User:Victorghoshe11/sandbox
Victor Ghose | |
|---|---|
 Indian Writer | |
| Born | 12 November 1974 Kolkata, India |
| Language | English (Novels and Columns), Hindi (Novels and Columns) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Education | St Xavier’s College, Kolkata, India |
| Genre | Historical Fiction, Thriller, Adventure, Mystery & Paranormal |
| Notable works | Ethernet & Other Stories, Megher Khata – The Cloud-Book, The Job Charnock Riddle |
| Spouse | Juthika Ghoshe |
| Children | 2 |
Victor Ghose is an Indian writer in the Historical Fiction genre as well as in the Paranormal Short Story genre, most notably the Eric Roy stories: The Job Charnock Riddle (TJCR) - 2016, Tomb of God (to be published in 2019). His novels are research-based Historical thrillers. Adventure, Treasure hunt, Cracking Riddles, Deciphering Codes and Symbols dominate his writing. The Job Charnock Riddle became an Amazon bestselling book of 2016. His communication works and books are being translated into several languages.
Ghoshe's books that feature the lead character, Eric Roy, also include historical themes and Riddles as motifs. TIMES has noted his book TJCR as – ‘Our own (India’s) Da Vinci Code version.’ Ghoshe says that his book TJCR is the kind of book he always wanted to read. It is an entertaining story that promotes historical discussion and takes the reader out on an adventure. He says his 3 years of rigorous research enriched TJCR so much that it could find success as a popular book and also as a positive catalyst for introspection and exploration of our country’s history. Ghoshe states that his Paranormal stories are based on his ‘spiritual and astral journeys that he continuously makes in his mind'. Ghoshe works and lives in New Delhi, India with his wife Juthika and two sons, Shivaank and Hrishaant.
Early life
[edit]Victor Ghoshe was born on November 12th, in Kolkata, India. He has a younger sister, Monica. He grew up in the southern part of Calcutta, where his father, Prasanta and mother Snehalata lived. His father worked in an engineering firm and his mother worked as a craft instructor in a school. Ghoshe’s life was highly influenced by his Aunt Ms Namita’s life and work that she had dedicated to teaching and nurturing children to be responsible citizens of the world. She taught in one of the oldest Scottish Mission Schools of Calcutta – The Duff High School.
Ghoshe's interest in mysteries and riddles grew from his childhood as the house was full of his grandfather’s and aunt’s book collections. There were all kinds of books in their house and by the age of 11, Ghoshe managed to get himself trained to write over 20 different kinds of codes. As his father played the guitar, Ghoshe picked up the instrument at the age of 6 and started playing professionally for All India Radio and Doordarshan - the state TV network when he was 12 years old.
He later produced an Urban Folk Album named SoulScape in 2014, which included a collection of songs that later become instrumental for a mass mobilization on child rights and other social issues.
After graduating from St Xavier’s College under Calcutta University, Ghoshe did his higher studies in Social Sciences from Gwalior University and along with it joined several courses in Behavioral & Communication Studies, which included a post-graduate diploma in Communication Design.
Career
[edit]During his high school till his graduation, Ghoshe dabbled with a musical career in All India Radio and Door-Darshan as a Songwriter and Music Arranger. Through this period, he worked with several musical legends at the Door-Darshan and the All India Radio. After his graduation from St Xavier’s College, he took up a Customer Support job with Thai Airways and joined a Visual Art and Communication Course at an evening college, where he was awarded a scholarship for higher studies in Communication design and Design thinking. After his communication design studies, he joined India’s largest Advertising company ‘Mudra Communications’ as a Creative Head and moved to Bangalore, southern India.
In 1998 he moved to New Delhi Mudra as Creative Director with the responsibility of some specific accounts that included – Compaq Computers, Samsung TV, Mc Donald’s etc. By 2003 Ghoshe was developing some of the finest communication campaigns that India has ever produced. He was busy conceptualizing the Incredible India Campaigns for North and North-Eastern India as Creative Vice President of a Govt. of India empanelled Ad Agency. By 2005 he floated his own communication consulting farm and did extremely well till 2008 before the financial recession hit it. By then he was bored with the gloss and shine of the commercial world and wanted to do some socially responsible communication work. He left the commercial advertising world and joined the social sector to develop strategies for public health, nutrition, knowledge management and child rights issues. He worked for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare – Govt of India and several other development agencies and then he joined BBC Media Action in 2014 as Senior Adviser.
Writing
[edit]With his social sector’s work, he travelled through the length and breadth of India and met thousands of people in rural and semi-urban parts of the country beyond the metros. He thought of penning down short stories based on his journeys. His first book (in Bengali) Ethernet (2010) – a collection of paranormal stories was an instant hit. On huge demand of his readers in 2012, he published Megher Khata – The Cloud Book, the second collection of paranormal short stories.
While on an office tour to Arunachal Pradesh in 2010, Ghoshe read a book named – Kolkata Bichitra – an argumentative history book on old Kolkata and was inspired to write a historical thriller. By 2015 Ghoshe finished his first historical fiction – The Job Charnock Riddle
In a 2016 interview, Ghoshe stated that he had Historical adventure ideas for about 10 future books featuring Eric Roy.
Influences and habits
[edit]In addition to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ghoshe mentions a number of other literary influences who have inspired his writing. He has named his six favourite literary works as Gitanjali by Tagore, Around the world in eighty days by Jules Verne, Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter
Speaking of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novels, he states, "Doyel’s novels are complex, smart, and yet they move at a fantastic pace. His style of storytelling got me interested plotting big-concepts and delivering larger than life thrillers.
Recurring elements that Ghoshe prefers to incorporate into his novels include a thinking hero pulled out of his natural setting and pushed into a new one – where his knowledge, mind and actions can only save the day. The other important features of Ghoshe’s books are travel to interesting locations, fantastically sketched characters, strong female characters, wonderful teamwork and chemistry between people. Unlike a Neo-popular 24-hour time frame (lately used by Dan Brown and several other writers) style, Ghoshe takes his readers through a long yet surprisingly enjoyable journey that is full of action and thrill.
Before penning down, Ghoshe does his story plotting while driving, painting and doing other chores. He told fans that he uses journal writing and painting to help with writer's block. He also writes poetry and says, "These are like opening other windows and spending some quality time looking through them for me. Drawing and writing poetry always help me to overcome plot challenges or come up with plot twists because these shifts help me to also shift my entire perspective…. Try it sometime – it’s a wonderful method to bring in new perspectives and fresh ideas to your work".
Charity work
[edit]Ghoshe promotes entrepreneur-ism and keeps supporting startups. Till date, he has supported over 100 startups by developing strategic brand identities for their initiatives for Free.
He has developed a Learning and knowledge initiative called ‘MindGym’ to help small and dying organizations, institutes and start-ups with employee training and skill-building programs. His pro-bono initiatives include 50 to 100 hrs (every year) free teaching for children to promote creative learning, art and aesthetics.
Bibliography
[edit]Short story collections
[edit]- Ethernet & Other Stories (2010)
- Megher Khata – The Cloud-Book (2012)
- Stories from the other side of time (to be published in 2020)
Eric Roy Adventure Series
[edit]- The Job Charnock Riddle (2016)
- Tomb of God (to be published in 2019)