Dr. (Prof.) Anandajit Goswami is Director at the School of Behavioural and Social Sciences (SBSS), an Award-Winning author, Research Director at Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies (MRIIRS), and Honorary Visiting Professor at IMPRI. Dr. Goswami is also an educator, musician, sports practitioner, scholar, and philanthropist. Dr. Goswami is also a Visiting Research Fellow with the International Foundation for Research and Education, Ashoka Centre for People-centric Energy Transition, and Visiting Professor at Ashoka University. Dr. Goswami obtained his PhD in Energy Policy from the TERI School of Advanced Studies and a Masters in International Trade and Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University. Dr. Goswami was a faculty member at the TERI School of Advanced Studies and has led projects supported by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UKAID, Asian Development Bank, and World Bank. He was also based in the United Nations Economic Cooperation for Africa, Addis Ababa, where he led the TERI-Africa Initiatives. He has been extensively involved with the Atomic Energy Commission, Government Ministries, and Indian Railways. Dr. Goswami has authored 13 fiction books, authored and co-authored 3 award-winning books, and has been awarded twice for his Philanthropic Foundation – “TOHRI Foundation”. He has been an ambassador for the NADA Foundation’s anti-tobacco campaign across the states. He has been recognized by the All India Human Rights Council, Child Rights and You, and WWF India for his contribution in the space of Human, Child, and Animal Rights in India. He has also contributed to Extinction Rebellion, POP Movement, Fridays for Future Climate Movement through his music for sustainability movement. He has been acknowledged by the National School of Drama, Jashn-E-Adab for his musical contribution to a unique poetry-music theatrical called – “Yuhi Sath Sath Chalte”. Currently, Dr. Goswami has curated and edited a mega book project called “A Green Day” published by Hachette India in 2024, which has been listed as and trending book on “Climate and Environment” since April 2024.
In an Exclusive Interview with Nitish Raj; Editor-in-Chief, The Literary Mirror the award-winning author talks about his various masterpieces along with the finer nuances of writing.
Q.1 How do you see your transition from an academician to an author?
AG: I am still transitioning. Transition is for me an everyday phenomenon. Producing or seeing a book is not always my transition from an academician to an author. When I am able to create an authority on my ever fluid psyche and conscious, subconscious, and unconscious layers of mind, I consider it as a transition from an academician to an author. In that process, my academic scholarship plays a very important role in creating the existence of an author in me, and then the academician, the author, plays a hide-and-seek game in between.
Q.2 You have published various fiction masterpieces along with academic reference books. What difference, as an author, do you find while writing two completely different forms of books?
AG: In my academic writing, the art and craft of disciplining starts from the very first moment. I allow my emotions to be conquered by the craft of my disciplining process. In my fictional masterpieces, I allow my craft of that disciplining to come much later in the process.
Q.3 Your latest masterpiece, ‘A Green Day’, published by Hachette India, focuses on climate and environment is receiving rave reviews from all across the country. How challenging is it to focus on the betterment of the environment in this fast-paced world?
AG: Often, staying focused means hitting a dead end and a wall with no holes in it. But then drilling that wall gets me going to see a light through that wall and sneak into the other world on the other side of the wall. It is a challenge as well as a thrill at the same time, and I cherish that journey.
Q.4 You are one of the few authors in the country who have written dystopian novels. How much does the imaginative world created by us as authors provide solace to the readers rather than creating a disillusioned reality?
AG: Authors might not necessarily always have or need to have a sense of responsibility or a duty to create a solace or a disillusioned reality. Anything can come out in the journey of an authorship of getting a sneak peek into the fluid psychic world within. There is nothing called disillusioned reality in the closely protected world of an author. Neither is there a solace in that world. Hence, anything that comes out of that world might not be of one type of perceived reality or a form of perceived solace.
Q.5 You have also written the LUCY Series, which is Science Fiction. As per your opinion, why do Indian authors still lag as compared to global sci-fi authors?
AG: I don’t agree with this viewpoint. I strongly feel that Indian authors are equally good as global sci-fi authors. The question is why, in spite of that, we don’t see a dominance of such authors in the global, regional, national, and subnational markets. The answer to this is not simple. Everyone is responsible for this. Starting from the readers, publishers, marketing agencies, distributors, retailers, digital platforms, the art and entertainment industry, authors, and above all, the way the society has to own and take responsibility to make it happen. Always remember, if today’s society, the entire ecosystem is not giving that space for Indian authors to be equal to global sci-fi authors, one day will come when this lagging discussion of Indian authors will actually be like a disillusioned reality.
Q.6 Your few books are also getting translated into different languages? Don’t you think it will rob the essence of the original book and might cause your readers to drift away from understanding the true message of your book?
AG: Once my book is out, I don’t exist anymore. If the book is translated into different languages, let the thoughts and ideas, culture, and language decide the natural macrocosm of the destiny of the thoughts, ideas, or books. I don’t think I need to think about the drift of readers’ understanding of the true message. The word true message is a very dogmatic, absolute positioning of a book. I have never written a single line in any book from an absolute positioning of my thoughts. It is always relativist and inclusionary. A drift can also be seen as an inclusion.
Q.7 You have also written in various peer-reviewed journals. What needs to be done to enhance the enthusiasm of young students for writing research papers?
AG: As I mentioned above, young students need to be prepared to drill that hole in the wall to see the other side through the hole in the wall for a light.
Q.8 What would be your suggestion to young authors who want to write both fiction and non-fiction?
AG: Stay in a regulated zone of disturbance and don’t rely too much on the concept of mind stability and equilibrium, as that itself can act as a hindrance to your dynamism of being a fiction and non-fiction writer.
