Flip not Scroll': Novelist Durjoy Datta at Kitab Lovers Book Fair

The author highlights the importance of the book in one’s life, which he says has not changed with time and is something he realised as a reader
Durjoy Datta
Durjoy Datta

Reading offers delayed gratitude, and scrolling is for instant gratification. Novelist Durjoy Datta encourages the former and formally protests the latter. In his private life, though, he actively engages in both.

“Well, it’s more reading than scrolling,” Durjoy asserts as he clears his throat and states: “A good book stays with you for years after you finish reading it. It offers a different perspective towards life that strengthens character and helps one be a better person. I watch Instagram reels sometimes, but I don’t even remember the reel I watched last. However, I remember all the books I have read this year or last, or before that.”   

The author highlights the importance of the book in one’s life, which he says has not changed with time and is something he realised as a reader.

“When I read a book, I am shocked to know how much the writer knows about my character despite not knowing me personally. The insight a book offers a reader can never be derived from any show or Instagram reel,” he, who spends a lot of time on Instagram, admits.

“Book reading habit has declined with the proliferation of the internet and easier access to entertainment. Our attention spans have decreased, and we want to check our phones every few minutes. Social media has influenced people a lot, but I am sure people are intelligent enough to bar social media and find a way read,” the author says.

“Anything that promotes reading must be encouraged. I have always been a voracious reader. In fact, I enjoy reading more than writing. I haven’t been to any book fairs for the past two years because everything was on COVID hiatus,” says he, after sidelining himself from the Kitab Lovers Book Fair at Hyderabad, where he was invited as a Chief Guest.

His sci-fi romance novel Touch of Eternity was drafted in the middle of the pandemic.

“I realised that people are going through a tough time, and I wanted to write a book that is more like a simple love story, and that was the idea. Then it ended up with something more, the book is essentially about two people trying to define what family means to them, and they both come from distorted childhoods and are trying to recreate a little bit of their childhood,” Durjoy says.

His latest book, When I Am With You, is about a single mother.

In her new start-up, she wants to revolutionise child care for young women professionals-this is her ultimate goal. Plus, she’s in a hurry to do it all, reveals the author.

The novelist is also humble when he talks about his inspiration, “Reading is an inspiration. After I read the book, I think about how I could have written it differently. That hunger to have my twist to the plot keeps striving me. I got bored with my writing. I will experiment with writer’s block and do something better and new,” he concluded. 

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