Shuvashree Chowdhury's Blog, page 24
January 23, 2019
‘Kindness is not an act. It is a Lifestyle’: My just released collection of short stories ‘Existences’ and the set of 4 books.
On Amazon and Flipkart from today: My set of 4 Books – ‘Across Borders’ & ‘Entwined Lives’ (Novels); ‘Existences’(26 short-stories); ‘Fragments’ (poetry – 90 poems). For more on the views that went into the books, and further updates, please click and visit/follow the page Across Borders.
I’m so pleased to be able to bring to you, on a special day today – the birthday of the great leader – Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the amazon.in and flipkart.com web links for sale of my books, as below. You can buy the 4 books as a set as they are all inter related, and therefore released together, or any or more you like.
A list of the varied international distribution platforms and e-books will all go live in a few days…I’ll share the links here. The books will be in stores only around March…
But till such time, anywhere in the world, including in India if you prefer, you can order your paperback versions of my books directly from the publishers from the web link: https://www.thedogearsbookshop.com/…
Amazon.in
https://www.amazon.in/Entwined-Lives-Shuvashr…/…/ref=sr_1_4…
https://www.amazon.in/Existences-Shuvashree-C…/…/ref=sr_1_3…
https://www.amazon.in/Across-Borders-Shuvashr…/…/ref=sr_1_2…
https://www.amazon.in/Fragments-Shuvashree-Ch…/…/ref=sr_1_1…
Flipkart
https://www.flipkart.com/across-borders/p/itmfdfgucmxekxvu…
https://www.flipkart.com/entwined-lives/p/itmfdfwarqumh2nh…
https://www.flipkart.com/existences/p/itmfdfn2pt7zj2gr…
https://www.flipkart.com/fragments/p/itmfdfpsgej8mkzz…
I’ve already shared with you, the thoughts behind my new novel Entwined Lives, in the previous post, now here’s a little on the making of the collection of short stories, Existences:
‘Kindness is not an act. It is a Lifestyle’: “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” -Kahlil Gibran.
These thoughts here, sum up my new collection of 26 stories titled ‘Existences’ – each of which has been thought out and vividly depicted — from my varied socially relevant, corporate experiences of two decades, however casual and easy they might read.
“People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind.
Think big anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack if you help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.” – Dr. Kent M. Keith.
“The Wise Woman’s Stone” : A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.” — Anonymous.
#newbookreleases #inspirational #motivational #workingwoman #lifeviews#shortfiction #internationalviews #womensempowerment
*****
An adaptation of my now republished novel Across Borders, is to be made into a Bangla film titled ‘Abhigaman’. The announcement of this and the promo was released to the media on 15th January over the music and trailer release of the Raima Sen and Nasser film Sitara, also directed by the same director Ashis Roy and produced by Shivo Prosad Pradhan who are also simultaneously making a film ‘Ful Bou’ starring reputed Malayalam actor Mohanlal and Radhika Apte.
I feel so humbled and grateful to be a part of the new project by these celebrated film makers. I look forward to learning as much as I can from them. Thank you so much for this opportunity!
[image error]
#novel #acrossborders #film #sitara #indianfiction #bangladesh #banglafilm#historicalfiction
*****
As for the poetry collection “Fragments”…I’ve shared so many poems here over the last few years, starting out since I started to blog in a few other platforms since 2006…so you know what to expect…or just read a few here. 
January 13, 2019
Literary Chic-Lit: My new novel ‘Entwined Lives’
[image error]
‘Literary chic-lit’: You’ve never heard of it, right! Well, not so long ago, neither had you heard of baked rosogolla or doi and chocolate sandesh or Chinese(noodle) samosas. You can add mihidana tart to that too! Someone had to innovate and now it’s like your palates grew up on these tastes. 
Literary Chic-Lit
[image error]
‘Literary chic-lit’: You’ve never heard of it, right! Well, not so long ago, neither had you heard of baked rosogolla or doi and chocolate sandesh or Chinese(noodle) samosas. You can add mihidana tart to that too! Someone had to innovate and now it’s like your palates grew up on these tastes.
December 31, 2018
Ushering in the New Year
[image error]
Shower your abundance on us, oh lord,
Bestow your graces benevolently –
May the year ahead bring peace and harmony,
Also love, prosperity, equanimity, and glory
Whether we’re brown or white doesn’t matter,
Black and yellow only enhances our beauty;
So long as we see, the greenery that wraps us all –
Doesn’t differentiate on sex, religion, nationality.
