Today we have Purba Chakraborty with us in conversation where she bares her heart and lets us know how she became what she is. Everyone has a story and today we are going to listen to Purba's story which is not only motivating it is heartwarming as it shows you how to find yourself.
Purba Chakraborty is a novelist, poet, freelance writer, web content developer, blogger and social influencer. She has authored two novels “Walking in the streets of love and destiny” (2012) published by Diamond Books and “The Hidden Letters” (2014) published by Bluejay Books (an imprint of Srishti Publishers and Distributors). She published her poetry book “The Heart Listens to No One” in February, 2016. Many of her short stories and poems have been published in several anthologies such as “Shades of Life”, “Minds @ Work 4”, “Rhymes and Rhythm”, “Mélange ~ a potpourri of thoughts”, “Kaafiyana”, "Stories for your valentine", "Fusion-A mingled flavor mocktail". She blogs at Love, Laugh & Reflect.
She comes across as someone who is a gem of a person to know. Warm, affable and friendly she has a smile that speaks a lot. Over to her as she shares her journey of becoming an author:
It always feels so good to recall all the moments that made up my journey of writing. Thank you, Namrata for giving me this lovely opportunity to talk about my journey to become an author. Today, if anyone asks me to describe my journey in one word, it would be “enlightening”. By that I don’t mean that it has been a smooth and easy ride. Well, it is a blend of many beautiful, magical, healing, frustrating, distressing and enriching moments.
At one point of time, we all choose a certain path to connect to our inner self. Some do it through meditation or prayer. Many do it through travelling. I feel that when I write, I can connect to my soul the most.
If I move five to six years backward in my life, I think I cannot identify myself. I was a very different Purba. I was someone who struggled with finding the purpose of her life. I was doing Microbiology Honors and excelled in the subject, but I had no peace within. I was someone who was living a mechanical life, without any self-realization. I clearly hadn’t found my soul then. I was someone, whose mind was clouded by several questions about life, for which I could not provide myself any answers.
After completing my graduation, I decided to tick off some of the things that were there in my bucket list. One of the things was writing a book. Since I had some free time, I decided to write a novel. At that point of time, I did not know any writer, publisher or blogger. I won many prizes in the creative writing contests held at my school, which was the sole motivation that I had to start writing a book.
I completed writing it in a span of eight months, during which I faced a lot of discouragement by relatives and encouragement by a few close friends. I searched a few publishers in google and went ahead with the first publisher who approved my manuscript. That was how my first book Walking in the streets of love and destiny was born.
I feel my first book was like a surprise gift that I gave myself. When I started writing it, I did not have the slightest idea that I can successfully complete writing it and publish it eventually. Today, I definitely feel that I could have narrated the story in a far better way, but however I don’t have any regrets. My first book was the first stair that I climbed to discover the purpose of my life.
By the time I completed writing my first book, I realized that I had become addicted to writing. I was feeling depressed and therefore, I started writing another book, which unfortunately could not see the light of the day although I signed the contract with a traditional publisher. Due to delays and other problems, the contract was dissolved.
Although I felt dejected and sad, I started working on “The Hidden Letters”. I was going through a terrible phase during that time. My second book contract got dissolved. I was suffering from several health issues, including a leg fracture. My personal and academic lives were also in troubled waters. I remember I was spending time with the protagonist of my book, Anaya when something strange happened within me…a flash of magic.
I started feeling so calm and peaceful, despite the innumerable things that were going wrong in my life. The more I shaped Anaya’s destiny in the book, the more I felt confident that I am strong enough to bear all the adversities that I am facing and that I won’t lose hope in life. “When your time is not at your best, you be at your best.” I kept saying these very words to myself that Anaya says to her daughter in the book.
When I completed writing “The Hidden Letters”, I was healed and enlightened. I realized that writing helps me to live. As long as I am able to write, I can face every adversity and challenge with resilience and a peaceful heart.
