The launch of environmentalist Biswajit Roy Chowdhury’s book, Days In The Wild, was marked by a call to be sensitive to nature and protect wildlife.
Helen LaFave, the consul-general of US in Calcutta, who was present at ICCR for the book launch, remembered her trip to the Sunderbans with the author.
“Biswajit Roy Chowdhury took me on a trip to the Sunderbans and it was a wonderful experience. For many years, Roy Chowdhury has been putting in a great effort to make us realise the urgency of conserving nature. Even though I haven’t managed to read the book, I was struck by the beautiful pictures. It clearly reflected the sheer expertise of photography and made us aware of the different species of animals and birds inhabiting our planet,” she said.
Roy Chowdhury remembered growing up in a small rural town of Bihar where the call of the wild was common. “In my childhood, I watched with great interest rare species of birds. However, thanks to hunting and poaching, now I have to travel hundreds of miles for a glimpse of many species that are fading away. Through my books, I want to harp on this.”
Author’s journey
City-born author Devdan Chaudhuri’s debut novel, the Tibor Jones South Asia Prize 2013-nominated Anatomy of Life, was launched at the Oxford Bookstore recently.
The evening began with a call to “embark on a journey of dissection” as Anjana Basu, author and marketing consultant, discussed and questioned the author’s motives and intentions regarding the characters, setting and narrative of the novel. An intriguing feature of the book is that none of the characters in the book has a name; they are described using terms such as “the poet”, “the pianist”, “the sweetheart” and so on.
The narrator in the book is not just a poet but also a journalist, a philosopher as well as a former economist, much like the author himself. So is the protagonist a reflection of the author? “All novels are partly fictional and partly autobiographical. So it is not surprising that the narrator is similar to me. I needed a character who was sensitive and intellectual enough to be able to embark on a journey the book takes you on,” said Chaudhuri, whose favourite authors are Milan Kundera and Albert Camus.
The Pan Macmillan India edition (Rs 350) has on its cover a striking photograph of an empty jacket hanging against a barren background. Explained the choice, Pinaki De, assistant professor of English at Raja Peary Mohan College, Uttarpara, said: “Since this book is an inquest of the self, we do not always reveal ourselves completely. A part of us remains hidden and that is what the jacket signifies”.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / Text by Tanisha Bagchi and Abhinanda Datta / Sunday – December 14th, 2014