Today we are fortunate enough to have an opportunity to speak to Nilotpal Roy, the Indian author who has already become his own adjective. You may have seen him in YouTube in a series of interview sessions, or may have been familiar with his oratorical prose watching him delivering spellbinding lectures in his book-inauguration events.

He writes in both English and his native language Bengali, and his books tell us that his encyclopaedic knowledge of literary references comes from his prodigious reading habit. In now-a-days’ publishing world ruled by detestable bestsellers, Nilotpal Roy offers a willing exile to avant-garde literature.

He has agreed to answer some of our questions today. So let’s get right into it.

Fab World Today : Good day Roy!

Nilotpal Roy : Good day and thank you for catering me to your audience.

Fab World Today : Do you think European and American readers would like to read you?

Nilotpal Roy : Let’s see the history of 120 years of the Nobel prize in literature, country wise! France is the 1^st with 17 laureates, America is the 2^nd with 13 laureates, Britain is the 3^rd with 11 laureates, Germany is the 4^th with 10 laureates, Sweden is the 5^th with 8 laureates, Poland, Spain, and Italy all stand 6^th with 6 laureates each, Ireland and Russia both stand 7^th with 4 laureates each, Denmark and Norway both stand 8^th with 3 laureates each. 91 times out of 117 times it goes to the first twelve countries which are all European countries along with America — statistically which is almost 78 per cent, 77.77 per cent to be exact. I think it proves that European and American readers do have the ability to appreciate good literature that is ahead of time. I would be happy if some French or German publisher becomes interested to publish a French edition or a German edition of my ‘Pastiche of Angst’ translated from English.

Fab World Today : How can we understand your ‘Pastiche of Angst’?

Nilotpal Roy : In order to understand ‘Pastiche of Angst’, the reader need to concentrate on its sub-title ― ‘The Polylithic Analects of a Schizophrenic’. It’s easy for those readers who can remember what Umberto Eco told about Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ in his lecture delivered at the University of Tulsa : “Jung noticed that the discourse of ‘Ulysses’ seems, at first glance, like the monologue of a schizophrenic. But, knowing how to discern the intentions hidden behind the writing, Jung realized that schizophrenia here assumes the value of an analogical reference and should be seen as a sort of cubist operation where Joyce ― as all modern artists ― dissolves the image of a reality in an extremely complex picture, where the tone is set by the melancholy typical of abstract objectivity. In this operation, warns Jung, the writer does not destroy his own personality, as the schizophrenic, but rediscovers and establishes its unity by destroying something else.” I did exactly the same thing in my ‘Pastiche of Angst’.

Fab World Today : But what about the kind of language you have used in ‘Pastiche of Angst’?

Nilotpal Roy : To answer this question I would like to refer to that same speech of Eco again. Eco observed : “These are explicit, extremely ambitious programmatic statements. Ulysses presents itself in these sentences as the uneasy crucible in which something new is happening ― the destruction of the objective relationships sanctioned by a millenary tradition. But it is no longer the destruction of the relationships which link a single event to its original context in order to meld it into a new context through the lyrical-subjective vision of the young artist. Here, the object of destruction is larger. It is the universe of culture and, through it, the universe ‘tout court’. The operation, however, is not performed on things. It is performed “in” language, “with” language and “on” language (on things seen through the language).” Notice carefully the last sentence. The language of ‘Pastiche of Angst’ also serves the same purpose. It is a novel performed “in” language, “with” language and “on” language.

Fab World Today : You have prepared an outline-sketch for your novel, just as Joyce prepared a ‘schema’ for his ‘Ulysses’. Why did you do so?

Nilotpal Roy : I veraciously believe that it can help serious readers to decrypt the ‘centripetally centrifugal gyre’ of the text, and to decipher the sporadic ramifications of the text, so that they can do proper justice to ‘Pastiche of Angst’ by delving deep into the novel.

Fab World Today : And you have used a very unique word to name it ― ‘omphaloskepsis’. What’s the significance of this term in respect of your ‘Pastiche of Angst’?