I recently published my poetry book “The Heart Listens To No One” which is a collection of 35 love poems. I have been writing poems since childhood, even before I started writing stories. I joined a poetry community called Poets United last year which helped me to polish my poetry writing skills in my blog. After one year of writing poems regularly, I got the confidence to publish my collection of poems.
I feel blessed to be able to express myself through both poetry and prose. I get enormous happiness in writing poems, short stories and novels. I am thankful to the Almighty for His gift and I wish to write till my last breath.
It always feels so good to recall all the moments that made up my journey of writing. Thank you, Namrata for giving me this lovely opportunity to talk about my journey to become an author. Today, if anyone asks me to describe my journey in one word, it would be “enlightening”. By that I don’t mean that it has been a smooth and easy ride. Well, it is a blend of many beautiful, magical, healing, frustrating, distressing and enriching moments.
At one point of time, we all choose a certain path to connect to our inner self. Some do it through meditation or prayer. Many do it through travelling. I feel that when I write, I can connect to my soul the most.
If I move five to six years backward in my life, I think I cannot identify myself. I was a very different Purba. I was someone who struggled with finding the purpose of her life. I was doing Microbiology Honors and excelled in the subject, but I had no peace within. I was someone who was living a mechanical life, without any self-realization. I clearly hadn’t found my soul then. I was someone, whose mind was clouded by several questions about life, for which I could not provide myself any answers.
After completing my graduation, I decided to tick off some of the things that were there in my bucket list. One of the things was writing a book. Since I had some free time, I decided to write a novel. At that point of time, I did not know any writer, publisher or blogger. I won many prizes in the creative writing contests held at my school, which was the sole motivation that I had to start writing a book.
I completed writing it in a span of eight months, during which I faced a lot of discouragement by relatives and encouragement by a few close friends. I searched a few publishers in google and went ahead with the first publisher who approved my manuscript. That was how my first book Walking in the streets of love and destiny was born.
I feel my first book was like a surprise gift that I gave myself. When I started writing it, I did not have the slightest idea that I can successfully complete writing it and publish it eventually. Today, I definitely feel that I could have narrated the story in a far better way, but however I don’t have any regrets. My first book was the first stair that I climbed to discover the purpose of my life.
By the time I completed writing my first book, I realized that I had become addicted to writing. I was feeling depressed and therefore, I started writing another book, which unfortunately could not see the light of the day although I signed the contract with a traditional publisher. Due to delays and other problems, the contract was dissolved.
Although I felt dejected and sad, I started working on “The Hidden Letters”. I was going through a terrible phase during that time. My second book contract got dissolved. I was suffering from several health issues, including a leg fracture. My personal and academic lives were also in troubled waters. I remember I was spending time with the protagonist of my book, Anaya when something strange happened within me…a flash of magic.
I started feeling so calm and peaceful, despite the innumerable things that were going wrong in my life. The more I shaped Anaya’s destiny in the book, the more I felt confident that I am strong enough to bear all the adversities that I am facing and that I won’t lose hope in life. “When your time is not at your best, you be at your best.” I kept saying these very words to myself that Anaya says to her daughter in the book.
When I completed writing “The Hidden Letters”, I was healed and enlightened. I realized that writing helps me to live. As long as I am able to write, I can face every adversity and challenge with resilience and a peaceful heart.
I recently published my poetry book “The Heart Listens To No One” which is a collection of 35 love poems. I have been writing poems since childhood, even before I started writing stories. I joined a poetry community called Poets United last year which helped me to polish my poetry writing skills in my blog. After one year of writing poems regularly, I got the confidence to publish my collection of poems.
I feel blessed to be able to express myself through both poetry and prose. I get enormous happiness in writing poems, short stories and novels. I am thankful to the Almighty for His gift and I wish to write till my last breath.
“I never knew I had a writer within me. But when I started writing, I felt writing was my soul’s medicine. I had to write to survive.” ~ The Hidden Letters