Author Kaushik Ganguli

We are now trending at 4.4 out of 5 on Amazon.

I am pleased to announce the release of my second solo book 'Rhyme of the Modern Mariner'.

This is the ST Coleridge influenced 'Rhyme of the Modern Mariner'. Well what are the significant facts about this book? As Deep Purple said 'Listen, Learn and Read on...'

By early September 2020, my first solo book 'Rhyme of the Century' had become an Amazon best seller in the poetry anthology category, racing to No 11 within 11 days of release. To write this book, I had to battle immense writers block in the height of the pandemic. The poems for Modern Mariner were written at a blistering pace. By February 2021, the book was ready to be published. 52 poems plus more were written.

At that time, Soulitaire (am grateful to them for such opportunities) gave me the chance to co author a book called 4 Ever. It took up time and this was released by mid 2021. Also did well.

Thus decided to defer publishing of Modern Mariner to early 2022, but then with my mothers passing in April, everything was upset.

Decided to defer till the next year, but then to keep my mothers memory and to honour my fathers time in this world, have decided to write 'A book A year' for the rest of my life. It is they who have encouraged me the most without which this would not have seen the light of day.

Rhyme of the Modern Mariner, like its predecessor, is 52 poems, 12 about football with 3 sections, places, people and thoughts. The cover page has been designed by me. In my next post, I will attach the links. Till then, enjoy the posts and download the book! Hard copies on requests.

https://www.esamskriti.com/e/Culture/India-Travel-ad-Yatras/Best-Places-to-Eat-in-Kolkata--1.aspx

After a long time (unavoidable reasons), we are pleased to post our own article which has so far got 1.7k views online and has been read for an average of 6 minutes.

Food is always a great leveller and excites all the five senses (at times the sixth too)

Best Places to Eat in Kolkata Cultural influences on and evolution of food in Kolkata And a list of Best Restaurants in Kolkata that serve Bengali, Haka Chinese, Mughlai, Marwari, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil and Continental cuisine.

One of the best online reading sessions held in end February to commemorate the 90th anniversary of a legendary poet.

Srijan organized this meet with a view to celebrate the birthday of Sankha Ghosh, which turned out to be an international meet with poets from the US, Germany, France, Egypt, and of course India.

Yours truly was privileged to read 2 poems from published anthologies and have an effusive introduction.

Timeline: 1.27 Hrs to 1.32 Hrs of the YouTube clip.

https://youtu.be/diR10UFvSFo

Srijan Celebrates 90th Birthday of its Chief-Patron, Sankha Ghosh… Srijan celebrates the 90th Birthday of its Chief Patron, Sankha Ghosh (5 February 1932 ~ 21 April 2021), Recipient of many coveted awards that include Narsin...

Persistence pays off!

Invited to an international literary seminar conducted online. Mark the date: 26th February 2022, at 7pm. This is conducted by noted Literary Society 'SRIJAN' commemorating the 90th birthday of Sankha Ghosh (1932 - 2021).

8 poets are reading, yours truly amongst them. Have selected two poems (there is frankly no dearth of material to read from).

Thanks are due to Mona Sengupta and Sushroota Sarkar who had proposed my name.

Ahava Readers and Writers Club is an amazing group of writers and readers of the highest intellectual calibre possible. Was privileged to read my poetry and excerpts from selected writings.

The following poem was the result of a counselling session with a potential su***de case, and translated itself into poetry:


Teenage angst,
And its aftermath,
Have killed your soul.

As you have waded through life’s mud,
And the fatigue of your mind,
Is not being relieved at any means.

As you read the struggles of Graham Bond,
Struggling with the opuses of progressive rock,
To an audience only he thinks he understands,
Which gravitates to the lure of other genres,
And the rejection repeats year on year,
Till you meet Nirvana at Earls Court station in 1974.

As you read the struggles of Kurt Cobain,
Struggling with his own mega success of grunge,
To an audience which is all his,
Which rejects all other genres except his,
And the impact for three years staggers,
Till you meet Nirvana at Lake Washington Boulevard in 1994.

You can approach Nirvana,
Whether you achieve mega failure or Mega success,

You can approach Nirvana,
Whether with Diazepam or a shotgun,

You can approach Nirvana,
Whether with a scrawled note or an elaborate net post,

You can approach Nirvana,

With the clear knowledge that your next birth,
will be the first of eternal additions to life cycle,
With the clear knowledge that you are defined by your act,
will not alleviate your soul’s suffering.

And your approach to Nirvana,

Is not an indication of your mental fortitude,
Is not an indication of your life’s success,
Is not an indication of your circumstances.

So do you think,
You should still approach Nirvana?

The book of life needs to be read for more…
As this book comes to an end.

Today is the day to remember my contribution in Soulitaire Anthology 'Soul Diaries' which was published last year on this day.

