Today we talk about C’est la Vie, a book by Pradip Chanda published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Pradip Chanda to get to know him better, what prompted him to write his book C’est la Vie, as well as how his passion for Writing started.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- What prompted you to write this book?
October 2005. My wife Preeti had just come back home after a major surgery to remove her cancer ravaged stomach. She was 57. I was four years older. The surgeon was very capable but brutally honest. He didn’t say it, but I knew, and Preeti sensed that the clock was ticking. And that it wouldn’t tick for too long. I needed to spend more time at home with her. Each morning, she and I would sit across the black marble table in ‘the best ergonomically e-signed kitchen nook’ by her. We would start talking about world affairs but soon get down to reminiscing about the years we spent together and fill up the gaps about ourselves before we met. Three months later Tara our granddaughter was born. “You must write about us for our grandchildren.” She said. “They must know how we met, what we did, and how we loved doing the things we did.” I was prompted by the same granddaughter some sixteen years later to do her Grandmother’s bidding.
- What would you like to hear from your readers?
Dear Reader, please tell me how much you loved the book, how you are urging your friends to buy a copy for themselves and their friends! Jokes apart, did you like looking into the lives of two people who were born in a world in turmoil, but succeeded to make out rather well in their search to be citizens of the world? Preeti and I seem to have done rather well with the cards dealt to us. Were we very lucky? Total strangers seemed to have gone out of their way to mentor me and hold my hands even when I hadn’t reached out. Is that possible today some fifty years later? Making untutored comments on Picasso, Van Gogh and Joan Miro- is that hubris or is it child- like candour? Do these offend you? Not too many memoirs put personal experiences in broader social, historical, political, moral and philosophical contexts. I to. Do these references make the book more enjoyable? Finally, are you enthused to write your own memoirs?
- How did your passion for writing start?
I had written a couple of pages on some obscure topic for my English essay submission in my sophomore year in university. The noting of the Professor on the paper “You have the makings of a writer”, has been my inspiration since then. My first book was a Business Management tome. Summarising a few learnings from my work experience, I wrote The Second Coming, which was perceived as a practical guide on Business Transformation Strategies. Mc-Graw Hill, a publishing stalwart with its headquarters in New York, launched this as a book titled The Second Coming in 2001. The title was changed to a more mundane Corporate Turnaround during its global rollout, the following year. The Mandarin Edition was published for distribution in Mainland China in 2003. A rare honour. Two other books on Business Strategies followed in 2010 and 2017. I sat down to write my ‘fiction’ (non-management writing) a couple of years ago. This has been brought to the readers as C’est La Vie, by Europe Books.
- How did you choose the title of your book?
After much deliberation with friends, family and Veronica, the Copy Editor of my book. A number of titles were bandied about and finally a recommendation from Shankar, a very close friend, won. C’est La Vie is what the book is about; it describes what happened in our lives. The ups and downs, challenges and resolutions, wins and temporary count downs, moving from one country to another and back, raising families, spanning six decades, five generations and four continents- sound exhausting but are exhilarating when you live through them. I am sure some readers will say ‘Hey! We can relate to that’. Others may say ‘we can relate to parts of that’. A few may wish that their lives could emulate some of the excitement we had. But surely it would make everyone introspect a little and ask shouldn’t we push the boundaries a little too?
- Are you planning to write more books? Can you tell us more about it?
Yes indeed. Some appreciation of this book is all that will be needed to open up the floodgates. Will those also be autobiographical? No. One is enough. I am gregarious by nature and inquisitive to a fault. I have travelled a fair amount. 50 odd countries when I counted them last. I have heard some amazing stories. I also have a good memory. Spinning out stories around some of these encounters should be fun. A collection of short stories to begin with, perhaps. A novel a little later. I will share a secret with you. I am dying to write a whodunnit with a sleuth who can take Sherlock Holmes on. All I need is a plausible story line. If some of your listeners have a good plot to share, I promise to name the winner, if not my Sherlock, then my Dr. Watson after them.
Europe Books thanks the author Pradip Chanda once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside him on the editorial path that led to the publication of his book C’est la Vie. We wish him the best of luck for his book and for his future works.
To you, my dear reader, may this book interest you and capture your curiosity. May it provide you with food for thought to reflect upon and to apply in your everyday life!
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your editor!