Acclaimed IAF navigator turns to writing short stories

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<strong>Vishnu Makhijani</strong></p>
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Subroto Bandopadhyay was all of 10 when the 1971 India-Pakistan war inspired him to join the Indian Air Force (IAF). Commissioned in 1982, he served for 26 years, rising to the rank of Group Captain, and in 2003 played a key role in circumnavigating a huge Il-76 aircraft around the globe to a multinational exercise in Alaska. Thereafter, he navigated the Il-76 from the Eielson Air Force base in Alaska to the True North Pole and back, a flight that finds a mention in the Limca Book of Records.</p>
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At age 58, a few years after hanging up his uniform after taking premature retirement, he plunged into a second career — writing short stories — inspired as he was by R.K. Narayan's "Malgudi Days", choosing the genre as it is "not getting its due" and hoping to change "this mindset of our present-day readers", Bandopadhyay told IANS in an interview as his debut book, "The Bangkok Fiasco and other Stories" (Vitasta), hits the stands.</p>
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"I have been a bookworm since my early childhood days. I belonged to a large family. In those days, my father used to bring books from his office library on a regular basis. Though I was one of the youngest, still he always handed over the book first to me. Out of all types, I always preferred reading short stories. I thought the short stories are easy to read; has a less complicated plot, so easy to understand; has very few characters making it easy to relate; and finally, it is easy to remember as well. For me, the most impressive book was the 'Malgudi Days'," Bandopadhyay said.</p>
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After being inducted in the IAF as a flying branch officer, he got busy with his career and service life but it was always there at the back of his mind to take up writing.</p>
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"So, a few years after taking premature retirement from the IAF, finally, at the prime age of 58, I decided to take up writing on a serious note. As far as this book is concerned, I have taken nearly two years to pen down all the nine stories, out of which the last story took almost six long months. A few of the stories are loosely based on some odd happenings around me but the rest are purely imaginary ones. Imagining stories is a lengthy process; unless of course, one is hallucinating," he explained.</p>
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To this end, the nine stories delicately handle the unforeseen, complicated situations of life �- an innocent mistake in Bangkok results in many broken relationships; a jealous wife extracts a permanent revenge on her philandering husband; a young married woman indulges in casual sex to gift a child to her impotent husband to escape the ignominy of triple talaq.</p>
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The simple language, realistic portrayal of characters and the twists and turns will keep readers hooked to the end.</p>
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What is the thought process that went into formulating these stories?</p>
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Story writing, Bandopadhyay said, can easily be compared with the process of cooking.</p>
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"First, you decide what to cook. Similarly, at first, I formulate a basic concept of a story. That is either based on some happenings around me or simply a brainchild of mine. Second, you decide on the main ingredients for cooking. In a similar way, I decide on the main characters and start developing the storyline. And lastly, you keep adding a few odd spices or some last-minute extra ingredient to make the dish better.</p>
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"In an identical manner, I keep adding a few more relevant characters and if required, throw in some minor twist in the tale to have the best possible outcome. And I have tried to keep all the characters simply human and not superhuman! Hope the readers will find it rather easy to relate to these characters. And the turns & twists come in the story as you keep refining the plot," he explained.</p>
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Bandopadhyay's passion for the short story is quite apparent!</p>
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But, he laments, "in my personal opinion, for some unknown reasons, short stories are not getting the due, these are not liked much by the Indian readers. I hope this mindset of our present-day readers changes soon. I sincerely and genuinely want the 'Malgudi Days' type of soft, short stories to be back in the mainstream of the Indian literary world," Bandopadhyay concluded.</p>