About Me — Abhijit Das
Never thought it would be so easy to be your true self!
Who Am I?
1991 — Amidst several significant events, such as men gaslighting their wives for not having frequent sex, aspiring artists trying to overcome their imposter syndrome, some sanitation worker worrying about the blood she is spewing whenever she coughs, all the animals tu-whit-tu-whoo-ing, fornicating and killing each other, and several other insignificant events such as the collapse of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) or the liberalization of my country India’s economy…at a government hospital in the outskirts of Kolkata, I was born to a middle-class Bengali family.
Hey there! I am Abhijit Das, a writer by passion and a software engineer by compulsion. I have an inexplicable amount of intellectual quests and innumerable stumbling blocks stopping me from achieving it!
As Kafka said — “Time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy…”
However, to keep trying until I perish is the motto!
I am based in India, the land of diverse cultures and stories, and stories have been an integral part of our culture for centuries with epics like the Mahabharat and Ramayana.
I have been writing for decades now, on and off, depending on how I deal with the societal pressure of being a Software Engineer in a middle-class household and my imposter syndrome.
“Writing is what I want to do in life!”
(This is no famous writer’s quote, just used that quotation feature for maximum effect!)
My Social Status and Why Is It Important?
I was born to a ‘rich’ Shudra family. Are you aware of the term ‘Shudra’? It is the lowest of the four main castes in my country’s caste system. The other three castes in their hierarchical order are — Brahmin, Kshatriyas (K is silent) and Vaishyas.
Then how can a Shudra family be ‘rich’?
Well, the Indian caste system is a labyrinth of irrational and sadistic social structures. Apart from the main four castes, there are 3000 other castes and 25,0000 sub-castes.
Though I belong to the fourth and the last category, there is one other major community which is not even considered part of the caste system. They are the Dalits —
The untouchables…the outcasts, who belong to the lowest of the lowest stratum of my country’s social structure.
Hence, even though I belong to the lowest social stratum, millions are less privileged than me.
My Schooling
I was born to a Shudra family, but my parents were employees of the Government of India back in the 90s. They had stable Government jobs, hence they were ‘rich’ compared to their peers. This enabled them to admit me to a coveted convent school in North Kolkata.
It is an English-medium Christian missionary school and it is considered to be an institution of true education. The motto of my school is Live, Love and Laugh and the intro of my school on its official website is surely going to make you laugh —
The school was cute. Most teachers were converted Christians with names like Samir Williams and Chitrangada Cruz. They were paid abysmally low which forced them to run private tuitions to earn extra bucks. And we, the students used to suffer the most because the subjects they could have taught us during school hours were taught after the school was over, in private tuitions.
In the later stage of my school life, my routine used to be —
Wake up at 7 in the morning— Attend school from 8 AM to 1:30 PM — Reach home at 2:30 PM — Have lunch and reach for the private tuitions by 4 PM — Take tuitions till 8 PM — Come home and pass out — Repeat.
If any of you grew up in India in the 90s, you would know that all the middle-class parents of India wanted their kids to study science (they still do) and fancying to study arts or commerce was a sign of less intelligence.
“Oh Nandan Kumar? He is a brilliant student. He’s got 98 in Mathematics.”
“Oh Geeta Kumari took Arts? Her brain was not that sharp to take up science…”
Why Science?
Being an Engineer or a Doctor was, and is still considered to be the safest profession in India. Our parents pushed us into studying science so we get stable jobs and never run out of gas.
The primary sources of entertainment and inspiration in those days were the movies and cricket. I grew up watching cricket too and the greats of my time — Sachin Tendulkar, Wasim Akram and Brain Lara to name a few.
I wanted to be a fast bowler but realized cricket was a sport of the privileged and getting proper cricket training was not affordable. I was not exceptional in it either, so the dream of becoming a cricketer faded away slowly.
Hence, I ended up following Nandan Kumar. Who? The guy who scored 98 in Mathematics. I studied science, very diligently. I too scored 95 in Mathematics. But does that mean I loved Maths? Here’s the twist…I scored a good 85 in English Literature too. The good marks in Maths were driven by compulsion and more than average marks in English Literature were driven by sheer love for literature.
