Like father, like daughter

Pocket FM Creator Series: Following her father’s footsteps, Piyali Kar turns to writing; finds success with Pocket FM’s audio series

Storytelling by Pocket FM Communications

Her father was a banker who switched to writing post retirement. He wrote both verses and small fictional stories in Bengali, his mother tongue. His stories brought the sense of compassion and kindness to life so well that the Kolkata unit of the All India Radio had awarded him in 2019.

Coincidentally, that was the year Piyali Kar decided to quit her steady job as a creative producer at one of India’s top over-the-top (OTT) video streaming companies. “I decided to quit because I wanted to live closer to nature,” says Piyali, who now runs a homestay in Manali, a mesmerising hill station nestled in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh that attracts millions of tourists from across the world. Piyali’s homestay hosts residential retreats around art, creativity, mental health and adventure.

But, running the homestay could not keep Piyali content. Her creative soul needed something more. Since childhood, she enjoyed writing. Following her father’s footsteps, she also wrote verses and short stories from a very young age. During her corporate career, she doubled as a screenwriter. Besides, she tried her hand at painting and performing for theatres. However, she always felt that something was missing.

The beauty of a creative soul is that it keeps on exploring and Piyali’s is not different. Naturally, when her former colleague told her about an opportunity to write long format content for audio series platform Pocket FM, she lapped it up. What started as another experiment for Piyali eventually turned out to be her best bet for creative expression.

“Ever since, I have started feeling like long format writing is what I needed to do and enjoy the most,” says Piyali who has written two successful shows — Maseeha Doctor and Judwaon Ne Bana Di Jodi — for Pocket FM. Both the shows have been played more than eight million times so far. She is currently writing her third, Rabba Ishq Na Hove, which is an ongoing show on Pocket FM.

Besides her father, formative years of her life had a major influence on Piyali’s writing. Like the story of Maseeha Doctor is weaved around the diverse culture and local stories of Chhattisgarh where she grew up. “Inspiration for characters often comes from real-life people, experiences, and the rich cultural diversity of India. I enjoy weaving relatable traits into my characters while adding unique elements to make them stand out,” says Piyali who stayed in different parts of the country throughout her life.

Piyali, who is Bengali by birth, never stayed in that part of the country ever as her father had a transferable government job. On the creative front, the writer is strongly influenced by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, especially three of his books — 1Q84, Norwegian Wood and Kafka on the Shore. “I absolutely adore his writing because he is someone who writes with ease, suspense and emotions all included in simple sentences and paragraphs… I also enjoy magic realism and Murakami is the contemporary master of such storylines,” she adds.

During the past few years, Piyali has rebuilt her career switching from corporate jobs to running a homestay and writing for Pocket FM’s audio series that reaches millions of people across the country. She, however, could not share her success as a long format writer with her father who, Piyali says, always inspired her to “capture everyday life experiences in writing form.”

“I started writing long-format stories that got published after the death of my father. He could never read or hear any of my current works. He would have been really proud of me and my writing getting published at this scale and now so many people are listening to it,” says Piyali.

In five years from now, with her new found success through long format storytelling, Piyali dreams of becoming a published author — a successful one!

Do you have a passion for becoming a writer? We welcome you to Pocket FM creator community. Write to writers@pocketfm.com to join our robust creator community.