BookTalk with Samman Roy

 Born and Brought up in Kolkata, Samman Roy had been  a bookworm since the age of three.
From childhood , he had a keen taste in various aspects of arts  such as literature, music, drawing and later, movie. After completing his B.Tech and working in an MNC in Pune, he realized his true calling lies in the field of creativity. He completed his short internship at TVF, Mumbai and returned to his hometown to pursue a career in filmmaking-which is an amalgamation of all the art forms that interested him. Since then he had been making various films, writing and occasionally recording his own songs.

Here we will talk about him to agnize him closely and recent publish book, ' Memories of the Millennial '.

When did you first realize that you want to be an author?
👉 I started reading stories pretty early in life. So whenever I was not studying, I would be reading something or the other. Most of the time my mind would be occupied with stories and ideas of my own. Soon this pushed me towards trying my hand at writing them down. Unfortunately, at that time I would hardly be able to complete any of those stories, but deep down I felt an urge to be able to write something. So even before I realized it, I had a longing to be an author.

Whose support was instrumental in your journey to finish the book?
👉 I didn't really have a plan of publishing a book in the beginning. It was around a time when I had completed my college and had close to six months before I could join work. So I had a lot of free time, in which I started writing down these ideas I had in my mind for some time, in the form of stories. I had a few loyal friends, who used to be a focus group at that time. They were kind enough to read these stories and give their feedback very bluntly. It helped me a lot in identifying my mistakes and also motivated me to complete this book later.

When an author starts writing, he starts with a vision or target. Who are the target readers for your story?
👉 Honestly I didn't want to have a core target group for this book. But it turns out that all the stories which are in this book, has a common underlying theme. We were growing up at a time, when the world and our country in particular, was rapidly changing. First the telecom revolution happened and then came the digital revolution. Mobile phones, internet and social media became an integral part of our lives. But we are a generation who witnessed it happen in our formative years. So we couldn't fully let go of the traditional old world charms of the previous generation, nor could we stay away from the technological advancement that was unfolding in front of us. This makes us - the Millennial - a very interesting generation in my opinion. I hope all my fellow millennials will definitely relate to these stories.

'Memories of a Millennial' depicts your own experience. Why did you think that it should be shared with others?
👉 All the stories are not about my personal experiences. Some of them are pure fiction. But what is common among all of them is the fact that it smells of a very specific worldview that emerged in the early 21st century. Be it the sensitivity around homosexuality, increase in infidelity, the consciousness of choosing careers that are unconventional but gratifying... these stories stem from an ethos which is very intrinsic to our generation. So I think many people will find something or the other which they can relate to, once they read these stories.

As a child what did you want to do when you grew up?
👉 I had been a very confused child throughout. Initially, as I mentioned earlier, I had wanted to be an author. Then there came a point, when I wanted to be a physicist. In college I had opted for engineering, mostly out of peer pressure. But to be honest, I never really knew what I wanted to be until college was over and I got a long break of six months to contemplate. It was around that time I started watching world cinema and began reading again.

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
👉 This is the first book I have written. So I honestly have no idea about what readers would expect. I write whenever I feel there is a story which cannot be better told in any other medium.

What authors did you dislike at first but grew into?
👉 I can't remember any author whom I disliked. Since my childhood till my teens, I would read mostly books in genres of horror, thriller, mysteries or detective stories. But later when I began my second phase of reading, I began with "Notes From The Underground". And since then Fyodor Dostoyevsky has been my favorite author. Reading his books feels like the author is interacting with you at a very personal level, tapping on corners of your mind which you never knew even existed!

Digital media is so much strong and efficient for instant entertainment. Do you believe the space for story book is being squeezed?
👉 I had heard Arijit Singh give a very interesting response to a question he was asked in an interview. He was asked whether Indian Classical music is getting lost under the glitz and glamour of popular music. He said that it's not getting lost; it's just that classical music is no longer for performance, but for practice and meditation. Similarly, I feel that literature used to be the mainstream source of entertainment earlier. Now it's place has changed. Now people don't necessarily turn to books for entertainment. Nowadays one is more likely to pick up a book for inspiration, peace and calmness in this otherwise frenzy of a world!