Writing Horror has always interested me, because to scare people in broad daylight is not easy. The following is an extract from a story set in our neighbouring country:

"The only constant item in the apartment was a black bottle with a cap, which he kept on a table all the time. When people asked him, he said that the black bottle contained holy water from a local ‘Pir’ which was supposed to have healing properties.

Most people were not so sure of the bottle and its contents. Late at night, the door was locked and the residents could hear Rizwan talking. Sometimes the conversation went as follows (in Bengali):

‘Why do you stalk me like this? Is it my fault that you people met with an accident?’

‘I have done what I had to do, to protect the Hadith of the Quran from the kaffir Indians. It is my duty. Stop questioning me!’

‘Babu, don’t worry – I will bring toys for you the next time Don’t quarrel with your sister till then!’

By the late 1980s, Rizwan had aged quite a lot, but still strong and capable. He then decided to wind up his flourishing business and relocate to Dhaka again. It was however difficult to buy a large flat, and so he bought his current flat off the Bangabandhu stadium, near the mosque where the sound of prayers penetrated the flat day in and out. He utilized the money from the sale of business and set up another agency, employing 3 persons as salesmen and cashier cm accountant."

The excerpt below is from a short story about an attempted assasination in our neighbouring country. It has recently been published in a Soulitaire Anthology about Drama in Real Life.

"The day dawned as a normal event in Bahawalpur, and the air base buzzed with activity as is normal when the President of the country comes visiting. Both the army men went about their tasks quietly, one senior at Major General rank and one much junior, having got his Lieutenant General tag rank three months back.

By mid day, they both locked eye contact for the first time in the day as they went for a meal in the officer’s canteen.

‘Dasso, tussi Ki Haal (Tell me, how are you)?’ – asked the senior to the junior, as the junior came with his plate of thick chicken curry, roti, Rajma Daal and onion salad.

‘Bas Sir ji, vadiyaan si (I am fine, Sir)’ – answered the junior, knowing the next trend of questions to follow.

The junior was Punjabi and his accent was faultless, but the senior was from Nawabshah, having moved as a 10 year old in 1949, post partition. His ancestors came from Mehsana in Gujarat, in the republic of India. He was just short of fifty with an impeccable career record. He had fought in the 1965 and 1971 wars with India, one of the few to come out of the disastrous war with distinction. His Gujarati was far better but in this country with Punjabi domination, it was something he did not speak much and his Punjabi was grudging, rustic and more barrack room than board room.

The junior was from Kotli Sattian, outside Rawalpindi and came from an army background, with all the boxes ticked. His father had been a general and had just retired three years back, and he himself was a trained bomb disposal expert with experience in the UK. He was twenty nine and his face was still smooth, with war not yet showing on his record."

'RANDOM SOULS' is Released Worldwide and I am super excited to share a space in the book along with wonderful authors from all walks of life. Each and every story/poem/article is so interesting and engrossing, no wonder the book is ranked #2 in Anthologies category.💃

Heartfelt thanks to Virat Tuli and Soulitaire for giving each one of us this wonderful opportunity ⚘

Grab a copy :

♡ Amazon :https://www.amazon.in/RANDOM-SOULS-Soulitaire-ebook/dp/B09NQF9G95/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmr0_1?crid=16MCO13Q0CONV&keywords=random+souls+booksclinic&qid=1639807877&sprefix=random+souls+booksclinic%2Caps%2C469&sr=8-1-fkmr0

♡ Kindle: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09NQF9G95

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Soulitaire Small Wonders Sapphire Boost Yourself Geeta Shukla Kaushik Ganguli Ashish Ujrekar Rebeka Sengupta Moumita Dutta Vaishali Panicker

www.authoralak.com

RANDOM SOULS RANDOM SOULS eBook : Soulitaire, Soulitaire: Amazon.in: Kindle Store

Am proud to contribute to this anthology.

My latest short story has been published in 'Trinayani 2021' , the Durga Puja publication in Stockholm, Sweden. It is about a young Indian who goes to Sweden in the early 1970s and gradually with time, realises that he has changed too much to ever be part of his motherland again.

Enclosing the excerpt. For the complete story, pls get in touch on PM. The story has been widely acclaimed as we speak.

So today we enclose an excerpt of cricket writing. This is a manuscript about exciting draws in Indian Test cricket history. Appropriately, a tense draw has an element of pluck in it.

We are proud to showcase the Tied Test in Madras/ Chennai in September 1986.

"Jones literally took that comment at face value, put his head down and batted the Indian spinners out, finishing with 2 sixes and 27 fours. Ritchie was out cheaply and Jones innings was thus counted as ‘one for the ages’. Another centurion was Border, who had toured India in a hasty ill-conceived series in 1979-80 and had scored a fine 162 that time. This time he scored his nineteenth test century though he was dropped before he had scored. Two more lives ensued as a chancy, streaky knock was compiled in battling style.