Let’s see our differences with love in the new year,
Being judgmental only causes rift and anxiety –
Clouding our minds and politicising our views,
Turning our picturesque global greenhouse gory.
With these thoughts to end my year, wishing all of you my dear friends, a very happy new year 2019!
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
#newyear #equalityforall #feminism #lifeviews #peaceandlove #poetry #worldviews #nonjudgemental #happynewyear2019
December 21, 2018
Thoughts on the worldwide pre-release of my set of 4 books today, the 21st of December, 2018.
[image error]
WORLDWIDE RELEASE (soft launch) OF MY SET OF 4 BOOKS TODAY, 21st December, 2018 – ‘Across Borders’ & ‘Entwined Lives’ (Novels); ‘Existences’(short-stories); ‘Fragments’ (poetry): The covers/blurbs are in the links below as well…
Anywhere in the world, starting now you can order your paperback version of my books from the web link below:
https://www.thedogearsbookshop.com/?product_cat=books&post_type=product&s=shuvashree
The individual links to each of the 4 books:
https://www.thedogearsbookshop.com/shop/books/across-borders/
https://www.thedogearsbookshop.com/shop/books/entwined-lives/
https://www.thedogearsbookshop.com/shop/books/existences/
https://www.thedogearsbookshop.com/shop/books/fragments/
Also you might like to order from The Cinnamon Teal link below:
https://cinnamonteal.in/authors/shuvashree-chowdhury/
The individual links to each of the 4 books:
As I mentioned, this is just a soft launch now, to be able to bring the books to you before Christmas weekend…so that everything else will follow in a few days or weeks at most. We had listed two of the ebooks that were ready, but removed them and decided to wait as it will be better that all 4 go up together. We are trying our best to get all the ebooks developed quickly but do not want to rush it either – it is 12 different ebooks (different continents) together for 4 titles.
Moreover the international links will take time to go live as the various sites are still in the process of activating them. In India – the Amazon India and Flipkart links are not yet live. They both take time to reflect although it’s been more than two weeks now that they’re queued.
So yes, all these online sites will be active worldwide by year end…and in stores after the formal release events in India.
But you my friends have the option of booking your copy directly from the web links above right NOW to get the initial copies of the books soon. I hope you will read the books and spread the word around…as no amount of promotion is good enough like word of mouth references.
WORLDWIDE RELEASE OF MY SET OF 4 BOOKS TODAY, 21st December, 2018.
[image error]
WORLDWIDE RELEASE (soft launch) OF MY SET OF 4 BOOKS TODAY, 21st December, 2018 – ‘Across Borders’ & ‘Entwined Lives’ (Novels); ‘Existences’(short-stories); ‘Fragments’ (poetry): The covers/blurbs are in the links below as well…
Anywhere in the world, starting now you can order your paperback version of my books from the web link below:
https://www.thedogearsbookshop.com/?product_cat=books&post_type=product&s=shuvashree
The individual links to each of the 4 books:
https://www.thedogearsbookshop.com/shop/books/across-borders/
https://www.thedogearsbookshop.com/shop/books/entwined-lives/
https://www.thedogearsbookshop.com/shop/books/existences/
https://www.thedogearsbookshop.com/shop/books/fragments/
Also you might like to order from The Cinnamon Teal link below:
https://cinnamonteal.in/authors/shuvashree-chowdhury/
The individual links to each of the 4 books:
https://cinnamonteal.in/books/across-borders/
https://cinnamonteal.in/books/entwined-lives/
https://cinnamonteal.in/books/existences/
https://cinnamonteal.in/books/fragments/
As I mentioned, this is just a soft launch now, to be able to bring the books to you before Christmas weekend…so that everything else will follow in a few days or weeks at most. We had listed two of the ebooks that were ready, but removed them and decided to wait as it will be better that all 4 go up together. We are trying our best to get all the ebooks developed quickly but do not want to rush it either – it is 12 different ebooks (different continents) together for 4 titles.
Moreover the international links will take time to go live as the various sites are still in the process of activating them. In India – the Amazon India and Flipkart links are not yet live. They both take time to reflect although it’s been more than two weeks now that they’re queued.
So yes, all these online sites will be active worldwide by year end…and in stores after the formal release events in India.
