For more than two decades, Supriya Newar has authored countless essays, prose, poems, travelogues and more, and that too in several languages. She is the author of Kalkatta Chronicles and Kolkata Classics, both books a brilliant reflection of life as it is in the City of Joy. On November 1, Supriya spoke about her books, writings and her inspiration in a session titled ‘Kolkata, Kalkatta, Calcutta’ at the Bengal Rowing Club with acclaimed academician, Amita Prasad, director, Indus Valley World School.
My Kolkata brings to you excerpts…
Kolkata, ‘Kalkatta’, Calcutta – three facets of one city
Amit Prasad (left) in conversation with Supriya Newar
With books titled Kalkatta Chronicles and Kolkata Classics and a session titled ‘Kolkata, Kalkatta, Calcutta,’ it was evident that the conversation should start with a discussion on the city. Asked what the three names signify to the author, Supriya said, “I relate to all, but not in equal measure all the time. One is linguistically. If I am speaking English I’ll say Calcutta. If it’s in Hindi, then Kalkatta and in Bengali, it's only Kolkata. The slightly finer thread to the whole thing is ‘Calcutta’ immediately throws you back to the perhaps more colonial days and ‘Kolkata’ is solid, earthy, homely. It’s how we locals know it. If you go back and watch any Hindi film, they would say Kalkatta in all of them. Kalkatta is a city in my head which has borrowed from Calcutta, from Kolkata and yet it has added to it its own seasonings. Kalkatta is a terrific mutation.’’
The first step as an author
Asked about how writing came into being, she traced the story of Kalkatta Chronicles. Newar comments, "The first chapter that I had written was titled Pink Slip. Cinema tickets used to be pink and green. Once, I had gone to watch a movie. After watching the it, I returned home and my mind went back to a time when the ticketwala used to come home. So, I wrote the piece and titled it Pink Slip. Some friends read it and they could identify with the same. Then I started writing a couple of such episodes and eventually a publisher was interested enough to put it into print.’’ The Pink Slip, which was changed to the story title Matinee Magic, is one of the most loved ‘rear-view reflections’ of Kalkatta Chronicles.
‘Kalkatta Chronicles’ authored by Supriya Newar
Finding the muse
Kolkata is a living, breathing entity in the writings of Newar and it lends a unique character to her words. How did she find her muse? Supriya says, ‘’I didn’t go searching. I allowed the city to infect me with all its chaos, its conundrums, its confusion, its charms, its absolute idiotic eccentricity and I accepted all of it. I also feel that you don’t want a picture-perfect setting. You need an imperfect setting for a trigger, whether it’s a thought or an idea or an observation or a quirk and you can look at it with interest.’’
‘’Kalkatta Chronicles is more sentimental, based on how an entire generation grew up. Kolkata Classics has about two dozen verses and what I have tried to do is take the absolute, the everyday common and in plain sight elements in our city which all of us are familiar with. Elements that cut across community, age, border, gender, diaspora, profession, status etc.,’’ added the author.
‘Kolkata Classics’ has two dozen verses which revolve around the common sights that everyone is familiar with in the City of Joy
Travel as teacher
One glance at her social media account and one would be enchanted with the travel photographs that the author keeps posting. A travel buff and a travelogue writer, Supriya says, “Travel is a great teacher. The country [India] is no less than a miracle. The kind of diversity, culture, and the sheer natural beauty. For example, one aspect of my travel that has grown in the last six years is, I have managed to go by myself to at least 13-14 forests. How has that exactly impacted my writing I don’t know. But it just helps to know that there is a much larger world out there, appreciate the macro and also equally nice to travel to your own backyard.’’
Music as a guiding force
As an ardent music lover and a poetry writer, Supriya believes, ‘’Music and poetry, I think, go hand in hand. All our prayers are set to tune. The Bhagwad Gita, ultimately, is a song. I think our vidwans knew that if you set it to tune, whether you understand it fully or not, it will be much easier to have it memorized and perhaps at some stage of life you will also understand it. Music is an extremely strong passion and guiding force [for me].”
Writing Secrets
On being asked how she pens down her thoughts as a writer, the answer was very straightforward. “I have a couple of quirks. If I am writing poetry, I use a pencil and plain paper. But for all non-fiction or work-related writing, it’s the computer. And no, I don’t do those things of crumpling paper and throwing them around. I’m too much of a neatness freak so I can’t handle litter all around.’’
Mundane is extraordinary
What makes her works unique is the finesse with which she brings out the extraordinary in the everyday. “It wasn’t my universe alone. I think from the ’70s to the ’80s, basically pre-liberalization or before the breaking down of joint families, these were everyday occurrences. It’s just that I was lucky enough that nobody wrote about it and I captured it. It is not a then and now, it is not a comparative. It is essentially capturing what I have known, seen and how I have grown up. I suppose you just have to see that the ordinary is quite extraordinary, and the extraordinary takes care of itself.’’
Talking to My Kolkata exclusively after her session, Supriya spoke about her writing across genres and forms of literature. “In the past 22 to 24 years, I've had over 1,500 bylines including articles, travelogues etc. A lot of poetry has been written in multiple languages, including Hindi, Urdu and English. There have been some significant books I've authored, though these have been for private circulation. This includes a very difficult translation from Hindi to English of a biography of Late Seth Govind Das, and a tribute to Late Padma Vibhushan Girija Devi which was released by the Governor of West Bengal. Since I've spent many years steering noteworthy brands, brands and marketing communication have also been tackled all along. All this has given a certain flexibility to my pen and I can move from one form to another with ease. As we speak, I'm working on a book on Banaras.’’ She added, ‘’As far as our city goes, Kalkatta Chronicles is all prose and Kolkata Classics is all verse. I've enjoyed both. And more importantly, my readers have really accepted and appreciated both.’’
