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Medic in writers’ dock
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With his Bombay Rains, Bombay Girls, Anirban Bose spins a fresh campus yarn that also raises some serious questions
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PHOTO: P.V. SIVAKUMAR
TALE TELLER Debutant writer Anirban Bose
Another campus novel by a debutant author has hit the bookstores. Anirban Bose, a kidney specialist, is the newest entrant in the writers’ gallery. He responds to questions about his book, Bombay Rains, Bombay Girls, with charm and candour.
The book can loosely be termed a campus novel. As expected of a first book, Anirban admits the book and his small-towner protagonist owe a lot to him and his experiences at Grant Medical College in Bombay. “Everybody draws from real life. What you write is a reflection of what you experience. I’m no exception. I’m not writing science fiction. I’m not creating a whole new world,” he concurs.
“I have tried to weave in the issues of minorityism, of cultural alienation.” Adi, the protagonist of his book, much like him, dwelled on the pain of those from the North-East, who are Indians, yet find themselves under scrutiny for their Indianness.
Bose felt alienated himself during his stay in the U.S. “Please, there’s no discrimination. It’s just that one can never be part of the mainstream,” he hastens to explain.
He has also raised questions about the “schizophrenic existence” in India of world-class, five-star healthcare that draws patients from around the world and the abysmal conditions of hospitals for the general populace.
Leaving for Bombay from a small town like Ranchi was quite a culture shock, recounts the author. “It took me some time to get used to seeing so many girls wearing tight-fitting clothes in a class of 200. It was while processing for his work permit for the U.S. got delayed post 9/11 that Anirban got down to finishing the novel that he had started in 2000.
Happy with the thought of being in the confession box, he discloses, “I must have gone through 200 rejections from literary agents in the U.K. and the U.S. before getting the nod from Saugata Mukherjee of HarperCollins. The series of rejections really helped me improve my craft. It was incredibly disheartening, but I just plodded on. I would just go back to my writing and rework the manuscript,” he confesses.
The rejection of the novel phase has been, of course, turned into a short story. He is ready with a collection of 12-13 short stories.
A huge fan of Indian writing in English, he credits Chetan Bhagat with opening up the market to a growing number of readers. “Chetan does not write like a highbrow intellectual desirous of leaving his literary footprints on the world. He writes like a regular guy of everyday experiences.”
“I have no illusions about being a great writer. All I am sure of is that I want to be a writer. You can be a tennis player for the sheer pleasure of playing the game. You don’t have to reach the stature of Roger Federer.”
“Yes, I am sensitive about my book. I feel just like a new mother who wants to hear only good things about her baby. I understand there is exactitude in the sciences. The arts are subjective. Everyone has a different perspective on a work of art. As a doctor, I can prescribe aspirin for a headache. No other doctor would find fault with that. As a writer, I can only hope that my book is well received,” he smilingly offers.
“People ask me when do I find the time to write. With my laptop in front of me, there’s ample time to write. I even do that in the midst of seeing patients, though the hospital employers might say this is not what they pay me for,” he laughs almost apologetically.
A lot is happening in the first-time writer’s life. It is Hyderabad that is home for him now. “Hyderabad is hip and happening. Besides, my wife picked up a job here.” Father of a 12-year-old girl and an eight-year-old boy, he charms you with his doting dad persona as he shows a picture of his kids on his cellphone.
“I have very few years together with my kids. I wanted to be with my family,” he smiles.
KOMAL VIJAY SINGH
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