Love’s ragged edges

Durjoy Datta’s latest book Our Impossible Love is the story of a schoolgirl and a young boy whose life is riddled with insecurities of the future.

In a regular scene in any city, if you tell college students to ask questions during an interaction, they mostly hesitate. However, when writer Durjoy Datta walked into a book stall for an interaction, things were just the opposite. Questions were pouring in and invited students were curious to know about his new novel Our Impossible Love, its characters, and of course, Durjoy’s marriage with his girlfriend Avantika Mohan, showing how deeply they admire him and his works.

Prior to the session, sitting at a café, Durjoy, author of the bestsellers Of Course I Love You, Now That You’re Rich!; Hold My Hand; When Only Love Remains and World’s Best Boyfriend, opened up about his new book Our Impossible Love that narrates the story of Aisha and Danish.

He says, “The book is about a girl who is turning 18. It is set against the backdrop of a school. The girl wants to be like her mother. However, owing to some reasons, her mother tries to commit suicide.”

The girl finds her mother to be selfish and she goes in search of her own identity. “She does a few things that normally people don’t attempt and takes risks in sexuality. Eventually, she becomes a victim of rape because of the steps she had taken. And she regrets for that. There is also a guy in the book who is suffering from a few insecurities. He comes to her school as a students’ counsellor. Whatever happens between them builds the story,” elucidates Durjoy who takes cues from his experiences as well as that of people around him to write stories.

Though the story is happening in a school, the author is not delving deep into the background. He focuses on the characters and the relationship between them. Like his previous novels, love is the spine of this novel and he completed it within eight months.

He says that the book is inspired by his female friends who had pushed those boundaries before anyone else. He goes back to his college days while talking about it. “That time, it was extremely rare to find a person dating someone without committing to them. But many women around me faced it. It was incredible to see them dealing with the perplexed situation. I have taken inspiration from those women who were brave enough to go out with a guy they wanted to, at that point of time,” says Durjoy who is working on a thriller now.