Shakespeare — Thakur (Being a Bengali, I object using Tagore) — John Keats — Jibananda Das —Charles Dickens — Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay…damn…let’s cover it in the listicle section below.
Higher Education and Job
I have no shame in accepting the fact that my higher education is not of the highest quality. I wanted to study literature and ended up studying engineering (safest occupation, remember?).
I ended up doing Electronics And Telecommunication Engineering and got a job in an IT company where my job, to date, is to test software applications. According to my parents, my life was sorted. But that’s where it all began.
Why I Took Up Writing Seriously
Seriously speaking, things got serious!
I didn’t know where I was going in life…but somewhere deep within I wanted to be free. And I took up writing seriously. The IT job was fun initially because it provided my salary at the end of the month and empowered me to purchase and devour all the worldly things I aspired to.
But sometimes, the reason for living becomes the reason for dying.
The job triggered the hidden Sisyphus in me!
I finally realized how hollow the job was. I realized a ‘Job’ stays…and the person doing that so-called ‘Job’ comes and goes. And when the person is finally done completing that ‘Job’ after spending the majority of his/her life, nothing is left for themselves.
I know my position in the society. I cannot leave the job right away. I have to continue being Sisyphus until the day of my freedom…freedom to do what I genuinely want to do — Write!
Hence, I have started manifesting and am slowly working on becoming a full-time writer one day.
Why do I write?
- I write to keep myself sane in this Kafkaesque, dystopian piece of wasteland.
- I write to learn and educate myself, to introspect and to become a better human being.
- I don’t think I write for money because if I concentrate more on my job, I will be earning double of what I am earning today.
- I try to focus on my job tbh but I end up focusing on writing even more.
I have been writing actively for the past seven years, apart from my job —
- I have written multiple screenplays (feature and shorts) of different genres and currently collaborating with several filmmakers for things to materialize.
- I have also written a novella of ‘Dark Comedy Thriller’ genre and no one really knows about it — Hoaxed: You Don’t Eat Money Eats You!
Why Am I On Medium?
This is most certainly the toughest question of the entire piece. But the answer is simple —
- To learn from the veterans.
- Share my thoughts and stories with utmost honesty and clarity.
- Find a genuine audience for me.
- And last but not least, get paid for a constructive and dignified discourse on writing!
Why should people read my stuff here on Medium?
What can I offer you? Myself! My fresh, raw, organic, honest, unhinged and (*some other tough adjective*) take on life, love, childhood, manhood, and everything under the sky!
Time For Some Listicles!
- Fav Writer: Franz Kafka, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, Alber Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre to name a few.
- Fav Book: Pather Panchali, The Trial, Nausea to name a few.
- Fav Movie: Apur Sansar, Bicycle Thieves, Come and See, That Obscure Object of Desire, Baazigar to name a few.
- Fav Filmmaker: Luiz Buñuel, Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, Abbas Kiarostami, Wong Kar Wai, Wim Wenders to name a few.
- Fav Music Genre: Classical (Indian and Western).
- Existentialist?: Yes.
- Atheist?: Yes.
- Vegan?: No.
- What Do I Write?: Fiction (novels and screenplays), articles, blogs, etc.
- First Writing Related Appreciation: An essay on the topic named ‘LOVE’ in schooldays.
- Last Writing Related Appreciation: Never got any…after the first one.
Contact Me
I’m open to taking up projects and you can reach out to me at — abhijitfreelances@gmail.com.
Also, last but not least…
Please Follow me, Clap, Comment, Share and show your valuable support in every possible way so I can keep going and trying harder and harder…
Hey there! Sorry to bug you again but thought of adding this beautiful and profound quote I found on the net —
“You sensed that you should be following a different path, a more ambitious one, you felt that you were destined for other things but you had no idea how to achieve them and in your misery you began to hate everything around you.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Adios!
Love,
AD.
