Of human bonding
As a child, all that Novoneel Chakraborty could think of was making it big in sports, and as a teenager his dream was to become a surgeon. But after three best-selling novels at all of just 28, writing as a profession is something that just fell into place in his pursuit to follow his heart, says Novoneel, who has just come up with his latest series of work titled The Stranger Trilogy.
Born in Silchar and brought up in Kolkata, with a writer in his grandfather and a literature enthusiast in his father, his proclivity towards writing was only natural. “I have always been a story-teller,” Novoneel says. “But it was only when I was 21 that characters and plots started happening to me. And in the process of venting, I became an author,” he adds.
“I clearly remember the day when I went to my father and told him that I wanted to be a writer. He looked at me and said he too wanted to be one but couldn’t, so he would support my decision through thick and thin,” adds Novoneel.
But following one’s heart isn’t a rosy path, he contends. “When I began in 2008, the publishing scenario was slightly different than what it is today. Big publishers were yet to associate a potential market with young Indian authors writing in English. When I started off, I did not have much of a know-how on how to market a book. It is only with time that I understood how marketing plays an important part in publishing business. More so now when so many authors are coming with their stories,” says Novoneel, whose previous works include How About A Sin Tonight and Ex.. A Twisted Love Story.
After having created popular characters that have connected with the Indian audience, does the author have one he calls his favourite? Novoneel says while all of them draw some inspiration from the way he judges or interprets people, there is one very close to his heart. “One of the characters I loved creating is Nishani Rai from my third book How About A Sin Tonight? I was obsessed with her even after I was done writing. Never before or after has a character affected me like she did,” adds Novoneel.
Shedding light on his latest work, The Stranger Trilogy, Novoneel says, “It was always planned as a trilogy. I knew the moment I attempted the trilogy that I would have to give a minimum of a year and a half to it. As I wrote Ex.. A Twisted Love Story, I was knitting the story of The Stranger Series at the back of my mind. The kind of graph I wanted to give to the relationship of the stranger and Rivanah Bannerjee, the protagonist, demanded a trilogy,” says Novoneel.
On what he plans for his future, Novoneel says, “I look forward to experimenting with my writing style rather than hopping between genres in the near future. I find genre hopping easier than staying in one particular genre and exploring different shades of it, one story at a time. My sole ambition is to explore the hidden or dormant side of real people through my characters in engaging stories.”