An ordinary man leaving India to earn more money and the subsequent events that shape his life.
Former The New Paper executive copy editor Abhijit Nag’s book Indian Heartstrings Singapore Serenade is about the diaspora, globalisation and a threatened species – newspapers.
As a journalist in Kolkata, he wasn’t earning enough to rent a flat near the college where his wife taught. So, when The New Paper was launched in 1988, he came to Singapore to work for it, leaving behind his wife and newborn son.
It was difficult living alone, but he fell in love with Singapore and forged a career here, including a brief stint with The Straits Times.
“I loved my job and the place,” said the 71-year-old, who is now retired. “So, I didn’t want to leave Singapore. I spoke to my wife and son almost every day, as for several years we lived apart – my wife in India, I in Singapore and our son in America, where he went to college on a scholarship.
“It was not easy being far away from my family. But, overall, Singapore gave me what I wanted and much more.”
The 200-page autobiography details Abhijit’s life and career here.
He earned more money and was able to meet the expenses of his son who went for higher studies to the US. He could also use the English language, which he dearly loves, more often than in Kolkata, from where he hailed.
“I’ve made a few good friends, not all of whom speak my mother tongue Bengali,” he said.
“I like Singapore’s multi-racialism, and it exposed me to a foreign culture I would have never experienced if I remained in Kolkata.
“I love the greenery, peace and quiet of my neighbourhood (Bishan) and the National Library and its branches. Thanks to it, I could read leading newspapers from around the world, magazines and its good collection of books. These are facilities I didn’t have in Kolkata.”
Abhijit’s passion is working with words, and The New Paper offered him an avenue for that. He started as a sub-editor and then became a copy editor who wrote the occasional column.
In the book, he writes about his time at the tabloid, where he made several friends, many of whom were from different countries. “I still fondly remember some of my colleagues. They were wonderful,” he said.
He also mentions how the paper changed course over the years, preferring to replace copy editors and sub-editors with local talent.
“In the end, I had to leave in grief, as I had to accept voluntary retirement,” he said. “So, I have regrets. But time is a great healer.
“Would I have been better off as a journalist in India? I don’t know. But I have no regrets about coming to Singapore. I love Singapore.”
Abhijit’s wife eventually joined him in 2013 after she retired as the teacher-in-charge of her college. And he decided to write the book after she recovered from multi-organ failure and spine surgery and his son got married in 2016.
“I was already in my 60s, given to nostalgia and had time on my hands. If I wanted to write, it was now or never,” said Abhijit, who previously edited a book called Inspirations Of A Nation: Tribute To 25 Singaporean South Asians.
“Another reason I wrote was to recall all the idols and objects – vinyl discs, typewriters, tramcars – that were part of our lives.
“I also wrote it because I love reading the memoirs of journalists. I loved reading Mother Teresa’s biographer Malcolm Muggeridge’s memoirs Chronicles Of Wasted Time, where he wrote about working for The Statesman in Kolkata, a newspaper where I had also worked; the famous editor Harold Evans’ autobiography My Paper Chase; and Carl Bernstein’s memoirs Chasing History.
“Interestingly, Bernstein doesn’t write about how he and Bob Woodward brought down President Nixon by exposing the Watergate scandal. He writes about his younger days working for the Washington Star, which no longer exists.
“I dwell on the past, too. I recall working for the Statesman in the 1970s when we didn’t work on computers. I look back fondly on The New Paper, too.”
These days Abhijit and his wife divide their time between Singapore – they live in Bishan – and Kolkata.
Published by Authors Press, Indian Heartstrings Singapore Serenade is available for $25 at Amazon India.
