Launch of WritersMelon's Jukebox at Kolkata

I am thrilled to be a part of Writersmelon's Jukebox, an anthology of 15 winning short stories of Melonade, a nationwide writing competition. Jukebox was officially launched in Kolkata on August 19, 2017. The launch was successful, despite heavy rainfall. The book launch took place in the Doodle Room, which is a cozy corner for all art, music and literature lovers of the city. 

It was great to meet Pooja, who represented Writersmelon. Deepti (my coauthor of Jukebox) and I quickly clicked a selfie with Pooja before the launch. 

As Deepti and I were discussing the topics that we will discuss in the book launch, Pooja clicked some of our candid pictures. 

Preparing for the Jukebox launch. @purba_chakraborty @dipteeraut #bookstagram #wmjukebox #booklover

A post shared by writersmelon (@writersmelon) on Aug 19, 2017 at 5:54am PDT

The event started with our brilliant host, Rei, who introduced us and the book, Jukebox to the audience. 

She invited me to talk about my story in Jukebox after the introduction. My short story "Her Favorite Pupil" is about the relationship between a teacher and a speech-impaired student. It is a story about faith and love. Sometimes, all we need in life is a person who has faith in our potential more than we have on our own selves.

I said how a visit to my paternal uncle's deaf and dumb school gave birth to the idea of this story. It was a very special story for me as I understand how a good mentor can shape up the life of a person. During my school days, I was a very shy and introvert child. I remember there was a teacher who was ruthlessly harsh with me whenever I expressed the desire of taking part in extra-curricular activities. And in the same school, I also had a teacher who inspired me a lot. 

Next, my coauthors, Deepti and Uttiya talked about their short stories in Jukebox. 

Deepti's story "A deep fried love story" is a quirky love story of a woman on diet and a man on Alur chop whose paths cross in the Metro station. They see each other every day in the Metro Station, without speaking a word, but acknowledging each other's presence. 

Uttiya's story "Marital Chains" is a dark story about marital rape. Usnis and Ankita's marriage seems ideal, but is far from perfect. Uttiya explained why he had chosen this subject for his story. He explained that he had seen his friends stuck in abusive and disturbing relationships. This is the reason why he chose to write this story as he believes that victims must speak up.

After we talked about our stories, we formally posed with the book for shutterbugs. It was a moment of pride for all of us. All the 15 stories of Jukebox deal with an interesting subject that makes this anthology a treat for book lovers. 

After the formal launch of the book, we read a few passages from our stories for the audience. The book reading session was a lot of fun. 

Thank you everyone for coming to the book launch and making it a success💜💜💜 #repost @writersmelon • • • A short snippet from @purba_chakraborty's story in Jukebox. We hope you like the excerpt and buy the book to read the full story. Jukebox is available on Amazon now. #wmjukebox #jukebox #melonade #writersmelon #readomania #shortstory #booklover #booklaunch #shortstories #authorsofinstagram #purbachakraborty #excerpt #bookreading #booklaunch

A post shared by Purba Chakraborty (@purba_chakraborty) on Aug 19, 2017 at 9:22am PDT

Although it was raining heavily that evening, the launch of Jukebox in Kolkata was a success. We wrapped up the event by signing books for our enthusiastic readers who love reading short stories. 

Had such an amazing evening at the launch of Jukebox 💜 This picture was clicked by my lovely coauthor, Diptee just before the launch 😄 #jukebox #writersmelon #booklaunch #books #bookstagramer #bookishfeature #bookishlove #bookadda #adda #books #doodleroom #readomania #wmjukebox #authorsofinstagram #authorlife #poser #saturday #instabookclub #instabook #instapic

A post shared by Purba Chakraborty (@purba_chakraborty) on Aug 19, 2017 at 8:58am PDT

Buy Jukebox here!