Nilotpal Roy : The word ‘omphalos’ means ‘navel’, the central point of human body, and ‘omphaloskepsis’ means ‘the contemplation of one’s navel’, i.e. complacent self-absorption. When we pronounce ‘Om’ (the first rudimentary hymn of Hindu scriptures) which means the entire cosmos, it is literally originated from that very navel, i.e. from the central point of our human body. The sound of ‘Om’ consists of 3 basic letters of the Sanskrit or Bengali alphabet ― 2 vowels and 1 consonant. Among them, there is the first vowel that pronounces like ‘awe’ and symbolically denotes ‘creation’ and ‘Brahma’ ― the lord of creation; then there is the fifth vowel that pronounces like ‘woo’ and symbolically denotes ‘preservation’ and ‘Vishnu’ ― the lord of preservation; and finally there is the twenty-fifth consonant that pronounces like ‘maw’ and symbolically denotes ‘destruction’ and ‘Shiva’ ― the lord of destruction. These 3 Gods together form the Hindu Holy Trinity, and is symbolically represented by the sacred sound of the single hymn ‘Om’ which symbolizes the whole universe ― in the present context, the universe of culture, just as Eco mentioned. In that very sense, this explanatory outline-sketch or ‘omphaloskepsis’ prepared by me, is the ‘navel’ or ‘central axis’ of this novel ‘Pastiche of Angst’. The readers can cope with this complex labyrinthine novel, only when they are capable for contemplative psycho-penetration into this ‘omphaloskepsis’, only when they are able to contemplate themselves in it completely with all their reasoning and intelligence.

Fab World Today: What’s the best thing about being a writer?

Nilotpal Roy : I can speak to myself tirelessly, incessantly, and endlessly; which is actually self-introspection. In fact, it’s vice versa. The best thing about being a writer is that you can speak to yourself; and the best thing about speaking to yourself is that eventually you become a writer.

Fab World Today : How do you get inspired to write?

Nilotpal Roy : Very simple. When I began to see so many legendary creative people cerebrally so superior to me, I began to feel myself as inferior as an insect. I didn’t like that at all, and I wanted to equal myself to these genii, or even surpass them, but with due respect to them. I felt that every individual’s life is as meaningless as the life of an insect when born; and only a very few among them, can make their lives meaningful, when they make themselves ‘self-taught’, by extraordinary dedication and perseverance. So I refused to live the meaningless life of an insect, and decided to attribute some significance to my life, by doing some deeds, which can make me immortal. Then I questioned myself what I am capable of doing, or, to be more meticulous, what I can make myself capable of doing. There are so many creative forms of art ― singing, painting, sculpting, acting, and so many more. So, I began self-introspection, and discovered my instinctive knack and flair for writing.

Fab World Today : Who are your most favourite writers? Name 2 living and 2 dead Indian writers, and 2 living and 2 dead non-Indian writers.

Nilotpal Roy : 2 living Indian writers are 77 years old Bengali writer Subimal Mishra, and 81 years old Telegu writer Muppala Ranganayakamma. 2 dead Indian writers are 10^th century Sanskrit writer Rajashekhara, and 7^th century Sanskrit writer Magha. 2 living non-Indian writers are 91 years old Czech writer Milan Kundera, and 61 years old Nigerian writer Ben Okri. 2 dead non-Indian writers are 16^th century French writer Francois Rabelais, and 20^th century Irish writer James Joyce … and they are not just my ‘most favorite writers’, rather they are my ‘spiritual fathers and mothers’. Along with this, although you have not asked, I must mention a few authors writing in Bengali, as apart from English, I also write and read in my vernacular Bengali. These 5 Bengali authors, I think, are the most cerebral living writers of the present time, and each of them deserves a Nobel Prize in literature ― 79 years old Aniruddha Lahiri, 77 years old Subimal Mishra, 72 years old Goutam Bhadra, 66 years old Shibaji Bandyopadhyay, and 65 years old Arindam Chakraborty. It is a pity that the Nobel Committee members don’t have any idea at all about the works of these scholars.

