Can an engineer be a
nature lover too? Sanjeev Bansal is a poet, a writer, and an engineer. He
believes in sharing his ideas through his verses. Known for his debut poetry
book 'An Ode to Shimla', he has been in the literary field for quite some time.
Here is a sneak peek into the conversation I had with him.
1. Tell us a little about yourself and your
background?
I’m Sanjeev Bansal
currently residing in Chandigarh, Punjab. I’m working as a Project Engineer in
the field of Energy Efficiency & Energy Conservation in Punjab Energy
Development Agency (PEDA). I’m basically from a small city (Bathinda) of Punjab
where I spent my childhood and schooling before going to Himachal Pradesh for
graduation.
2. What were you like at school?
I was very shy &
chubby during my school days. I spend most of my time alone in the school in
silence & watch the happenings around me. I love to play Cricket & Lawn
Tennis. I even bunk the classes and go to cricket ground and play for long
hours.
3. What are your ambitions for your writing
career?
Ambitions are something
which set the mark for me to know and to rate myself because along with
achievement comes hard work, limitations & desires to direct all the energy
for the fulfilment of it. So, there’s no particular set point for me in
writing. The literature in itself is a Universe of beautiful sapphire. The main
idea of my writing is and will always be to express emotions & feelings
which world finds difficult/ or even neglected to dwell upon.
4. Which writers inspire you?
I feel Writers are
extraordinary in their own way of expressing the art of words. They describe
the era of writing styles by their soul’s verses. Some of their words/ work
just touches the knot of heart and makes you float in the lyrical river. It is
due to which they get the appreciation and the gratitude from the horde. Being
driven by Classical European Culture since my childhood, I love more of
Classical World. So, the era of William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, W.B.
Yeats, P.B. Shelley, William Wordsworth, Robert Browns, Thomas Hardy etc.
inspired me to write.
5. Give us an insight into your book? Why did
you choose Shimla as the central idea/ theme?
It's basically a Poetry
book in which I have covered the sections on Dream, the night's sleeping beauty
& its features crimsoned in different shades of delirium, the garden's
features linking to the mother nature, the beautiful graces of an oak tree, the
shadow of a sailing ship. the beatific charm of the grafted figment flower,
women's beauty, wind's whispers & its lyrical song, description &
appealing messages from the Shivalik mountains of Shimla, their divine silence,
the crying sky's signals, soul's thinking, the leaflet of a herbal tea African
Sunrise, The way of thinking as a cloud puff, a bird's arrival etc. & last
but not the least, the life's walking moments.
Shimla is very much close
to my heart. I love to wander like a child in the mountains. From my childhood
I always have the admiration to spend my life in mountains. Shimla’s beauty and
the atmosphere can’t be expressed until you visit there. It is a place where
the seed of Love sprouts in my heart. That’s why I dedicated this poetry book
in her devotion.
6. What are you working on at the minute?
I’m currently working on
several books. Couple of the work is on Anthology of Poems and the other one is
full length fiction novel.
7. What’s it about? (*if relevant)
The poetry books have the
subject matters varying from small prose verses to long elegy. The Novel is on
Mystery/ Thriller Theme. It’s not a very high prolific Mystery but on the life
of a Man who fights with his mind and heart, to prove himself pure against this
female best friend’s allegations & accusations.
8. How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?
Every Writer has “The
Element of Style”. So, describing the character, plot, suspense, story and the
use of imagery are the key forms to write creatively. It’s called the Art of
Adventure. The word choice especially for poem is something that requires in
depth meaning what a poet is trying to say. E.g. Few excerpts from my poetry
book goes like this:
Morrow, at dusk, when the
rays awake their embryo,
I’ll again set my sails. I
know ye are waiting for me.
The above words aren’t
quite sad or desperate, but are emotionally powerful. It starts with the desire
of a poet to go to the land of braes. He‘s waiting for the next day to come,
when the virgin rays of sun strikes the moor. He could be amidst among that
silence of cool gale. He ends the line by narrating the anticipation that the
place is too waiting for her most loveable son to come.
9. What is the hardest thing about writing?
Writing is a slow work to
pen down all your thoughts with perfect insights. Each line and sometimes even
the words are like a dream of sleepless night. It often happens that I got
stuck in the middle of the plot/ character or even at the starting of the
chapter/ poem. And sometimes the ending is too crucial that I don’t know what
is next to happen. To describe a scene it takes several nights for me to find
the treasure. So, I silently groomed into the shell of the scene and applied on
myself to actually experience the situation.
10. Do you proofread/edit all your own books or
do you get someone to do that for you?
I feel that the errors/
missing links cannot be finding by oneself. For your eyes it seems to be
perfect. That’s why I do not proofread/ edit my own books.
11. How can readers discover more about you and
your work?
My readers can either
discover about myself and my work either through face book or email me on
sanju.juit.hp@gmail.com.
**For author interviews and book reviews do write at ejblog12@gmail.com
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