Chasing Maya released at New Delhi World Book Fair

PRESS RELEASE

Pune based author Rohan Gogoi’s debut novel ‘Chasing Maya’ was released at the 20th Biennial New Delhi World Book Fair, the country’s premier book show that was held this year from the 25th of February to the 4th of March at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

Published by New Delhi based Global Vision Press, Gogoi’s novel is set against the backdrop of contemporary urban middle class India and tells the story of a thirty-two-year old individual, who in spite of his evident material success finds himself trapped in the grip of mediocrity – the distress and despair of being no different from millions of others in this world. It further narrates the protagonist’s rather eventful quest for his life of passion and his encounters with situations and people that lead him to astounding revelations.

“Chasing Maya is a beautifully crafted piece of literature. It is deeply philosophical in its essence, but the narration is simple, lucid and intriguing. Rohan has this tremendous ability of interweaving profound thoughts with free-flowing fiction. His style is cosmopolitan; has a universal appeal and holds the promise of reaching out to audiences beyond the boundaries of nationality, ethnicity and culture." commented Prashanta Kaushik, Managing Partner, Global Vision Press.

"Our company has published immortal works of renowned and highly respected authors in the league of Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Amrita Pritam and Khushwant Singh. We were on the lookout for bright and young writers to further extend our heritage of excellence to the English publishing industry. In this endeavour of ours, Rohan has been one of our prized discoveries and the Global Vision Press team is really excited about working with this exceptionally talented story-teller.” Kaushik added.

Chasing Maya will soon be available nationally and internationally through leading bookstores and online channels.

Dr. Indira Parikh endorses 'Chasing Maya'

"The book 'Chasing Maya' is a story of an identity in search of himself. The story is of touching the memories of childhood, escapades of adolescence and burden of adulthood in a slang society. Identity confronts the landscape of life in the wilderness of emotions, the debris of being a prisoner of life, captive of emptiness and rubble of nothingness. From this search the inner journey begins to the old haunts and locations to discover the present. The future beckons the protagonist in touching and discovering the sensuousness of the soul with a new born infant and fatherhood. This is the awakening and touching the emotional response. The book is gripping as it tells a story – everyone’s story of a struggle of an identity to live and touch life and in essence touch, feel and dialogue with itself. The book ends with dreams for tomorrow, hopes in the present and some release, some freedom from the baggage, essentially from baggage of yesterday. Essentially it is a freedom to walk into the unknown. The book will touch every reader’s own life."

- Dr. Indira Parikh, Former Dean, IIM-Ahmedabad

Chasing Maya on The Indian Express Pune Newsline

An ordinary life

The enlightened master
From the eastern woods
Spoke up
In the rarest of his moods...
Nobles, kings and princes
Fell at his feet,
And devoutly listened
To their saviour’s speech…

Said the wise old master
In a voice so divine –
In this world of illusion
Nothing’s yours or mine!

Between the extremes of dichotomy,
He said, lies an unseen sea;
One that gives us wisdom;
One that sets us free!

He said –
Life is an elusive treasure hunt
And the wealth is deep within.
No loss, no failure can ever kill
The eternal hero you have been!
Be aware of the universe inside,
Treat wins and losses alike.
Just be truthful to your own self
And do what you really like!
Thus, over the turn of seasons
And the churn of time,
You’ll eventually realize
The beauty of an ordinary life!

The frail old man

From the deafening dark ends
Of my youthful dreams
Peeps in a frail old man!
Shamefully drowned
In his own shadow of grief,
He stares at me
With disgruntled disbelief!
He wordlessly probes
The fate of my resolve
His meek, helpless eyes
Let my thoughts evolve…
My perceived self-worth
Suffers a sudden fall
Along the dead dark corridor
I feel pushed to the invincible wall!

A hidden door in the corner creaks
And a bright blue beam lights up my face.

Thank you Time, for waking me up!

What's 'Chasing Maya' about...