Fab World Today : How do you deal with writer’s block?

Nilotpal Roy : To me, this phrase has no meaning at all. It never happened to me. I write only when I feel like writing. Writing is a spontaneous act; and you can never initiate it forcibly. You must be self-taught before you try to write. Writer’s block happens only to inferior writers, who are like those kids that go to sit for the exam without even knowing the syllabus. You need to realize that here quality matters; quantity is insignificant. Writing is not trading, and literature is not commodity.

Fab World Today : What are you currently working on?

Nilotpal Roy : Presently, I am writing a fiction in Bengali. Before I started writing it, I had thought of writing it in 2 different languages, simultaneously ― primarily in Bengali, and maybe an English version also of the same book. I had thought that the motif and orientation of the theme, and the form, would remain same in both versions; but the narrative technique would be different in English and Bengali; therefore, it would not be a mere translation. But when I started writing it, I began to feel that the kind of narrative treatment with which I am creating the Bengali text, would be impossible to trans-create ― even for me ― in English, or in any other language. Just as ‘Pastiche of Angst’ offers to its readers a cerebral journey of the whole universe of culture ― through an immense gamut of western literature; in the same way, this Bengali fiction would offer to its readers a cerebral journey of the whole universe of culture ― through an immense gamut of Bengali and Sanskrit literature  ― along with world literature. Actually, I felt like writing a fiction again, after a hiatus of more than 8 years. I finished writing ‘Pastiche of Angst’ in April 2005; and then in August 2013 I began to prepare the draft, which took me 1 year and 3 months to complete. After that, I started writing the novel since 29th October 2014, and I really don’t know how long I will take to complete it.

Fab World Today : Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Nilotpal Roy : Actually, the idea of the present novel I am writing now, came from my last book ‘Pastiche of Angst’. ‘Pastiche of Angst’ was about the spiritual death of the protagonist, and when I wrote that I never thought that someday in future I would write a sequel of this book. After that, 8 years passed, and through self-introspection, I realized that death is not the end. In my personal life, I also once experienced my own spiritual death; but despite that I didn’t cease to exist, and I fought back to life. So I thought that if in real life, I can have a spiritual rebirth after my spiritual death, why can’t my protagonist have a spiritual resurrection after his spiritual death! Therefore, I felt like writing the story of my protagonist’s resurrection.

Fab World Today : Sounds intriguing! So, what new things can your readers expect to see in your upcoming new book?

Nilotpal Roy : I prefer not to disclose much right now. All I can say you is that in my yet-to-complete new Bengali novel, I have combined the fantastic imagination of oriental legends, of Indo-European myths, of classical antiquity and Renaissance scholarship, using a vernacular Bengali stuffed with linguistic borrowings as well as inventions; and my quest has gone far beyond my native nation, as I have played with the paradoxes of trans-creating actual history and places into several worlds of fiction. You can call it a new classic epic satire of the 21^st century.

Fab World Today : So you are calling your new book a “classic epic satire” ― why so?

Nilotpal Roy : The greatest classic epic satires of all time, according to me, are … Rabelais’s ‘Gargantua and Pantagruel’ written in French, Cervantes’s ‘Don Quixote’ written in Spanish, Bulgakov’s ‘The Master and Margarita’ written in Russian, and Kroetsch’s ‘What the Crow Said’ written in English. I am humbly ambitious that my book, written in Bengali, may be the 5^th in the row.

Fab World Today : Final question! What’s your advice for young aspiring writers?

Nilotpal Roy : If you want to be one of the best writers in the world, first try to be one of the best readers in the world. Make your Reading-Thinking-Writing ratio 300 pages : 15 days : 1 page; i.e. read 300 pages, think for 15 days, then write 1 page. The quality of what you are writing depends on the quality of what you are reading. If you read trash, you will write trash; and if you read cult, you will write cult.

Fab World Today : Deep and profound indeed! Thank you so much Roy. We very much appreciate your time and look forward to have another session with you again.

Nilotpal Roy : The pleasure is always mine, and thanks a lot to you too.