@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 2:04

Being the Voice of Tomorrow - In Conversation with Young Author Souhardya De

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So could you share something about the experience of writing your first book at such a young age? And also, how did you navigate the writing process alongside all of your other academic obligations?

#askanauthor #youthicon #authorinterview #youngauthor #pmyuvainitiative

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@Souhardya
Souhardya De
@Souhardya · 3:17
So first, you have the inspiration, the place where you find the inspiration for the work that you also secondly, there's the ideation and the research postswitch, I guess, comes the framing, the structure bit and the actual authorship segment. So, yes, all of this in particular the research part, when in middle school was a little demanding
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@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 0:24
That's that's really wonderful to know and so beautifully articulated. Thank you so much for that. My next question is about your writing journey that saw you make it to the winning list of 75 authors under the PM YUVA Mentorship Program for Young Authors. How exactly did that come about?
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@Souhardya
Souhardya De
@Souhardya · 4:44

@Ramya

I remember having this mixed bag of emotions, excitement, nervousness and uncertainty, so all sort of combined. But despite my doubts, I pushed ahead and hit the publishing button. And I think this, coupled with the response that I received, sort of encouraged me to keep going, to keep writing. So I decided to try my hand in a different genre and self published a sequel, which is not exactly a sequel because it was a dramatic work, but kind of revolved gravitated around the same theme
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@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 0:23
Thank you so much for that. So Souhardya, what made you zero in on the story of Lal Pratap Singh for your book? Were there also other historical figures that you considered writing about? And was your research process challenging given how little information is available around the life of Lal Pratap Singh?
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@Souhardya
Souhardya De
@Souhardya · 4:45

@Ramya @aashisha

Now, there's this populist saying by Tony Morrison that if there's a book that you want to read but it's not been written yet, so you must be the first one to write it. I don't remember the quote exactly, but that's like the crux of it. That's kind of coupled with a few other things which included my interest in the period and the first war of Indian independence, the manner in which Lalpata navigates the world of court politics and British repression
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@Souhardya
Souhardya De
@Souhardya · 2:00
About the research segment. It certainly was challenging, you know, given the almost negligible extent of documentation around Lalprettab's life and times. But I wish to mention a few things in this regard. Firstly, the archival records, which had the original letters and commission orders, where I think of great help, because I remember one letter in particular which was written by William Slaman to his headquarters of the presidency of Fort William. And this makes an appearance. It was only Noah, basically
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@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 0:36
I think that brings me to my last question. I'm most definitely going to be following your work going forward and I'm very curious to know if you're currently working on any book and if so, how early can we expect the book to hit the stands? And also, with such an excellent body of work behind you as this young and age, you really are an inspiration to many. Any words of wisdom that you could share with your peers who might be listening in to this conversation?
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@Souhardya
Souhardya De
@Souhardya · 2:51

@Ramya

You never know as an author, you never know where you're going to find your next story. So be open to ideas and interactions and keep trying out genres until you get to realize what's your calling. I mentioned this in my second response. I started out with mythological fiction, had a brief twist with travelogues, before finding my calling in historical fiction, the space I'm currently in
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@Ramya
Ramya V
@Ramya · 0:58

https://s.swell.life/STYkWiVzYjSUm65

Thank you so much for this great conversation. Souhardya de. It's been really interesting to know about your writing journey that culminated in pratap jung. I do hope to see a lot many more books out there under your name really soon. So wishing you the very best for that. For our listeners here on Swell, I'm going to be sharing the Amazon link to the book for them to check out. So for those of you listening in, please check out the link in my description
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@aashisha
Aashisha Chakraborty
@aashisha · 4:46

@Ramya@Souhardya

And I'm really glad to be among this fabulous team of writers and thinkers and intellectuals who, below the age of 30, I cannot imagine I never imagined connecting to such like minded individuals, connecting to people who think and imagine larger than life initiatives and larger than life things. I think it's been a wonderful, wonderful ride and I'm so glad to have known all these wonderful people
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