, the A List Award for excellence in fiction by the NewsX Media House, Certificate for The Real Super Heroes for spreading a spirit of positivity and hope during the COVID-19 Pandemic from Forever Star India Award 2020, the Certificate for Participation in the Indo Russian Friendship Celebration 2020, and the Literoma Golden Star Award 2020: Lifetime Achievement.

We recently had a chat with Sabarna Roy, details of which are given below.

Interview:

How do you find your journey from a technocrat who was a fresh graduate from college to a Senior VP who has a ton of responsibilities on his shoulders?

The journey has been interesting and organic. I have been always involved in doing things that I have loved doing be that as an Engineering Professional or as an Author. With age and experience, as responsibilities increased and changed in the professional arena, the exposure that one gets in the intervening period one also learns to handle changed patterns of responsibilities more intelligently. Generically with age, experience and exposure, one has to learn leadership, mentorship and decision-making skills. Whether one is learning these trades or not will decide the success of the individual.

You have been an acclaimed author of various masterpieces. How do you inculcate the art of writing in your decision making process?

Literary writing teaches you to examine amorphous experiences and phenomena. In life, not all things are black and white. Most of the things are not. As such, the experience of literary writing helps you to deal with these grey areas more confidently as they imitate real life situations.

Your works are a reflection of complex yet obvious emotions. How do you think the existing poverty in our country could be eradicated; either through employment or through better education?

To me, the priorities are:

1. Land and agrarian reforms: The farmland should be owned by the farmer who produces crops. There will be no landless peasant, and the farmers will have complete autonomy. Do away with the feudal or corporate ownership of farmlands. This will bring about a revolution in the quality and quantity of the agricultural produce in the country.

2. Medical reforms: Public investment is required in creating medical institutions all across to produce more doctors, and paramedical staff, and medical infrastructure in the villages, mofussil towns, and suburbs. You deserve a healthier nation.

3. Judicial reforms: Revamp the lower and the High Courts in a manner that the pending cases can be concluded in an expeditious manner. The number of under-trials locked up in jails in appalling conditions need to be brought down. A speedier justice system will definitely help to bring down the intrinsic violence in the civil society.

4. Educational reforms: Public investment is required in creating educational infrastructure in the villages, mofussil towns, and suburbs. You deserve a more educated nation.

You have also written some prominent works in non-fiction genre. What skill sets are required to have mastery over non-fiction works apart from the knowledge of the subject?

I do not think the skill sets for writing non-fictional works are different from writing fictional works. Because in both the genres, you are trying to tell a story and making a point from the author's point of view. Even, knowledge of a subject is common to non-fictional and fictional genres.

There has been a prominent characteristic of your work to mix different genres in a single work. Is it the demand of the story or you always try to experiment with your writing style?

It is a combination of both. I feel my kind of stories can be narrated more effectively, if I mix different genres and it is also a fact that I try experimenting in my writing style.

As you are a First Class Honours graduate from one of the top universities of the country; do you think that a degree in technical subject affects your writing as writing is considered art?

I have been interested in interdisciplinary learning since my early childhood. That was the kind of training inside my family. So engineering studies did not stop me from reading literature, history, or other social sciences. Today, I juggle between two professions of being a Senior Engineering Professional and an Author seamlessly. It could not have been possible without the support of my employers and my family. If you have the right kind of passion, you will find time. Otherwise, not!

How do you manage your writing career and such a highly responsible position of a Senior VP?

I shuffle between my two professions of being a Senior Engineering Professional and an Author of literary books. Yes, life has changed after I started writing books since July 2007 when I felt if I did not write I would die. Life definitely has become busier juggling between two different kinds of professions. As a Senior Engineering Professional, I am also involved in writing research articles in the environment sector in peer-reviewed national and international Journals. During the on-going Pandemic, I have been busy in various digital conferences as a Senior Engineering Professional as well as a literary author. Before the Pandemic I had to attend national and international conferences and literary meets.

What are your upcoming works and in which genre?

I am presently working on the manuscripts of two books: one that deals with the Pandemic and the other collating my scattered Journals and Diaries. These books are likely to be published in 2021.