It’s been more than two decades since Bill Gates made the now much used observation “content is King”. But at no point, in time till now, has content come in so many different avatars,taking the art of storytelling to never before paths of subjects and styles , reaching out in a medley of voices to diverse audiences across cities, small towns and remote villages, around the world. Perhaps today, it makes sense to say that if content is ‘King’then versatile content is the new age ‘Prince Charming’ ruling both online and offline platforms of storytelling. And Monidipa Mukherjee who made her debut as an Author with Wolf Books, is one such storyteller,moving from one platform to another with different stories to tell.
Versatility is a quality which perhaps came easily to Monidipa who, after getting a masters in Modern History from the prestigious University of Calcutta, moved away from academics to join the very different world of advertising where the secret of success lay in being able to speak in a different voice to a different audience every time one created a brand story for a different product.So after two decades in advertising, when the copywriter ventured out into the world of food reviews (for Femina) , lifestyle blogs ( for ‘Times of India’ under the blog handle oldernotwiser ) and then paperbacks and coffee table books , it all flowed organically from the intrinsic urge to tell different stories in different voices.
Monidipa’ first book, Kissing Frogs , published by Wolf Books , tells the story of a modern city girl, a young professional, searching for the perfect soulmate. It’s a book that’s fizzy and fun, like cocktail on a girls’ night out, yet filled with life lessons for single girls looking for The One to lives happily ever after. The story of Kissing Frogs is the story of romantic ideals and their clash with harsh realities, but with a positive spin that promises hope and happiness with large helpings of insights for contemporary young women grappling with life and love in the big city. A telling reaction from one of her young readers at an online discussion summed up the appeal of the story : “It’s a sort of a fun- while- you- learn guidebook for girls looking for Mr Right”.
Monidipa’s storytelling capacity is unique; along with her crafty sense-of-humor and impeccable grasp of the language, she might remind you of the great Shobha De around the corner of Bangalore.
One would have imagined that after Kissing Frogs Mondipa’s genre would be what is referred to as chicklit( lighthearted romances for young women). But she surprised herself more than anyone else when she took up an assignment to create a coffee table book on Bharatanatyam and its roots in Hindu mythology and its links with global mythology. Dancing With The Gods , published by Roli Books, is a thoroughly researched and meticulously crafted presentation of the history and mythological heritage of this much loved dance form of India. The author’s academic background and early training in the dance form enabled her to conceptualize and write this book not as a literary tome but as an easy to read yet informative and interesting narrative for the common man searching for a glimpse of India’s cultural legacy.
Before getting pigeonholed as an author of coffee table books on art and culture, Monidipa shifted her story again. She ended up writing another work of fiction,Beginnings&Endings published by Leadstart, a book very different from her earlier work, mapping the journey of four women , of different age groups , as they try to discover themselves, change their perceptions and make life choices in order to find their own individual versions of happiness even while life keeps throwing its curve balls. This is a story that seems to resonate with women readers who have matured, weathering storms, learning to pick their battles and yet not giving up on happy endings.
Monidipa’s repertoire of books sums up a basic truth about contemporary authors : their ability to expand horizons and break stereotypes of single genre stories. The trend today is to experiment, to push the frontiers of creative idioms and tell completely different stories to completely different audiences while retaining the same author’s signature. With so many idioms of storytelling to explore it looks like these are the best times for content writers to create, communicate, educate or entertain.
