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Thursday, March 22, 2018

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY: Dhruba D. Roy, Author

Dhruba D. Roy, Author
MY FIRST BREAKUP
Dhruba D. Roy brings us his novel, MY FIRST BREAKUP, which he wrote to help himself but believes will also help others worldwide, given that we’ve all faced a breakup at one time. A reviewer says that “It is much more intimate and relatable” than the usual ‘boy meets girl’ novel with “A different and fresh approach.” He uses humor to develop his characters but also incorporates a little of himself in each of them.

In addition to being a writer, Roy also is a musician and a software engineer. He is currently working on two projects: a sequel to MY FIRST BREAKUP and a mythological fiction based on Greek, Christian, and Hindu history.




Q: Tell us about MY FIRST BREAKUP. Would you consider it a romance or contemporary fiction? What theme did you want to develop?

Dhruba D. Roy: MY FIRST BREAKUP is about a character whose name is Anirudh. The story revolves around this character who falls head over heels in love with a girl in his childhood only to be drifted apart from his girl before high school itself. The protagonist is obsessed with the girl of his dreams and after being separated makes it the motive of his life to win her back in his life.

The story then gradually unfolds where both of them do meet again. By this time both of them have entered their adulthood and deeply respect the bond that they had developed over the period of time. Anirudh discovers that he loves music equally and also starts performing at many different gigs with his musical band. But as we all know, nothing lasts the same forever. His world is turned upside down when he had to abandon his musical band and move out of the city.

The next sequence of events paves the plot for the climax of the story which is the most gripping part of the story. Let’s just keep that a secret for now.

MY FIRST BREAKUP is a combination of both romance and contemporary fiction. Infact the book has a musical touch to it and I feel that’s a value addition for the readers.

Q: You are an engineer by training, as well as a musician and a freelance writer. What caused you to also want to become a novelist?

Dhruba D. Roy: Hahaha…. let me tell you something about this question of yours. It certainly wasn’t the engineer in me who made me want to write a novel. Freelance writing was just a way to engage myself in some activity when I was free. ‘Music’ is perhaps the driving force behind this. I love music, especially the Rock N’ Roll of late 1970’s-1995’s. The Beatles, Queen,  Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Eddie Van Halan, Eric Clapton, etc. I loved their music. The lyrics of their songs were so strong and captivating. It’s sad that I cannot write lyrics of songs that good. And it was when my music band disbanded after our graduation that I decided to start writing a book. It was a tedious task and after many years of struggle, here I am with my debut novel MY FIRST BREAKUP.

Q: MY FIRST BREAKUP is set in India. What makes it universal whose characters will relate to multiple nationalities and countries?

Dhruba D. Roy: MY FIRST BREAKUP is based on three fundamental things: Love, Music, and Friendship. These three factors are very much universal to me, and the readers of any contries shouldn’t have any problem connecting to it.
Another thing that I feel readers will most certainly feel a strong connection with is the plot of the novel MY FIRST BREAKUP. It is very simple and very realistic. It is very common and it happens to almost all of us. Most of us go through our First Breakup and it’s very difficult for any one to get break the shackles and be normal again after such an event . This story is all about that and much more :)

Q:  Is there a hero or villain in MY FIRST BREAKUP? If so, what are the character traits of a villain? Does a villain need to be a person? Or can a culture or circumstances substitute for a villainous person?

Dhruba D. Roy: Yes, I consider that there is both a hero and a villain in this story. I guess, both the characters of being a hero and a villain is played by  the same factor called ‘Time’. It is ‘Time’ that gives happiness to the protagonist and it’s ‘Time’ who knocks him down. It is ‘time’ that teaches the protagonist the most valuable lesson in his first Breakup and that is ‘Learning to Let Go!!’

Q: Did you write MY FIRST BREAKUP primarily to entertain readers, or did you want to deliver a message?

Dhruba D. Roy: I wrote it to help myself. I wanted to write, and I feel my thoughts might not even be well accepted by my readers, but to be blatantly honest with you, that’s how I feel and all my characters are endowed with a bit of my soul in them.

Q: How useful is humor in telling your story or developing your characters?

Dhruba D. Roy: As a writer, I feel a story should be a combination of all the flavors that can give satisfaction to its readers and humor is one of those important ingredients. The story should always have an element of humor, not necessarily all throughout the story, but in a calculated fashion. This theory of mine stands true not only for humor but also for all the other ingredients that are necessary to write a story.

Q: Did you find that your experience as a freelance writer helped you to write a fictional novel?

Dhruba D. Roy: It definitely did. It gave me the freedom to think and be more imaginative. Not only that, but my days as a freelance writer also helped to become a better writer when it comes to structuring the plot.

Q: What’s next? Will you write more novels?

Dhruba D. Roy: Presently I am working on two projects. The sequel to My First Breakup and another one is a mythological fiction which is based on Greek, Christian and Hindu History. So, hopefully either one or, if God permits, perhaps both of them.

Q: Tell us about Dhruba D. Roy. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not writing or working?

Dhruba D. Roy: Dhruba D. Roy is a boring engineer, a creative writer and an exhilarating vocalist.I enjoy playing my guitar or traveling to new places with my friends when I am not writing or working. This gives me happiness.

About Dhruba D. Roy

Dhruba Das Roy is a freelance writer, a musician by passion, and a software engineer by profession. He is from Assam, but born in a small town of Meghalaya, where he finished his schooling. He then obtained his degree in engineering from the esteemed college of National Institute of Technology. He discovered his love for music there and was the lead vocalist of his band, “The Rozarts”.

He loves rock and roll and is a great fan of the pioneers of rock and roll-(Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Queen and the list goes on).Unfortunately, as engineering life came to an end, the band had to split. Recently, he moved to Kolkata where he is working in one of the leading software service based companies in India.

Not everyone can put thoughts into words. Dhruba had never tried his hand in writing; but he had an experience, an experience which changed his life for the better. Being a vocalist, his only way of expression was through the creative way. He decided to pen down his thoughts, and he discovered that writing came naturally to him. His thought process in the novel relates to the general mass in many ways. He decided to stretch his limits and ended up voicing his thoughts in a different way this time.


“Oh God, why me?”

This is perhaps what we think of when we go through a ‘breakup’.
This story is about Anirudh and Anvi.

Both of them have their own thinking which are not alike.

The story begins with Anirudh meeting with an accident. As he slowly succumbs to the pain, he starts reflecting about his bygone college days where he found his love for music. He loves Anvi dearly who is a long-lost friend of Anirudh.

The story reveals how Anirudh struggles as the hands of reality strikes him down.

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