Sudipta Mukherjee is a young, female, bestselling author, out there to create her unique footprint in the literary world. She is Indian by origin, and cosmopolitan in her bearings.

Sudipta is a thinker and a writer, a fitness enthusiast, an explorer, and a deeply rooted humanitarian. She is a believer of love, and a student for life. Sudipta has published four books, so far. Three fiction and one, non-fiction.

The world needs stories, and she has a boxful!

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Interview with Sudipta Mukherjee

When did you first realize that you wanted to be a writer/ a storyteller?

Writing, for me is a journey. I like this journey. I am traveling, without too much focus on the destination. I will reach somewhere, I know, I am confident about it. For me, the path matters more. How I am traveling is more important than when I will reach my goal. Writing is a place of affection and reflection. A place in the world where I belong. It has given me a home and I am thankful for it. I like it, this feeling of home, enjoy every moment of it. The time I write, I feel alive.
Looking back I don’t recall an exact moment when that realization dawned, that yes, I want to become a writer. But the feeling or I’d rather the awareness of the fact that I have stories within me came when I started writing my first novel, The Crossroads.

What inspires you to write?

Life. That’s my biggest inspiration. The stories that I tell are inspired from life, and people and their experiences, not to mention, circumstances. Relationship is my forte; I mean stories based on relationships. When I say relationship, I mean every kind. Man’s relationship with man or woman, man’s relationship with nature, man’s relationship with science, man’s relationship with himself, so on and so forth. It’s an inexhaustible source from where you can draw and draw without the fear of exhaustion.
Next comes reading. Reading is the creative anchor of my writing life. I read exhaustively, all kinds of book. Fiction definitely, biographies, autobiographies, religion, spiritual studies, metaphysics, at times self help books too, though I don’t find the genre too interesting. Books have told me stories of every kind. Books have taken me to places where my feet couldn’t. It has opened up different worlds in my one life. And I never regret the time I spend with books, reading hungrily, even when my eyes get tired. Books have taught me, how to write a story. Books have taught me how to live! I feel there is no better companion than a good book.

How did you come up with the idea for your current story?

There were two thoughts. Firstly, I always wanted to write a story about an asexual relationship between a man and a prostitute. I mean, if a man visits a prostitute, not for sex, then what is the motivation behind those visits? What catapults him at her door, every night, night after night? What is it that he sees in her? How does the prostitute treat the man? Like any of his clients? Or is there a special something she gets aware of? Why does she allow him those visits, if that does not bring any monetary gain for her? I also wanted to write a story about estranged siblings who loses track of one another in the wake of the riots of 1965. I mixed these two ideas and knitted The Space Between Us. It’s a story of loss and separation, of discovering love and life in the haul of life.

Are there some stories tucked away in some drawer that was written before and never saw the light of the day?

Yes, many of them. Not tucked away in some drawer, but in my laptop. I am working on them, one by one. I will gradually publish them.

Tell us about your writing process.

There is no hard and fast writing process that I follow. But yes, when I start writing a story, I don’t stop in the middle. I finish it in a go, and then I stop. Give myself a break of a couple of weeks. After that I sit down to read my first draft and edit. It is not a rule, but I try to stick to this process. This has worked for me. When I start a story, I write a certain number of words every day, religiously.

Did any of your characters inherit some of your own quirks?

The characters that I create have different life stories, and have different life experiences. I create those stories with my imagination. They are not my life story. While the characters are born out of me, but chances are rare that they would inherit my quirks. My quirks are born and bred in me because of my life experiences, that are unique to me. My characters don’t share my life experiences.

What is your most interesting writing quirk?

I write the story that comes to me first. I don’t engineer a story. I believe in creating a story organically, one word at a time, one page at a time. If you call that a quirk, that’s it.

Do you read? Who are your favourite authors and how have they influenced your writing style?

I read, and as I said before, and I read exhaustively. I read every kind of books. I don’t have a favorite author. I like good stories written by anybody. Each writer has a unique style of writing. Each has his or her own style of storytelling. I am more interested in the story and the way it has been told, and not particularly who told it. Simple as that. Some very popular writers at times write crap, although you will notice ‘bestseller’ tag attached to them. Likewise, some extremely beautiful stories remain in the shadows, not known by millions.
A good story tells me how story could be wonderfully told, apart from telling me the story itself. And a bad story teaches me what not to do. I have a writing style that is unique. All authors have. Actually, it is the writing style that differentiates one author from the other. I try not to copy writing style, because if I do, then I lose my uniqueness. My writing becomes an adapted version of the writer I copied from. This idea is something, I am not too comfortable with. I like to tell my story in my own way. And I assure you, you won’t be disappointed if you read one.

What is the best piece of advice you have received, as a writer, till date?

Write the story that comes to you first. Don’t engineer a story. Or write it in the reverse order. That was said by my mentor, Mr. Randhir Khare.

What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?

If you want to write a story, write it by all means. But write for the joy of writing, for the pleasure of creation. Don’t focus too much on publication. Because, publication is a different ball game altogether.

If you were to be stranded on the famous deserted island, what three things would you carry?

Why on a deserted island? I would like to carry those three things anywhere I go. Books. Laptop. Coffee. If I have these three, I don’t think I need anything else. Not even a partner.

How do you spend your free time? Do you have a favorite place to go and unwind?

I don’t have a lot of free time to spend. Time, I feel, is the most precious resource, given that once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. The clock doesn’t back trace. I wish it could, but it doesn’t, unfortunately. Not for me, not for you. Not for anybody. Hence, we should use time wisely. Do things that give us happiness; do things that give our lives a meaning, a purpose.
If you are asking me about my hobbies, yes, there are a few things I practice, apart from reading. Like painting, traveling, at times cooking. I enjoy the moments when I cook. For me its an art, to be able to cook a dish nicely. I like to feed others. And I do experiment with different cuisines. Traveling is another thing I crave. I travel a lot, and mostly for pleasure. Traveling fascinates me like nothing else. It brings out the child inside me.
No, I don’t have any particular place to unwind. I do the ‘unwinding thing’ mostly while I meditate, siting in my home. But every day, well almost every day I go out in the nature and walk. It’s a way of life I have adapted myself to.

Can you share with us something off your bucket list?

The list is actually too long to share. I love to travel, and would love to see all the myriad spectacles of the world, both natural and manmade. I post my travel highlights on Insta. If you follow me there, you would know what a musafir I am.

What do you have in store next for your readers?

The Convict. Monochrome. The Road Not Taken. One Summer Home. Actually, there are many more.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers?

Buy my book! Read my stories. And if possible, drop a review on Amazon. That would mean a lot.
Because, dear readers, you are the reason I am.

Vibrant and intense, The Space Between Us unfolds the turbulent story of a family, separated in the wake of the riots of 1965.Opening in a lesser-known village of East Pakistan, it snakes its way through the dark and infamous alleyways of Calcutta to the dazzling world of Bengali cinema. Extreme religious turbulence, fractures the once rich Dutta family, intosplinters, resulting in heart wrenching separations. Two siblings are individually thrown into unstoppable journeys that are unique and solitary. The space between them remains as destiny takes each on their individual paths to a defining conclusion. Spanning generations, this sweeping novel deftly weaves love and social and historical circumstance into an unforgettable tapestry that spans the limits of love and empathy and the varied hues of human relationships. What is it that shapes individual destiny? Can fate be scripted anew? And by whom? At what? The Space Between Us is a poignant story of enduring emotional power that attempts to reconcile the notion of individual destiny against the canvas of life.

Book Links:
Amazon.in | Amazon.com