Retired Civil Engineer, Educator, Book Author, and Writer
I’d kindly appreciate it if you could please share them so that more readers learn about these authentic writers and benefit from their insights🙏
Dear readers and writers, welcome to my new interview story, which introduces a book author and an accomplished writer. I enjoy interacting with people from diverse cultures, countries, and professional backgrounds. I have been interviewing professionals for a long time. I am writing this from my secondary account to find new readers for these interviews. For those unfamiliar my main account is Dr Mehmet Yildiz (Newsletter).
On this platform, I specifically enjoy interviewing writers. Each writer’s interview is special to me as each person is unique. My goal is to introduce them to my audience so that they can meet another interesting/relatable person on this planet and explore their work. I discussed the Importance and Remarkable Benefits of Interviews in My Professional and Personal Life.
In this interview, I’m delighted to introduce you to one of my favorite authors Biswanath Datta whom I have known for a while. I recently had the pleasure of reading his beautifully-crafted book, The Autumn Leaves: Stories of Myriad Hues. Each chapter stirred profound emotions within me, and more than once, I found myself moved to tears. His writing resonated deeply as I saw my own vulnerabilities reflected in his heartfelt words.
Despite our different backgrounds, Biswanath and I belong to the same generation, sharing similar values when it comes to family, friends, and colleagues. His stories struck a deep chord within me, and I felt compelled to introduce him to my audience. I believe his life lessons and insights will resonate with you as they did with me, offering a meaningful connection and perspective
Meet Biswanath Datta
Hi, Biswanath; thank you for allocating your precious time today. Please tell us a bit about your background.
Hi, Dr Yildiz 🙏Thank you for inviting me to this interview. I was born in Calcutta, once the capital of colonial India. My childhood was spent among a large extended family, playing (and sometimes fighting!) among nearly fourteen cousins of various ages. This has taught me to be at ease with diverse souls. Football is still my favourite game and I love it!
I was a good student from early on. After finishing school, I received a scholarship to join the University and studied Civil Engineering, obtaining a Master’s degree. I have worked in India, Iran, Oman, Yemen, the UAE, and Mauritius in various capacities, having served prestigious organizations, such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and so on, earning their trust and confidence in my professional abilities. This has been the best reward of my professional life. I retired as the CEO and founder of a Consulting organization.
I love teaching and have occasionally taught as a visiting lecturer to Colleges, Universities, and Research organizations, and finally as
I shifted to New Delhi in the early eighties. I am married and have two children and four grandchildren.
I wrote a piece on Medium, “Hi!, May I introduce Myself? “
What are your hobbies, or what excites or entertains you?
Reading books and listening to music are two of my principal hobbies. I love nature and try to spend time in the hills, parks, and forests when an opportunity arises. I love traveling. I feel excited and happy watching the plants grow and be filled with flowers and fruits!
What are the top three books that affected your life?
1. The Mahabharat: The epic written about five thousand years ago explores everything of human nature, particularly the values upon which human relations and society are built, and the fallibility of humans. To me, it is the greatest classic, which is truly relevant to today’s complex and unforgiving world.
2. The Greatest Short Stories by Anton Chekhov: I read it during my first year of college and I was stunned by the deep delve into the human experience — most ordinary, often poor people with no great plot. It is the sheer empathy of the author that makes the reader feel every pain, sorrow, hopelessness, and everything else.
3. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom: This book shows how to gracefully accept death amid hopelessness and still be alive as long as life permits — each day as it comes. I often wonder whether death is the destination of a journey called life or if it is a foregone conclusion before even the debate starts.
Me: This third book also deeply affected me and after watching its movie I heard that my late father was diagnosed with ALS 😢
How about your own book? Tell us about your recent book The Autumn Leaves.
I hung up my professional boots in 2016. Initially, I wrote non-fiction articles. Later, I wrote a few short stories, which were published on Medium. These stories received so much heartfelt praise, prompting me to take time from Medium to write more short stories.
The season of Autumn always fascinated me. There is a sense of melancholy, inward-looking thoughts, and a foreboding of severance. Perhaps life will take a new turn, assuming a new meaning and redemption at the end. These thoughts, drawn from a mix of imagination, personal realization, and experiences, are crystallized in short stories.
I selected thirteen from many stories written to put in the book. Like a garland of flowers, the stories held with a thread, The Autumn Leaves: Stories of Myriad Hues” is a collection of short stories bound by the theme of Autumn. Each story is unique and as one reader wrote to me, “Each story has a deeper meaning”. The stories and the book have received praise from readers across geographies and I am quite excited about it. Here is the link for my book:
The Autumn Leaves: Stories of Myriad Hues
The Autumn Leaves: Stories of Myriad Hues [DATTA, Mr. BISWANATH] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers…www.amazon.com
Both paperback and eBooks are available on Amazon throughout the world.
