Fractured Mosaic

By Sabarna Roy

Fractured Mosaic is yet another kaleidoscope from Sabarna Roy’s arsenal that will take the readers to a mesmerizing whirlpool. Most of the works published in this book have been earlier published in reputed media houses as musings of an author; in this book they have been brought together for the benefit of all the readers. After the smashing hit of his earlier six master pieces since 2010, Sabarna has been constantly writing in the format of a journal to imitate how the mind works in real life.

Sabarna Roy has covered all genres in his literary works: short stories, novella, ballads, narrative poetry, plays, conversations, non-fictional writing, critical analysis of ideas and events, etcetera. He specializes in post-modern urban milieu which delightfully bridges the gap between the mundane and arcane writings of today and provides an interesting, yet intellectually stimulating, treat for the discerning reader.
- Hindustan Times

A unique matrix of dialogues and conversations between the characters in most of his novels and novellas, and even within his poems, certainly marks the beginning of a new era in English literature. Another significant thing is the easy way in which he flips genres in the same book or within one genre is revolutionary. The Last Plunge in Frosted Glass is a brilliant example. The Prank is a black comedy to its core and Instantaneous Death is an outrageous piece of prose writing.
- Deccan Herald

The dialogue that motivates Sabarna the most is from Inception by Christopher Nolan. It is – “What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient... highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it’s almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed-fully understood-that sticks.”
- The Dispatch

Sabarna Roy has been awarded the Literoma Laureate Award in 2019, Literoma Star Achiever Award 2020, Random Subterranean Mosaic: 2012 – 2018 won the best book of the year 2019, the A List Award for excellence in fiction by the NewsX Media House, Certificate for The Real Super Heroes for spreading a spirit of positivity and hope during the COVID-19 Pandemic from Forever Star India Award 2020, the Certificate for Participation in the Indo Russian Friendship Celebration 2020, and the Literoma Golden Star Award 2020: Lifetime Achievement.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd
• Release date: Jan 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9789390463961

Sabarna Roy

SABARNA ROY is Senior Vice President [Business Development] at Electrosteel Castings Limited, an author of eight Literary and three Technical bestselling books, TEDx Speaker, Champions of Change Award 2020 Winner, Times Excellence Award 2021 Winner in Indian Literature, and Golden Glory Award Winner for Critically Acclaimed Bestselling Author of the Year 2021.Sabarna Roy has been awarded the Right Choice Award for Author of Eminence of 2022. He has been selected among the India Today Group: Icons of India.Roy has also received the Best Author to Watch 2022 Award from Indo-Global Entrepreneurship Conclave Delhi organized by Business Connect, and Best Author in Indian English Literature of 2022 at the Ninth Asia Education Summit 2022.Sabarna Roy has received a letter of confirmation from Confederation of International Accreditation Commission [CIAC] Global Foundation stating that he will be receiving an Honorary Doctor of Arts, Honoris Causa from Azteca University, Mexico.

Book preview

1.

Journal Entries and

Musings of a LazyAuthor

1.

To discover what travel has done to people’s minds and souls and habits, it is necessary to go beyond the technical achievements of explorers, the drawing of maps where none existed before, the reporting of unknown facts. For example, how did Ibn Battuta (1304 – 68), who visited the territory of what are now forty-four different countries, covering a distance of 73,000 miles, improve his life or other people’s by travelling? He became a professional traveller when he realized that he was not a born student, that his talent was more for the observation of daily life, for gossip, for being a walking newspaper, reporting amazing sights and customs, making mouths gape in wonder.

2.

A paragraph out of Life & Times of Michael K by J M Coetzee

She expected Michael to ask how she could believe that a small country town would take to its bosom two strangers, one of them an old woman in bad health. She had even prepared an answer. But not for an instant did Michael doubt her. Just as he had believed through all the years in Huis Norenius that his mother had left him there for a reason which, if at first dark, would in the end become clear, so now he accepted without questioning the wisdom of her plan for them. He saw, not the banknotes spread out on the quilt, but in his mind’s eye a whitewashed cottage in the broad veld with smoke curling from its chimney, and standing at the front door his mother, smiling and well, ready to welcome him home at the end of a long day.

3.

Last Sunday, I watched Sacred Games between 10.30 am and 6.00 pm with an intervening break of 15 minutes for lunch. From 8.30 pm to 10.15 pm I watched the France – Croatia FIFA World Cup Final with a group of friends that partied at our house on the occasion of the Final. It was real fun.

