Bengaluru is a city of writers and readers – one must try not to bump into one of the dozens of writers who call the city home. However, some stand out from the crowd. One of these is Poil Sengupta – whose writing career spans decades from children’s writing, to theater scripts and beyond.
His latest book, A Higgedly Piggedly Growing Up, is written from the perspective of a teenage school boy in a Bengaluru suburb. Sharing her perspective on the city, Sengupta, originally from Kerala, says, “I have lived in many cities and even in rural Karnataka, but my husband and I decided to make our home in Bangalore. When we first came to Bangalore in 1973, it was a beautiful city. … There was a lot less traffic, and a lot more open spaces … When we came back in ’93, the city had changed a lot. The city still has joints … Maybe it’s the people, maybe Trees and flowers in season. And, of course, the language, because Kannada is such a beautiful and emotional language.”
Sengupta soon began writing for Children’s World, a publication in Delhi, where she grew up. This would evolve into a column known as “A Letter to You” that would run for the next 30 years.
His latest book, A Higgedly Piggedly Growing Up, is written from the perspective of a teenage school boy in a Bengaluru suburb.
She says, “I strongly feel that children need stories that show the wonder of the world, the beauty of the environment… Children are more intelligent than us adults. They are more responsive, they look around, they are more observant. I am a school and college teacher. One of the scariest things to do is to tell preschoolers what they want to say.” Sengupta has some other rules for her writing—the endings should be wholesome and happy. It should not be in the tone of morality.
He is also an award-winning playwright, with nationally recognized scripts such as Mangalam, which won the Hindu-Madras Players Playscript Competition in 1993. Explaining the difference in the process of working on a play, she says, “When you write a story, you can say a lot of things that don’t necessarily translate into action or sound … Your characters can go from here to Lapland. You can’t do that in a play, because it’s physical.” Yes… there is physical action to be seen and heard. You have to compress it to translate it directly to the stage which is not necessary in the story.
Sengupta’s next work, Inga, is a significant departure from his other writings – presented in part from the perspective of a dead character’s journals. Says Sengupta, “I often write in the hero’s voice because I feel there is more immediacy. Inga is very different… if you put Inga and A Higgedly Piggedly Growing Up together, it’s hard to know it’s the same author.
Concluding the conversation, Sengupta says on the craft of writing, “Just write happiness. Whatever is on your mind, write in whatever language you like, whatever.”
Note: Pictures in Arnav email