By the end of the day Australia had reached their highest score in India of all time – a massive 574 for 8 and the home attack was ground to the dust. Each of the three Indian spinners conceded in excess of 130 runs with only Shivlal Yadav taking 4 wickets.

The third saw the Indian batsmen reply under bright blue skies and a pitiless sun. An opening stand of 62 was terminated and three wickets crashed. A stand of 77 followed in quick time but in the context of the game, the breezy knocks of 53 from Srikkanth and 50 from Azharuddin were not what was wanted – what India wanted were long innings of substance to tackle the Aussie spinners who were workmanlike but getting far better returns than their Indian counterparts.

At 245 for 7, India were looking absolutely done and dusted and an innings victory by Australia was not looking far away. It was clear that herculean feats were needed to stave off defeat with the end of Day 3 just minutes away. The Indian captain had other ideas though and played a blinder of an innings to score 119 with 21 fours, with his second fifty containing 11 fours. It showed what an incredibly good batsman he could be but it was only his third test century in 75 tests. He had never played for personal records and only had the team welfare in mind. India just managed to avoid the follow on and ended the innings midway through Day 4 177 runs behind."

The book is now ready for publication and we need photographs to add to the manuscript. If you like the above, pls like and share the post.

Would like to now promote my co authored book, 4 Ever. This was written in collaboration with 4 other authors and was an instant success. 100 poems, 172 pages of sheer quality.

It was an instant success on Amazon as well. Recommended as reading material in the Puja break.

Never played cricket competitively, never was coached for it. Always bowled steadily, was a big hitter of the ball and crazy about fielding.

Was however well informed about the game, read Wisden from age 12 and yes, can write well about cricket. At par with David Frith...

So when an absolute legend of the game reacts to your post, you know you are on the right track.

Thank you so much, Ian Chappell one of the best batsmen and captains of the game ever

A poem commemorating critical moments in time, when we remember 'Where we were on that day?'

I remember where I was, when both Elvis Presley and Uttam Kumar passed away, and this prompted me to write. Part of an anthology which was released to much success in 2020.

'Where were you,
On the summer Monday evening of a day in the 1970s,
In a mansion in Tennessee, when the King passed away?
When his gargantuan self was discovered by aides,
With no seeming knowledge of the medication,
When inquest upon inquest for years,
Revealed not the cause.

Where were you,
On a monsoon evening drenched in humid misery,
In a crumbling mansion, when the hero passed away?
When his last film, like the opening of a bud,
Awaited release in the theatres with breath bated.
When his death untimely,
Ruined the industry for years to come.

Remember the time,
Remember the place,
Remember the moment,
Remember the impact,

Of the news of the bard, the President, the King and the Hero
Who left in various manners,
Timely and untimely.
Mourned and Unmourned.
What matters is that their passing,
Left more questions than answers,
Which stay unanswered till today.'

Pls like and share, we have loads of plans for the page for October.

Continuing further on the A to Z of the Bengali Alphabet, we continue B. Exploring a cultural icon of Bengal:
"And B for ‘Byomkesh’. The legendary detective created by Saradindu Bandopadhyay. The creation of Byomkesh by Saradindu Bandopadhyay was prompted by the fact that all fictional Bengali detectives created between 1890 and 1930 like Robert Blake (Dhirendra Kumar Ray), Debendra Bijoy Mitra (Panchkari Dey) and Deepak Chatterjee (Swapan Kumar) were all anglicised sleuths who were at home in the sophisticated environs of Calcutta and London.

As a post colonial response, Saradindu Bandopadhyay introduced Byomkesh Bakshi and his friend, Ajit Banerjee who was Watson to Byomkesh’s Holmes. The first instalment of Byomkesh’s stories were serialised in the ‘Basumati’ magazine in 1932.

Byomkesh meets his lifelong friend, Ajit in the story ‘Satyanveshi’ where he introduces himself as a ‘truth seeker’ under the alias Atulchandra Mitra. Later, Byomkesh and Ajit share a flat on Harrison Road in Central Calcutta. Ajit's ambition from the start is to be a writer and he becomes moderately successful by narrating their cases. He buys a car in the mid 1940s."

The Manuscript is ready in all respects. Pls like and share. We hope to publish this shortly.

Mario De Andrade (1893 - 1945) was a Brazilian poet, who grew up in circumstances similar to India and died young. This is a poem which made a deep impact on me. Reproducing some excerpts here:
I have counted my years and realized that I have
less time to live than I have lived so far.
I have more past than future.

I feel like this child, that received a box of candies:
After fast indulging the first ones, all the sudden realizing, that there are not so many left, and
Those should be better appreciated and truly enjoyed.

I do not have time for endless gatherings where statutes, rules, processes,
And internal regularities are discussed, knowing, that nothing will be achieved.

I don’t have time anymore to bear absurd people,
Who despite their age have not grown.

We will continue to bring you global literature of the highest quality. If you feel there is merit, pls like and share.