Abhijit Gupta’s new book “The Copper Sky” (Niyogi Books), was recently launched at the India International Centre in New Delhi, released by journalist Antara Dev Sen, founding editor of The Little Magazine. The launch then saw Dev Sen and Gupta engage in an in depth discussion about the book’s genesis, exploring issues it brings to light and the overlaps with Gupta’s own life experiences.
“The Copper Sky” is a sort of coming of age book, one that follows the life of a young Indian student in post-war London. Amar Das arrives in London to pursue higher studies at the London School of Economics. It is the 1950s, and he is immediately thrown into a culture he is both curious about and unfamiliar with. He has grown up feeling resentful of the second class status he holds in his own country, ruled by the British. Now, after Independence, he finds himself in England, but this time, he is cast in another role, that of a student. Gupta takes the reader on a fascinating journey, one that sees both Das and the political and social landscape of his environment changing.
At the launch, when asked by Dev Sen to talk about who he is, Gupta gave the audience a brief account of his own life, one that is, quite clearly, similar to Amar Das’s. Gupta, a Bengali boy growing up in Delhi, left for England in the 1950s to study in LSE.
In fact, his book’s protagonist does share several character traits with Gupta, including the fact that he too is a fencing champion. On being asked if the book was mainly autobiographical, with a little fiction thrown in, or vice versa, he confessed that 25 per cent of it was true. “Though I won’t say which 25 per cent,” he quipped.
While not entirely autobiographical, Gupta’s own years at LSE and their intellectual and emotional influence on him have moulded this book to a great degree. Always nursing a desire to write, Gupta’s accident a few years ago — one that forced him to reduce the load of work he could take on — gave him the opportunity to turn to pen and paper.
He began writing, and found that the book which was shaping up was influenced by three highly eventful years he spent in London.
Dev Sen, congratulating Gupta on the release of “The Copper Sky”, added that she was finding it to be a very exciting book. “I haven't finished it yet, but I’m really enjoying reading it,” she said. The conversation between Dev Sen and Gupta proceeded easily, and Gupta shared several anecdotes from his life.
The launch saw the hall packed with Gupta’s friends, family and readers, and ended with a closing note by Prof. Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee, Director, Niyogi Books.