Why do you write on Medium?
When I started writing, I looked for a platform to place my writing before an audience. Then I chanced upon Medium. I found it a wonderful place to connect with readers and authors, too.
Although there are a huge number of writers, I was fairly successful in the sense that most of my “stories” were Chosen for Further Distribution (CFFD), similar to the present Boost program, without any effort from my side. This implies, I believe, a good quality of writing. The good thing about Medium is authors hold their copyrights and fully own their stories.
Further, out of several publications I used, I found the Illumination group of publications quite supportive and enthusiastic, having a large reader base.
Do you write on other platforms like Substack? If so, how do you find them?
I do write on other platforms like ManyStories.com, and LinkedIn. For a short while I shared my stories on Vocal but one can’t delete their stories over there; so, I discontinued them. As you recommended, I plan to join Substack soon. Initially, I heard that we could not monetize our content as Substack does not support Stripe in India. Later, reading your story citing the work of Mladena Kosanovic, there is a workaround. It gave me hope so I will create an account soon. I will also read your book Substack Mastery and learn how to be a successful writer on this interesting platform.
What are your values as a writer?
Honesty, Quality, and Connectedness — these are three things I value as a writer. A writer needs to be honest in whatever he/she expresses through his/her writing, be it a piece of opinion, scientific treatise, or a piece of fiction, being original and not a series of copy-paste kind of quickly turned out pieces.
The writing should embrace quality. It usually takes me three drafts, if not four, to finish a piece until I am fully satisfied. The language, composition, brevity, and clarity all need to meet a certain level of standard so that the reader feels happy reading it.
The author is connected to what comes out of him — whether it is fiction or non-fiction. All famous authors are deeply connected with the characters of their stories, so they appear to be ‘lived experiences’ to the reader, as always. Even in Science fiction, when one reads Karl Sagan or Robin Cook (two of my favorite authors in that genre), one goes through all these complex scientific facts like they are natural and happening right there!
How do you connect with your readers?
When I write, I fully concentrate on the task at hand. I do not think about the readers’ reactions. When they are published, I get their response either through the “Comments” section or through e-mail messages; I get the connection. Empathy is one thing that binds us all and always. Sound logic is another — even if some readers may disagree with the author. While the former makes the connection for fiction, the latter does for non-fiction stories.
Why did you join ILLUMINATION, and how do you find it so far?
Initially, I found it’s ‘open door’ policy encouraging. Quickly its reader base grew and that was wonderful. The editors were quite helpful too; they also encouraged me by publishing articles/stories in their newsletters, further increasing the outreach. Then Dr. Mehmet Yildiz introduced “Illumination Curated”, in which most of my stories were curated. I find it quite encouraging.
Who are some writers you follow on ILLUMINATION?
There are many. However, I may mention some apart from you like Liam Ireland, Karen Madej, Britni Pepper, Dr John Frederick Rose, Diana C. and Floyd Mori among others.
What are the top five stories that you want to share with your audience and why?
1. Science and Politics: Dichotomy of an Uneasy Alliance
2. Did You Make Billions When Millions Died?
3. The Mango Tree
4. The Autumn Leaves and I
5. In God We Trust: Really?
All of these were published on Medium. The first one is about the conflict between science and organized religion that affects our lives across the world. The second one is about the sad outcomes of the Covid-19 pandemic and how the world’s billionaires benefited from it, using it as an opportunity that may arise once in a century, which is perhaps very strange indeed.
The last three are fiction — short stories that certainly will touch the heart and soul of the readers, written with profound emotion and longing.
What are the success factors for you as a writer?
Well, I am not so sure if I am successful. But, yes, I am happy about the responses I keep receiving from my readers from across the world — both on Medium and reviews of my book on Amazon by readers I have never met and perhaps I never will.
As I mentioned earlier, I have always been honest about my writing. I always try to give my best and I write from my heart with deep empathy for the characters, even if it is a Mango Tree! I think the readers connect with these things quite easily.
What do you recommend to the new writers?
Writing is a long journey. Along the way, one may feel tired, have self-doubt, and feel like giving up. I have shared my experience in:
Burning Midnight Oil To Become A Writer
Why burn your midnight oil?medium.com
It is quite natural. But perseverance is the key. And constant improvement (in language, content, and writing style) is needed to polish the writing. It is like Marble flooring — many rounds of grinding and polishing are required before it shows its shine.
