Author Interview : Bidisha Ghosal
Hello everyone,
Today I am going to introduce you to the author of 'The Rape Trial'
Today I am going to introduce you to the author of 'The Rape Trial'
Let's start!
1)Tell me something about yourself.
I’m one of those authors who’s been writing since she could hold a pencil. I started off with Bengali poems, but once I learned English I fell in love and haven’t looked back. I love the language! I find it weird, eccentric, cheekily adaptive, with a bit of a dark history to boot. It has everything I love in a delicious novel.
I’m one of those authors who’s been writing since she could hold a pencil. I started off with Bengali poems, but once I learned English I fell in love and haven’t looked back. I love the language! I find it weird, eccentric, cheekily adaptive, with a bit of a dark history to boot. It has everything I love in a delicious novel.
2)What is 'The Rape Trial ' about?
It’s about three friends who cannot escape the fact that they know a rapist. Rhea, Amruta and Hitaishi decide to pull a Larsson on Rahul Satyabhagi –kidnapping and torturing him, and deliberately leaving him alive to prolong his suffering. But that tiny taste of blood opens up their darker side, and they go on a self-righteous hunt-the-rapist spree, one after another. Rahul was a prominent person in society, and DC Dixit is on the trail of his attackers, but the investigation gets muddled and delayed as different groups rear their heads to carry out similar attacks. Does he know what he’s really looking for? Do the girls know they’re being chased?
It’s about three friends who cannot escape the fact that they know a rapist. Rhea, Amruta and Hitaishi decide to pull a Larsson on Rahul Satyabhagi –kidnapping and torturing him, and deliberately leaving him alive to prolong his suffering. But that tiny taste of blood opens up their darker side, and they go on a self-righteous hunt-the-rapist spree, one after another. Rahul was a prominent person in society, and DC Dixit is on the trail of his attackers, but the investigation gets muddled and delayed as different groups rear their heads to carry out similar attacks. Does he know what he’s really looking for? Do the girls know they’re being chased?
3) What prompted you to write about this burning issue?
It started out as an act of pure mental venting, honestly. At the time, my city Calcutta was seeing of a spate of rapes and attempted rapes, carried out with a shocking lack of fear of the authorities. I remember being intensely frightened and angry about it, and someone taunted me to write something about it if I was so affected. At the time I was struggling with another story. Shortly after the taunt I realised that that story wasn’t working out and I dropped it, and a few blank days later the first half of The Rape Trial came to me in a flash. I wrote it in a frenzy, only to see it for what it was – a mental venting – and that’s when the hard work of turning it into a solid novel began.
It started out as an act of pure mental venting, honestly. At the time, my city Calcutta was seeing of a spate of rapes and attempted rapes, carried out with a shocking lack of fear of the authorities. I remember being intensely frightened and angry about it, and someone taunted me to write something about it if I was so affected. At the time I was struggling with another story. Shortly after the taunt I realised that that story wasn’t working out and I dropped it, and a few blank days later the first half of The Rape Trial came to me in a flash. I wrote it in a frenzy, only to see it for what it was – a mental venting – and that’s when the hard work of turning it into a solid novel began.
4) Describe 'The Rape Trial' in one line.
A feminist crime drama that’ll keep you turning the pages.
A feminist crime drama that’ll keep you turning the pages.
5) What is your writing process like?
I can only talk about this book because it’s the only novel I’ve written so far – very instinctive, relying heavily on what ‘comes’ and then working out the structure around that. As a result it was a very haphazard, nerve-wracking experience. I don’t think I want to write another book this way again. My biggest takeaway is to plan.
I can only talk about this book because it’s the only novel I’ve written so far – very instinctive, relying heavily on what ‘comes’ and then working out the structure around that. As a result it was a very haphazard, nerve-wracking experience. I don’t think I want to write another book this way again. My biggest takeaway is to plan.
6) What do you like to do when you're not writing?
A lot of things actually. I’m heavily into energy work to take care of my physical and emotional well-being. I practise a lesser-known technique called Jin Shin Jyutsu. I also love making paper artwork. The technique I love best is paper quilling and some of my works are up on my Insta. I’m becoming more serious about it this year, let’s see where that takes me. My creative energy is a little all over the place, I love doing different things.
A lot of things actually. I’m heavily into energy work to take care of my physical and emotional well-being. I practise a lesser-known technique called Jin Shin Jyutsu. I also love making paper artwork. The technique I love best is paper quilling and some of my works are up on my Insta. I’m becoming more serious about it this year, let’s see where that takes me. My creative energy is a little all over the place, I love doing different things.
7) What does your family think of your writing?
My immediate family loves it! My parents and brother have been incredibly supportive and I have to first and foremost thank my mother for creating the necessary atmosphere at home. My dad who has probably never read a book in his life is reading mine and enjoying it thoroughly. They’re very openly proud of me for having become an author. My extended family is also excited. They’ve been very supportive. They’ve been my first customers and readers, so it really shows how much they mean their support.
My immediate family loves it! My parents and brother have been incredibly supportive and I have to first and foremost thank my mother for creating the necessary atmosphere at home. My dad who has probably never read a book in his life is reading mine and enjoying it thoroughly. They’re very openly proud of me for having become an author. My extended family is also excited. They’ve been very supportive. They’ve been my first customers and readers, so it really shows how much they mean their support.
8) Who is your favorite Indian and foreign author?
I haven’t read more than one or two works of any one Indian author, but I have enjoyed the works of Sudhir Kakar, Devdutt Pattnaik, and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. I’ve read foreign authors much, much more, and it’s hard to name any one. The list includes Stephen King, Oscar Wilde, Angela Carter, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, O’Henry, and frankly speaking, many more.
I haven’t read more than one or two works of any one Indian author, but I have enjoyed the works of Sudhir Kakar, Devdutt Pattnaik, and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. I’ve read foreign authors much, much more, and it’s hard to name any one. The list includes Stephen King, Oscar Wilde, Angela Carter, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, O’Henry, and frankly speaking, many more.
9) What are your future plans? How soon can your readers expect your next book?
I don’t really have plans. I know I want to turn my paper quilling skills into something substantial. I also know I want to write about feminism and about the quirks of the English language. I do have many, many ideas for novels but I’d rather no one expect a second one from me. Too much pressure! One of the things I regret about The Rape Trial is telling people I was writing it.
I don’t really have plans. I know I want to turn my paper quilling skills into something substantial. I also know I want to write about feminism and about the quirks of the English language. I do have many, many ideas for novels but I’d rather no one expect a second one from me. Too much pressure! One of the things I regret about The Rape Trial is telling people I was writing it.
10) What advice do you have for writers and readers?
Don’t attempt a good work of fiction unless the idea is really compelling. I’ve found the process extremely daunting and it was really the story that pulled me through by just not letting go of me. I felt quite dragged along by it, so… don’t attempt fiction unless you find the story is a bit of a compulsion.
Don’t attempt a good work of fiction unless the idea is really compelling. I’ve found the process extremely daunting and it was really the story that pulled me through by just not letting go of me. I felt quite dragged along by it, so… don’t attempt fiction unless you find the story is a bit of a compulsion.
Thanks for reading.
