Tanupriya Kalita (born. 1988) is an assamese singer turned poet. She is daughter of Subhash Kalita and Mamata Chodhury. Her assamese songs are broadcasted by digital radios from Japan, USA, UK, Norway etc. Her musical talent is well appreciated and documented in books and doctoral thesis. Once Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhupen Hazarika appreciated her musical talent in a live musical concert as well as her voice was appreciated by british musician steve benham on a radio broadcast. Tanupriya Kalita released two assamese hit songs in 2021 and one of which was nominated in DJooky Music Award in continental round. She has been nominated for Women of Inspiration Award by Universal Women Network, Canada under Cultural Ambassador Award looking into her well documented musical talents. She is not only a good singer but also a poet. She published many poems and articles for magazines and news papers. Recently she published her poetry book "Emuthi Sagar" by notion press which is available on all major online portals and globally distributed by Barnes and Nobles, Baker and Taylor and Apple Books.

Book Release Date: Notion Press; 1st edition (24 September 2021)

Welcome to Martin Matthews Writes! This week, I have the honor of talking with poet, singer, and author Tanupriya Kalita. Tanupriya, welcome!

Thanks, Martin. It's a great honour and privilege to take part in this interview.

Great to have you. Well, as always please let us know a little about who you are and your background.

My name is Tanupriya Kalita. I am from Assam, India. I write in the poetry as well as fiction genre. I am a graduate in arts and music. You know Martin, from my childhood I was attracted to cultural domain like poetry and music. I started writing from my early school days as well as I started doing live musical concerts and stage shows.

My parents inspired and motivated me a lot in every aspect.

Tell us a little about your book.

"Emuthi Sagar - Anubhuti Mur Hridoy Spondonor" is my first book published by Notion Press, Chennai. The book is written in Assamese Language. "Emuthi Sagar" means, a handful of oacen. Life is like an ocean, but we can hold only a handful of it. Isn't it? This book consists of 25 poems and 24 quotes. All poems which I have included in my book were written long ago, but was scattered. Then I realized to compile all of them in the form of book.

Emuthi Sagar is a collection of poetry which based on real stories if human lives, emotions, faith along with expression emotion of a famous indian mythological character Karna in Mahabharata.

Where did the idea for this book come from?

 Well, I was inclined to writing and reciting poems from my childhood. I got a prize for recitation in my childhood when I was only 3 years old.
To be more specific to question, I was inspired by my mother Smt. Mamata Choudhury.

I get inspired to write when any incident touch my heart. My pen transforms the memories and images of those incidents into letters.

Is there a message behind your book? What is it?

There are so many messages i wanted to deliver through Emuthi Sagar. Message of love, respect and harmony and last but not the least the bitter truth of human life.

Who or what are some of your biggest influences?

 I am influenced, rather you can say inspired by greatest assamese poets and novelists like Birendra Kumar Battacharya, Dr. Mamoni Roysom Goswami, Homen Borgohain, Partha Chattopadhyay and Chandra Prasad Saikia

What are you currently reading? Do you have any favorite books?

Yes, Infact I have many favorite books "Mrityunjoy" written by Gyanpeeth Award Winner Birendra Kumar Battacharya, "Dotal Hatir Ui E Khoa Hawda" by Dr. Mamoni Roysom Goswami and all books of Homen Borgohain and Partha Chattopadhyay are my favourite book. 

Right now, I am reading an assamese novel, maharathi written by Chandra Prasad Saikia

Are you working on another novel? Can you tell us anything about it?

Yes, Martin. I am working on my next book, which can be a collection of short stories also.

Describe your writing process? Is there anything unique about it?

Well, that is a pretty tough question to answer. To be honest, I do not follow any process, I write whenever I get emotional. Whenever some feelings, thoughts come to my mind, i just note down on a piece of paper. The main uniqueness about my writing can better be described by my readers. I just express my emotions and thoughts, in the form of poem. Ofcourse, I write more on real things, irony about human life.

What do you like to do when you're not writing? 

Answer: I like singing, gardening and cooking etc while I do not write books. 

Full-time job, pets, hobbies?

One of the hobby or passion is singing. I sing from my childhood. I sung in many stage shows, live concerts and got appreciated by Bharat Ratna Dr. Bhupen Hazarika for my singing. In addition to that, in the year 2021, I released two melody songs, which were digitally distributed in all major music platform as well as got radio broadcasted from Japan, UK and Norway. 

What do you want potential readers to know about you?

Well, for my potential readers, I would like to say that, please go through my writings and give your valuable opinion. I write from my heart, I write whenever I get emotional. Whenever some feelings, thoughts come to my mind, i just note down on a piece of paper. The main uniqueness about my writing can better be described by my readers. I just express my emotions and thoughts, in the form of poem. Ofcourse, I write more on real things, irony about human life.

We have come to know that you have been nominated for Women of Inspiration award by Universal Womens Network, Canada. Congratulations for that. Our readers would like to know, how your book Emuthi Sagar helped you to get nominated? or there are other factors too.

Well Martin, to be very frank. The award nomination I received for both singing and writing. I have been nominated for Cultural Ambassador category. So both my book as well as my songs are responsible for this nomination.

That is wonderful, Tanupriya! I truly hope you continue to find success in your art. Thanks for stopping by and chatting with me today!

Thank you so much martin. I hope to talk to you soon about my next book.