by Rukmini Sengupta
He gave us Jhankaar Beats, Pyaar ke Side Effects, Chameli and many more hits we absolutely loved! Apart from his productions, he is an amazing writer and has been inspiring many around to write something from within. So we managed to interview Pritish Nandy and get the perfect recipe of how to make a successful person. Professor Utonium, are you reading this?
Frankly, I do not see these as different careers. One flowed into another into another and that is how life took me where I am. My life has been like a stream of consciousness novel. Wherever I wanted to go, life took me, without hesitation, without fear...
And while all these happened sequentially, in the sense that I began as a poet, then became a journalist and an editor, moved on to host television shows, went to Parliament, founded People for Animals, started making movies, held so many one man shows of my paintings, I never gave up one for the other. They all piled on and I enjoyed doing them simultaneously. Every diversion was a delight, a chance to grab a larger experience of life and what it has to offer. Every window opened so that I could see more, understand more, get a larger and more comprehensive picture...
I am just a journeyman, a tramp...
All I am trying to do is find out who I am, why I am here. That's the ultimate challenge: To explore the metaphysics of hope, to try and know what life is...
2. All these poems which you have published till date and the masterpieces you have created over the years, what or who was the inspiration behind it all?
Love. Love always inspires me...
So do beauty, hope, the experience of creating new things. It could be a poem or a painting, a movie or a translation of a great classic, writing a political column or putting together a challenging restoration project, or simply the experience of falling in love with someone amazing. That is what my life is all about....
It is all about falling in love. With a woman or a book or an idea or just a classic sunset on an empty beach, watching colours I have never seen before.
It is about the magic of discovery...
Every day I discover something new.
3. Do you think the writers of the present era are any different from the ones few decades back? Is there substance present in any of the recent upcoming pieces?
Every era has its own questions and the writers of that era try to answer these questions. Sometimes they succeed and great literature, great poetry, great art is born. Sometimes they fail and in that failure you can also experience amazing creative work. Great writing is not only about success. It is also about the nobility, the grandeur of failure. We often tend to ignore that in the present era and that is why so much of what we do is at times shallow and, if I may say so, superficial. For it only pursues success. It does not understand nor respect the sheer magnificence of failure...
The great Greek tragedies were all about human failure...
So are some of our greatest epics...
Artists, thinkers, poets discover themselves through the experience of failure. If you never experience failure, you are a lesser human being, a lesser artist.
4. You have been writing for The Times of India over 26 years now and every issue you come out with, is always new and a delight to the readers. How do you manage to never run out of things to write about?
Life is so vast, so beautiful, so varied that one can never run out of ideas. Every day something new is happening. Everywhere you look, in every nook and cranny, there is a new experience to discover, a new idea to explore and explicate that there is never a shortage of things to write about...
If you can seduce a beautiful woman, you can seduce a beautiful idea. It's the same thing.
5. There was this one post, “why I love Mumbai”. It is one of my favorite of all times. After reading that anyone would love to visit that place. But after being in Mumbai throughout all these years, did you ever feel disconnected to Kolkata, where you spent your early years?
No, never. I love Kolkata to death and I miss it every day. I miss it even after staying away from it for over thirty years. It's like that old man in the Sindbad tale. It never gets off my back.
Every word I write, every image I capture, every dream I dream has some connection somewhere with Kolkata. That's called memory. And memory is what enriches your life, your creativity...
6. If you had to give us young, aspiring writers that one key to bring out the best of our ability, what would that be?
Challenge every idea. Explore every new thought and see where it leads. Never short sell yourself. At the heart of all creativity is audacity, audacity and more audacity...
In short, be audacious in whatever you do. Never stop daring yourself.
Challenge fear at every step.
7. What do you think makes some writing, bliss to read? Is it the high end vocabulary, embedded humor, an approachable style of writing or maybe just what you are writing about?
Write as you speak. Everyday language is at the heart of all good writing. Never attempt to be literary. Be casual. Be real. And, above all, be true to yourself. Speak from your heart. Your heart is where it all begins.
Seek ideas. Seek your own voice. Speak with conviction. Never be tentative.
8. What strikes you about today’s generation? Can you stereotype them like most of the others do?
Today's generation is amazingly talented and extraordinarily gifted.
Add to that contemporary technology, the reach and breadth of ideas, the power of communication.
What this generation needs is the courage to demand more of itself. That's it.