Godrej Loud Dream

Debalina writes about her dreams for Godrej Loud...

"Writing for a Purpose…and the purpose is to touch the lives of the lesser fortunate"

 In West Bengal, in the year 2007, there was a huge disorder regarding the land acquisition by the Tatas in Singur and Nandigram. Innocent farmers were killed, their families destroyed… a complete human barbarism was moving around in the air. Most terrible was the fact that women were being raped and burnt. I was in my class 12 then and the entire episode hovered in my mind like ghosts. I penned down a poem, “An enigma called Woman” and dedicated it to Tapasi Mallik, a 16 years old rape and murder victim of that time, and women like her. It received the Editors’ Choice Award by Poetry.com and International Library of Poetry.

There were tears in my unbelievable eyes at 12 midnight, somewhere in the month of July in the year 2011. A story that my pen told the world about an ugly truth of street children in India had won the Critics’ Choice Award by the All India Short Story Competition, Illuminati 2011. And there was the joy that it was being read by millions in our country and abroad. The story thus unfolded was called “By-lane Dreamers” and somewhere down the line, I was happier since my creation could be an opportunity for many dreamers who have sweet-might-have-beens in their eyes… the poor children who belong to the streets

And finally, in 2012, my debut novel, “The Female Ward” was released internationally by Thames River Press (London). It is a diary of a young girl who witnesses few social issues in India like corruption, prisons and ragging. Again, a dream came true in the attempt to change India.

Now, I’m here at IIM Lucknow. The busy schedule has not stopped me from dreaming about a changed India where everyone is happy. I’m so glad that my mission, writing for a purpose, is actually helping me realise my dream. I’m working on my second book, “The Interpreter of Propinquity”, not a novel, but an anthology of short stories. It will have 20 stories, 750-1500 words each, highlighting current issues in India, helping people come out of their ship-wrecked existence and live a life. I’ve the manuscript ready for 10 stories and working hard to complete the remaining in a year. I would love to disclose the titles of the stories I’ve written already and they are:

1.       An Empty Title

2.       Imaginary

3.       Ocean

4.       The Conch Shell

5.       Fading Clouds

6.       The Last Hint of Orange

7.       By-lane Dreamers

8.       The Stripper in Radha

9.       The Old Giant

10.   The Paper Boat

So here I am, a full-time dreamer since 2007, writing for a purpose and the purpose is to touch the lives of the lesser fortunate because

“There’s nothing like a dream to create future” – Victor Hugo, Les Miserables