Further, read famous authors of your chosen genre. It is an effort that will reward a newbie both in terms of enjoyment and learning.
What are your plans as a writer or as a professional?
I continue to write — fiction and non-fiction too. I am also working on my second book: India’s incredible journey from a famine-stricken nation to a space-faring nation, dealing with triumphs and tribulations.
Many thanks to Biswanath for giving us a glimpse of his interesting life and valuable insights. You can connect with him on LinkedIn. He will be soon available on Substack Notes. Biswanath will soon join my blogging platform and will share his stories and can connect with you easily with the tools we will offer to our writers and readers.
Good news for writers: We made the rules much easier for writers of ILLUMINATION and former ILLUMINATION-Curated without compromising quality. I published the new submission guidelines earlier today. Please take a look and contribute to both ILLUMINATION and Curated Newsletters to benefit from the power of our great community.
Time to Prune the Branches of Our Big Oak Tree: ILLUMINATION’s Evolution to New Heights
Introducing New Submission Guidelines to Empower Writers with a Refined Strategy for ILLUMINATION 2.0medium.com
From ILLUMINATION-Curated to Curated Newsletters: The Spirit Lives On, Stronger Than Ever
Welcome to Curated Newsletters, where the future of writing is crafted now with guidance and collaboration, and every…medium.com
A Brief Intro to our Extending Community Bridging Medium with Substack in Innovative and Collaborative Ways
Now we have a great plan for our Substack Mastery of ILLUMINATION Community I drafted the plan on my website and look forward to your feedback and engagement.
ILLUMINATION Substack Community Support — Dr Mehmet Yildiz
This is a summary of 3-tier service offerings for creators, freelance writers, and content entrepreneurs on Substack…digitalmehmet.com
How I Architected a Charity Organization & Why I Will Run It Like a Business
Outline of my draft plan for creators, freelancers, and entrepreneurs empowered by the Substack networkmedium.com
I recently wrote a book titled Substack Mastery. It already became a best seller on Amazon. If you are interested, I decided to share the early version as one chapter a day for my beta readers. Here is the first chapter for beginners.
Preface of My New Book “Substack Mastery” for Beta Readers
Yesterday, I published Chapter 6, focusing on the important topic of privacy for Substack newsletters and how it impacts audience growth. I share my content across multiple platforms because Medium’s algorithm, possibly viewing Substack as a competitor, doesn’t distribute it widely. However, since Medium’s leadership has affirmed Substack as a collaborator, I confidently build a bridge between these two great platforms.
Here is the link to free version on my website, on my newsletter on Substack called Content Strategy, Development, & Marketing Insights, and the link to Medium version below:
Substack Mastery Book: Chapter 6
How to Configure and Maintain Privacy of Substack Publications with Compelling Reasonsmedium.com
Today I wrote about my monthly progress on 8 different platform to give an idea to fellow writers. It is an independent review and could be valuable for aspiring writers.
An In-Depth Performance Review of 8 Major Platforms I Contributed to This Month: Key Insights and…
Discover an independent and comprehensive analysis of my contributions and performance across multiple platforms…medium.com
Please explore some leading newsletters featured by ILLUMINATION-Curators in episode 11 released earlier today. It is an excellent collaboration tool for growing your Substack profile and newsletters.
Substack Mastery Featured Newsletters: Episode 11
Curated newsletters of writers contributing to the Substack Mastery publication on Medium for joyful collaboration and…medium.com
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Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
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I publish my health and wellness stories on EUPHORIA and share distilled versions on SUBSTACK. My posts do not include professional or health advice. I only document my reviews, observations, experiences, and perspectives to provide information and create awareness.
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This story was originally published at DigitalMehmet.com blogs for free access.
If you are a writer, blogger, YouTuber, or a Podcasters you can join my site as guess creators. I can amplify your voice using my vast network globally. Here is he application form.
Guidance to Guest Bloggers on Digitalmehmet — Dr Mehmet Yildiz
Digitalmehmet.com now offers guest blogging service to Substack writers and storytellers from Medium.com. This service…digitalmehmet.com
Our media coordinator and film maker Aiden (Owner of Illumination Gaming) also re-branded our YouTube channel to support Substack Mastery community better.
How to Use the ILLUMINATION Substack Mastery YouTube Channel to Grow Your Audience
Practical tips to upload your videos to our community channel as writers on Medium, Substack, and other platformsmedium.com
You are welcome to join the ILLUMINATION Community on Medium and Substack. And join our Substack Mastery to build your audience.
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