Bhubaneswar: State Textiles department commissioner-cum-secretary Shubha Sarma has penned her second novel titled ‘The Awasthis of Aamnagri’, satirical humour after the success of her maiden novel in 2013.
The book was released here Thursday in the presence of eminent writers like Pratibha Ray, Debashish Panigrahi and others. Sarma’s first book titled ‘The Fly on the Wall & Other Stories’ received good response from the readers, critics and was launched by former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor when she was on central deputation.
Speaking to Orissa POST, Sarma, “The book was written between 2015 and 2017. That was a time when I was on central deputation and had been moving from different cities. I devoted myself to writing during my waiting time in airports, while onboard and other free time.”
In her latest book, she has tried to trace the thread of nostalgia of growing up in 70s, 80s and 90s which were marked by absence of smartphones in hand and technological additions.
“I wanted to capture that period in our lives when summer vacations were long, languorous and full of a game of cards, when the greatest worry was not losing all your contacts stored on your smartphone,” she said.
Sarma said that after her second book, she will continue to write more. “Reading is an amazing habit and one must inculcate this to increase his/her imaginations. While it works towards boosting writing skills and through process among the young generation it leads to pacify the psyche of matured people and helps them in knowing the world better,” she said.