Lust Stories is a collage of mediocre short films by big names. Anurag K (I am following his career since he was the scriptwriter of Satya) disappointed the most when he was trying to theorize man-woman relationship in a short film genre; for that he needed a different kind of a story – more novellic – and a bigger film wherein the filmmaker/author intervenes through a character with his/her own ideas. The saving grace were: Zoya Akhtar – for her meticulous detailing – and Karan Johar – for the background score, humor and self-deprecating tenor. Dibakar B looked too confused in his short piece and overstretched a material, which was already in the plastic zone.

The TV Series Sacred Games will not appeal much to people who have read (very few actually) the 928 pages novel by Vikram Chandra and know the real geo- of Bombay/Mumbai. I have read the original novel and have followed Bombay/Mumbai very closely since 1985. I have extensively travelled to Bombay – more than 30 times – and can be your touristic guide from the Dharavi slums to the hyper-rich Colaba, all included – the smuggling markets, the whorehouses of various categories, the drug peddling joints/streets, the places where your celebrities and gangsters and politicians and the moneymakers live, the Masjids, the Gurdwaras, the Temples, the Synagogues, the Cafes, the Art Galleries, the Stadiums, the Clubs of different tastes, the Restaurants, and what not. I have always boasted about my knowledge of 4 cities – Calcutta, Bombay, Istanbul and London.

The glaring shortcomings in the TV Series are as follows: -

A. The characterization of each character in the novel was understated, layered, refined and multi-faceted/ multi-dimensional and realistic. The characterization of Sartaj, Parulkar, Anjali and Isa in the TV Series is extremely unipolar. Even the character of Bipin Bhonsle. Ganesh Gaitonde looks well-etched out but Nawzuddin may get gradually typecast in these roles (but yes, he has already done very different roles – Saddat Hassan Manto and Bal Thackery). He, in the TV Series, is more or less the character – cross-mixing – from his characters in Gangs of Wasseypur Part 2 and Raman Raghav 2.0 (which according to me are international-class films by Anurag K apart from Black Friday and Gulaal). Nawazuddin has not added any new dimension to Ganesh Gaitonde. The transgender Kukkoo was not there in the novel. Why was she introduced in the TV Series? Shock and awe, maybe, for mediocre viewers! People watching world-cinema and TV Series for the last 30 years and consumers of literary fiction hardly get shocked and awed by such unnecessary introductions. Tell me, who takes years to recognize an anal-sex-partner that she is a transgender after all? Very shoddy on facts.

B. Comparison to Narcos is a cheap publicity stunt. Pablo Escobar was a real character (Colombian drug-lord) who has even inspired Gabriel Garcia Marquez to write something on him. Pablo Escobar is trapped in a maze of history, mythology and Colombian and CIA/FBI/DEA folklore. The aesthetic and production values of Narcos Seasons I and II (dedicated to the Medelin cartel) are unparalleled. Although, Narcos suffers because of the introduction of the American narrative in bits and pieces – especially, the facts surrounding Escobar’s death. Season III – dedicated to the Cali cartel – was bad except for a few episodes. The socio-political narrative in Narcos with the criminal-cop narrative gelled organically, which never happened in Sacred Games. For example, the Bombay underworld was never affected by Rajiv Gandhi’s climb to power, the Shah Bano case, the opening up of the doors of Ram Lalla temple in Ayodha (within the Babri Masjid premises) and the introduction of the Mandal commission report. The Bombay underworld and the civil society was seriously and irrevocably affected by the ghastly Babri Masjid demolition on December 6, 1992. This has been brilliantly captured in the book and the film titled: Black Friday. The impact of Narcos was so great that when the Netflix crew flew to Mexico for location-shooting of Season IV, they were shot down by the Mexican cartel. To think of such an impact of Sacred Games is laughable.

C. The intrigue in Sacred Games is far-fetched and not based on facts and reality. Has the Hindu Right in India ever invested in a gangster like Ganesh Gaitonde, the way Pakistan sponsored ISI had turned gangster Dawood Ibrahim from an Indian cricket fan, Bollywood movie buff and a Bombay aficionado to a terrorist (after the Babri Masjid attack and the subsequent Mumbai riots), who planned and executed a horrendous attack on Bombay along with Tiger Memon to leave India forever to take permanent refuge in one of the plush residencies on Clifton Road in Karachi? The factual answer is – NO. Then the fuss of creating Ganesh Gaitonde as a conspiracy of the Hindu Right is only and only