But you my friends have the option of booking your copy directly from the web links above right NOW to get the initial copies of the books soon. I hope you will read the books and spread the word around…as no amount of promotion is good enough like word of mouth references.
December 15, 2018
My Books: 2 Novels, Poetry, Short-fiction.
[image error]
Dear friends,
I’m very pleased to share that I am able to bring to you all that I have wanted to say – after two decades of corporate assignments, about life and experiences as a woman in progressive India. Even if not the views you’ve imagined or are made to believe – where women are always subjugated or under veil and live amidst snakes, elephants,harassers, rapists, male patriarchy and deadly diseases.
December 12, 2018
A Village in Bengal: Itachuna Rajbari
[image error]
That morning at nine,
we set out on the long drive
through expressways
and the airport to our right.
The flyovers we crossed
were new and manifold –
coursing over high rises and abodes
over which airplanes groaned.
The Bally bridge we drove on –
over the Hoogly’s high tide,
with Belur – Ramkrishna Math
and Dakhineshwar, to our right.
All the way through lush harvests,
was a rustic, picturesque sight –
with large water bodies rippling
under a wide expanse of blue sky.
Only after altering our charted course,
after wrong turns in spite of Google maps –
we drove over winding village tracks
to the red and white Rajbari’s ramparts.
The vintage style building was imposing,
while its office was cosy and small –
with a large hand pankha outside its wall,
a bottle-green door depicting its relic form.
We were led through an outer courtyard
with a Radha-Madhav temple atop a flight of stairs –
surrounded by two floors of high-ceiling rooms
that had lodged zamindars of 14 generations.
Our cosy room with a foyer, had an old worldly charm –
It’s windows overlooking a garden with a lotus pond;
a chicken coop, and wooden chess-board in the foliage
led to a walled lake – aristocratic ladies once bathed in.
The distinctive gondhoraj lebu welcome drink –
readied us for the splendid traditional Bengali meal:
A kasha thala with half a dozen batis of vegetables,
Also with dal, luchi, rice, curried egg or chicken.
At four, imparted its history we went on a guided tour –
of the palatial house that still retained its splendour:
with large rooms including an office and dance hall;
uniquely furnished rooms – each of the kin had lived in.
After a visit to the kite-flying terrace after sunset,
from where audible were musical accompaniments –
to the priest’s arati in the alpana decked well-lit temple:
We descended steep stairs – for Lord Krisha’s blessings.
After a game of ludo, snakes and ladders, badminton –
over masala chai with varied pakoras in the garden
with my sister and her husband – and mother watching;
we had a classic Bengali dinner with curried mutton.
Next morning at seven I strolled out of our citadel –
originally built in 1766 by Borgee Maratha’s titled ‘Kundan’:
To steal a view of Itachuna village that renamed ‘Kundu’ –
those who’d built them – a school, college and hospital.
I walked clean roads flanked by well-to-do cottages
waking up to the winter sun, pretty with gardens –
amidst ponds in which flocks of ducks bathed;
but mud huts stood up with elan vying for my attention!
After cups of Darjeeling tea, walks in the Rajbari’s garden –
we had a breakfast of luchi with typical Bengali garnishes:
Then hit the village roads to drive back to urban civilization,
to hypocritical lives – with no reprieve from class distinctions!
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
“You don’t make art. You find it.”
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
– Pablo Picasso
[image error]
‘Fragments’ releases worldwide on 21st December 2018, along with my other books…Across Borders (novel), Entwined Lives (novel) and Existences (short stories)
November 29, 2018
The Essence of a River
[image error]
I’m standing by the pier
Dressed in aquamarine blue,
Swathed in the setting sun’s tangerine hues –
Watching the birds glide past
On their homeward flight,
Over the hull of the mermaid shaped
Cruise ship – I’m to board in a few minutes
The wooden planked walkway I cross
With purposeful slow strides –
The wind caressing my face, neck and mind
To an awakened sense of reflective delight,
In keenness of the river cruise
Over the Hoogly – I’ve diligently organized,
To end the three day sojourn
For poets from all over India and the world,
In Calcutta – India’s cultural capital.
After we’ve all settled down,
The cruise liner aptly named – Matsyakanya
Seductively drops its sturdy moors,
Setting sails into the musky odour of the watercourse –
Pervading my restless and anxious mood:
The mermaid hulk enticing me into a dreamlike form
As if the beckoning river were the cosy arms of night
Preparing for her nocturnal snooze;
For like a woman – a river’s got a diurnal life too
Over seducing the man craving her bosom!
