Sujan Bhattacharya on a 16-year-old Calcuttan whose thrillers are making waves
CAN YOU believe a lad of barely 16-and-a-half years sitting within the confines of his large, old ancestral house in a small locale in north Kolkata is making waves worldwide? That’s true. His pen — rather, his computer keypad — is talking. Two crime thrillers of this boy wonder are selling like hot cakes on Amazon.com. He is not just becoming a known face overnight, as he has already captured media’s attention, but earning quick bucks (read foreign currency) as well.
How has all this happened? Arkopaul Das (fondly called Arko) says, “I love to read a lot and started writing, too, a long time back.” He would have finished his 10th Std. had he not suffered from typhoid. But Arko is already a master in converting adversity into fortune. He utilized this time and confinement within the four walls of his house by writing. “When I was down with typhoid and lost a year of studies, I made full use of the time.”
Arko’s deed is all the more creditworthy as it is the product of a strong mental fight, in his typical ‘converting adversity-into-fortune’ approach, he has been waging ever since he lost both his parents. He even does not remember exactly when his mother died and he was barely five-and-a-half when his father breathed his last.
He adds, “As the publisher (Amazon India) liked my stories and published me, my books instantly spread wings worldwide.”
Besides the narrative style and other skills, such as a mastery over language, necessary for one to be a popular author, one most amazing element of Arko’s writing could well be the reason for his phenomenal success at the international level as a teen sensation, displaying a lot of promises.
Call it his strategy or otherwise, crime fictions of this kid from Tala, Syambazar, are laid in the settings of New York with an American detective Alan Smith at the centre of breathtaking actions. Arko’s Smith bears a striking resemblance to Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, the fictional Belgian detective having a domineering presence in about a hundred of her works published between 1920 and 1975. The protagonist of Arko’s crime thrillers bestrides the labyrinth of streets and roads in the US’s commercial capital, going after his clues, chasing down killers and, empowered with new-age technology, solving mysteries with élan.
Arko’s thorough knowledge of Manhattan and New York’s geography, a naturally sheltered harbour created at the meeting of the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, and the US’s legal system, its law & order and policing protocol etc is something that really tests the intelligence of his readers, who are mostly based outside India, in detecting the actual physical disconnect between the city where this young, aspiring author is anchored and the place of action of his crime thrillers. Well, his voracious reading has laid the foundation of this in-depth knowledge, with googling undoubtedly helping him cross the finishing line.
Any plans to shift the base of his fictions to Calcutta or elsewhere in India? Arko sounds an emphatic “No”. He asserts, “I don’t think the conditions of streets and roads in Calcutta or anywhere in India are apt for the kind of electrifying situations and action-packed races in which Mr Smith and his investigating or mystery-solving partners, as well as criminals, get involved in.”
His readers are bound to be awestruck if they pit Arko’s feat against the hobbies and habits of the city lads of his age. They are either, as busy geeks, being glued to stuff such as WhatsApp and Facebook for the overwhelmingly major part of the day or, as sports fanatics, sweating it out on vast stretches of green across the metro.
Doesn’t Arko have any hobby and pastime, such as Calcutta’s all-time favourite adda with cronies or the most overplayed new-age chatting on the internet? Well, he has. “In leisure, when I am neither studying nor writing, I (a great fan of Captain Cool MSD) love to watch cricket and football matches on television and listen to western music,” says Arko, adding, “ I love playing video games, too.” Recently, he enjoyed playing Crysis and ‘Battlefield: Bad Company 2’ (a 2007 and a 2010 first-person shooter video games). “They are simply superb!” he exclaims. And, some from the Arko’s favourite playlist include singers or bands like Coldplay, Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift, Adam Levine, Maroon 5, One Direction etc.
What Arko hates doing is chitchatting with friends. “I don’t go for adda (gossip) with any friend or do chatting on the net. It’s a complete wastage of time. Also, (it is) too common—extremely boring and predictable. I have always wished to be different—do something different.”
Despite the high pressure of school studies and all these hobbies, how does he get time for writing? Arko exudes confidence: “I think if one has genuine intent, one can manage time for writing.”
And he plans his plot and storyline? “I don’t, as it limits me thought process as a writer,” Arko says with a matured head on young shoulders. He says, “I simply let my thoughts fly and my fingers flow on my laptop’s keypad. The plot develops and the story evolves automatically.”
Was he, by any chance, inspired by Rabindranath Tagore? No, how can he? A 10th Std. pupil of St. Paul’s School, Shyambazar, Arko says, “I am not well versed in Bengali, reading or writing. I could manage to read just a few of Tagore’s works in English language only.” He adds, “I enjoyed reading Feluda (Satyajit Ray’s detective)… pretty interesting. I have a series of Byomkesh Bakshi, too, and read a part of it.
Then, who actually inspired and sparked off the writing genius in him? “Agatha Christie, to a great extent (inspired me). I thought if Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle and others can write so well, why can’t I?” Arko wonders. “That was how I started and it happened. I think if anybody writes well, publishers will take interest in publishing the story,” he adds.
Ask the little genius about his favourite authors besides Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle and you will be certain about one thing — none of his peers will have any idea about the names he chants from a slew of contemporary authors. “Some modern (crime fiction) authors I like most are Lee Child, David Baldacci, Michael Connelly, Jeffrey Deaver, Peter Robinson and Jeffrey Archer,” he says.
Who are the people that keep egging on him? “Pishira (paternal aunts) encourage me most. Also, there are my Didi (elder sister) and Jamaibabu (brother-in-law). My Bhagni (niece) too is there, who helps in promoting my work on social media like Facebook.”
Arko has, at this tender age, brought immense glory to his ‘English-medium’ school though the school has hardly played any role in shaping his prowess in the language that has mesmerised thousands of his readers across the world, largely in the US. The people of Tala are also celebrating this rare success of a boy residing on the famous Srish Chandra Chowdhury Lane of the locality. The proud neighbours have, in fact, started kind of adoring the child genius.
After huge success of his first two crime fictions, ‘The Dead Veteran’ and ‘The Insomniac’, the child author is soon (in April 2015) releasing his third book, a sequel to ‘The Insomniac’, titled ‘Limousine’. And his readers, worldwide, are waiting with a whole lot of expectations for all novel excitement!