Invariably, our lives in this world are driven by some sort of mysterious forces that arise and subsist deep within us. Some of these forces, what we inoffensively call our ill-fate or misfortune, obstinately provoke us to chase illusively unending horizons, diverting us away from the greater purpose of our life, and resulting in severe distress and endless frustration.

'Chasing Maya' is the narration of a discontented common man’s rather eventful journey towards this revelation and his consequent efforts to live a life of passion and true happiness.

On becoming an author...

The other day, an old friend of mine asked me why and how did I become an author… I didn’t have an answer nor did I attempt to cook up one for her. I preferred to remain quiet but her question left me thinking...

Later in the night, I vaguely guessed that probably it has been the result of my self-exploration! The deep soul-searching that I have done in the recent years must have ultimately led me to my pursuit of story-telling. Well, irrespective of the cause, I feel really fortunate to have discovered and pursued my calling in life and my first book ‘Chasing Maya’ is an unfolding of this journey of mine.

Now, coming back to the idea of becoming an author, writing a book - a novel to be precise, was always a dormant desire... There have been too many thoughts on my mind and a few noteworthy experiences which I thought could provide me the required ingredients... Many times in the past, I was tempted to start off. Couple of times I even did. But nothing really seemed to take off.

When I started writing ‘Chasing Maya’ in 2007, I didn’t have the vaguest of clues that it would one day become my first published novel. In all probability, it wouldn’t have really been so. But I was fortunate that I met the right people at the right time…And it made all the difference!

From the publishers of 'Chasing Maya'

"For over four decades, having published immortal works of renowned and highly respected authors in the league of Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma (former President of India), Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee (former Prime Minister of India), Ms. Amrita Pritam and Mr. Khushwant Singh, we were on the lookout for bright and young writers to further extend our heritage of excellence to the English publishing industry. In this endeavour of ours, Mr. Rohan Gogoi has been one of our prized discoveries and the Global Vision Press team is really excited about working with this exceptionally talented story-teller. Mr. Gogoi’s novel, ‘Chasing Maya’ is a beautifully crafted piece of literature. Though deeply philosophical in its essence, the narration is simple, lucid and intriguing. Mr. Gogoi has this tremendous ability of interweaving profound thoughts with free-flowing fiction. His style is cosmopolitan; has a universal appeal and holds the promise of reaching out to audiences beyond the boundaries of nationality, ethnicity and culture."

- Prashanta Kaushik, Managing Partner, Global Vision Press

Lost 'em forever!

The jazz of monsoons…
The wild streams on the run…
Sparkling droplets with flashes
Of the meek, hiding sun
The calm moist breath imbued
With the soft tranquil breeze…
Oh, the days of leisure,
Those treasured moments of pleasure…
Yes, I know,
I have lost 'em forever!

Butterflies in the orchards,
We quietly stole.
Sought innocent joys,
Which felt so whole!
Tiny boats of paper
Wobbly, silly and eager
You and I,
Had set to hover…
They carried our dream,
Gave our faces a beam.
Waves of time,
They strived to ride
Naively, sailed far and wide.
Wafted, they away,
Not to return, ever.
Yes, I know,
I have lost 'em forever!

(Lost 'em forever was originally written way back in 1997. The current version is the result of a series of iterations made in June 2010.)

Chasing Maya: My debut novel, releasing this year...

Better jobs, bigger salaries, expensive cars, exclusive homes, exotic vacations, shopping abroad, admiration and jealousy of peers... What more can you expect from life! Or, may be, you can…! Come; explore your truth with ‘Chasing Maya’!

‘Chasing Maya’ is about thirty-two-year old Siddhartha Kumar, who in spite of his evident material success finds himself trapped in the grip of mediocrity – the distress and despair of being no different from millions of others in this world. Bemused, he sets on a quest to rediscover the zeal that once fuelled his dreams and passion and comes across with situations and people that lead him to astounding revelations.

Share the anxiety, live the excitement and experience the magical transcendence as ‘Chasing Maya’ takes you on an incredible journey that every human soul instinctively seeks to undertake but only a negligible few truly succeed to accomplish!

('Chasing Maya' is being published by Global Vision Press, New Delhi, India)