We start with the slated poetry readings
After a few minutes to recoup
So as to fit ourselves into the soulful mood –
In watching the soft ripples
Of the river drawing us into its groove
As it forges a passionate bond with the sea,
Even as it creates a soft beam of light in our minds
That we appreciate the beauty of multilingual words
Coercing through the sea of our thoughts!
Under the Howrah bridge when we crossed,
Taking a break from the poetry session:
Looking up, under my breath a wish I fervently uttered –
In an age old belief it would be divinely ordained.
The liveried waiters now come around
Serving us delectable fish fingers and kebabs
Along with mint chutney and tartar sauce,
In bridging the east-west culinary divide:
To test our concentration of words –
Are we as much in love with the sincerity of thoughts?
Or are we poets – as defenceless to worldly enticements
That tends to muddy the profundity of our views!
Then there’s a jazz band that performs
In the darkness, as we cruise along
With the twinkling lights of varied ghats –
Beckoning us to disembark
And romance them with a profusion of words
Once we return to our own remote spheres:
For aren’t we all verbal crusaders
Of isolated inner voices and uncovered worlds!
The aura of candescence around Belur Math –
After we’ve crossed the Dakhineshwar Kali temple,
Binds us in its eclectic, mystic charm
Arousing pictographic minds we’re endowed with,
Even if today we tend to rely more
On photographs our mobile phones hold
Over the sharply astute lenses –
Our mind’s eyes are gifted masters of!
By now, dinner has been served
In a series of silver-plated buffet platters –
That reflect the lights of the embankments we cross
Like those shores in our lives varied sojourns
Which reflect the perceptions?
That forms our palette of words:
Even as we’re sophisticated and fine-tuned
To the ecstasy of our palates as to words –
From world cuisines we partook lifelong
On our travels over varied dominions;
As we tend to perceive with all our senses –
Stronger and much sensitised than most people.
So now, the divine caramel custard for dessert
And vanilla ice-cream dripped with saucy chocolate:
Chills, numbs our Indian spice ignited senses,
So that we can return to our personal worlds –
Safe from a weakness that might squash our souls
And render our experiences wasted,
Before we convert them into words and phrases!
The night chill now beckons us to return
To the pavilion of commencement of our sojourn;
As the dwindling lights of humanities we’ve left behind –
In our stride for distinction in city lived luxuriant lives,
Recede into the remote wilderness of our minds –
Perhaps never to surface again:
But once we’re dead –
Buried in similar mud or cremated,
And our ashes sprinkled on the waters
Of this very river Ganges
Or any other that we may be close to then;
May our souls rest in peace over our life choices –
At the culmination of our journey’s cryptic end!
PS: I scribbled this today, so it’s still an initial draft, that I will edit and fine tune shortly…
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
November 19, 2018
Freedom in Confinement
[image error]
A mistake I made in life
that I cannot now rectify;
yet I can still live
a meaningful life –
even if it’s in prison confines:
As I have the gift of art –
of paintings and handiwork,
to guide my wasted life
with hope and light.
I once had much love,
support of home and hearth –
with family and friends to count on;
Also a life well laid out,
with dreams and aspirations
to guide my youthful path:
But then, choices I made in life –
circumstances guiding my stride,
proved me guilty of a crime
where my destiny was maligned;
Landing me in imprisonment
that took people I loved off my sight –
For no one cared if I was still alive,
even if mere breathing is hardly a life!
Yet life showed me a spark of light
in the darkness of my confines –
a kind lady through her NGO – Rakshak,
brought in an oil lamp of hope:
Out of painting and craft lessons she evoked –
in all of us men and women,
a renewed will to live and be known
for our skills – as a beacon of hope;
not merely for mistakes we’ve committed –
thus burying us alive in our dark cells,
from where not even sun or moon is visible.
Now look at these rays of coloured light
that my dark world have illumined,
through this exhibition
at the Indian Museum –
filling me with pride and an appreciation:
That my paintings are fetching
from kind people and organisations,
who love art in preservation of heritage –
to reinforce Calcutta’s culture I was born in
and am now passionate in upholding;
to enable a life of beauty and satisfaction
I had never dreamed of for myself –
nor had my parents and friends,
not even for my children had I imagined –
who were ashamed of my existence!
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
