(L-R) Shantanu Moitra, Dev, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury and Anindya Chattopadhyay at the launch of On the Wings of Music at Starmark, South City Mall. “Shantanuda is an amazing person. I’m not a big reader of books but just because of him I’ve already finished reading half, and I’ll make sure I finish it as soon as possible!” smiled Dev. Aniruddha and his wife Indrani (below, who read out a portion from The Day They Drove Pluto Out at the launch) are Shantanu’s best buddies in Calcutta, with Anindya (who sang Bhindeshi tara at the launch) a regular fixture at their addas. Pictures: Pabitra Das

It’s a miracle that I managed to write a book, because in school my English teacher would punish me within the first few minutes of the class starting. When I stood outside, punished, I saw an amazing world from the corridor of the school (Springdales School). So, very early on I figured out when you are pushed against a wall, there are two ways to deal with it. One is saying, “Oh my god! Please forgive me for the sins I have committed.” And the second is, “Here I am, let’s see what I can do.” I figured out very early that every person who walks down the corridor is unpretentious. But as soon as they enter a classroom they don a hat. I figured out the dual personality of people very early in life. People have various shades and none is about being good or bad. I figured I had to capture the corridor person and not the classroom one. This is my biggest tool in knowing what life is about. It’s about corridors.

After the release of 3 Idiots I felt a deep compulsion to express myself differently. So I went to my best friend, Gulzar, and told him about this. “What do you feel like doing?” he asked. I wanted to pen down something, and soon I zeroed in on the fact that I’ve seen the unbelievable India on my travels and treks, and somehow that India didn’t match with the newspaper India. Rapes, murders, michhils, scams… so I was confused... who is what? Which India have I seen? What’s happening? I went back to Gulzar with this thought. He suggested that I start writing a column in a newspaper, which I did in a leading daily. I did it for a year, and I gathered a dedicated fan following who, amazingly, had nothing to do with my music.

You know, Gulzar always wanted to write a Bengali book, and one day he told me, “Your first book should be a Bengali book. Your first song wasn’t a Bengali song, so you’ve got to correct it somewhere. Mother tongue is extremely important and you need to contribute and express in your mother tongue.” And my Bengali book Pherari Mon happened four years ago. A lot of people then told me they don’t know Bengali and want to read the book. My confidence increased. When I told Gulzar this, he asked me to keep a few chapters from the Bengali book and then write new material. “You have changed as a person, you are more confident now and you can talk about things more deftly than before,” said Gulzar. So On the Wings of Music finally happened. I’ve added new chapters, and I wrote more about my music.

One day Anupama Chopra (film critic and author) told me, “You have to have a CD of your songs with this book.” But it was an ordeal... it was so difficult to get the rights to the songs. It was easier to write the book than acquiring the songs for the CD! It not only has my Hindi songs but also my Bengali, Tamil, and non-film songs. So if you read the book and listen to the music, you’ll kind of get an impression of who this person is. It’s a great snapshot of who I am.

Today India has reached a point where any hobby can be a profession. This book will actually prepare you to deal with your hobby in a way that it becomes a successful profession. We are always told, “Whatever you do, do it properly. Do one thing but do it well.” I completely negate this theory. The human species can multitask and our brains are wired like that. Once you understand that you’ll handle your life better.

I’ll love to strike up a conversation with a banker who is a great cook or a cook who climbs or a climber who is a doctor. The book is also about the cross-breeding of interests, and about the people I’ve met.

I’m where I am primarily because I understood the corridor. People have different corridors, and you need to be comfortable in all of them.

SNAPCHAT

What’s your writing process?

I love the feel of writing with a quill pen on paper. I’ve access to computers and all that, but I write with a quill pen, which I dip into an ink pot. I love that, maybe because I’ve seen Gulzar writing like that. The whole thing is a visual art for me and I write in this beautifully manicured leather-bound copy. And then I type it out and mail it to Arunadi (Aruna Chakravarti, with whom Shantanu has co-authored the book).

The book is ‘a collection of reminiscences, anecdotes and self-revelations’. How did you pick the stories? What was the process of selection?

In every story there is a hero. The hero could be a celebrity or a chaiwala. These are people who have inspired me. Therefore the belief that the headlines that I read don’t represent the India I’m in. That’s the connection.

Which is your fave story?

The Day They Drove Pluto Out. Gulzar is a very proper guy. He’ll never call without SMS-ing, he’ll never call before 10am. He has a decorum and expects the same from you. One day I got a call from Gulzar at 7.30am. “Tumko maine jagaya?” he asked. I said, “No sir.” My mind was whirring, what was happening? “Suna tumne, Pluto beghar ho gaya,” he said. “Yeh theek nahin hua Pluto ke saath.” I went to his place around 9.30am and by that time he had written a poem about Pluto. I had a cup of tea at 9.30am with one of the greatest poets I know because Pluto was not a planet anymore! This is incredible. Who knew he could be moved by something like this?

Has anyone you have written about got back to you?

Krushna Patil, who climbed Mt Everest listening to my Bavra mann, was extremely happy. But many are unknown faces I’ll never meet again. Which is why it is so important to talk about them in the hope that when somebody reads this you can be a little more attentive to simple people around you who actually make this country. They are an incredible lot.

Both the cover photographs (front and back) have you playing the piano...

I feel it’s a kind of classicism, with the quill pen and piano… a guitar was too bohemian for me. In an era when the old is getting rejected very quickly, I wanted to hold on to the classical. Or maybe these were the best photographs (laughs out loud).

Text: Arindam Chatterjee
Which is your fave Shantanu Moitra song? Tell t2@abp.in