At 26 years old, Durjoy Datta is a bestselling author and publisher. This mechanical engineer from Delhi College of Engineering (2008) and an MBA graduate (2011) from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon worked at NIIT, Siemens AG and American Express before co-founding Grapevine India Publishers in June 2011, in an attempt to encourage budding Indian writers. Durjoy’s writings are characterised by dark humour, in-your-face realism, irony and lots of fun.
Of Course I Love You! …Till I Find Someone Better! (2008), Now That You’re Rich… Let’s Fall In Love! (2009), She Broke Up, I Didn’t… I Just Kissed Someone Else! (2010), Ohh Yes, I Am Single… And So Is My Girlfriend! (2011) and You Were My Crush… Till You Said You Love Me! (2011) are some of his books. He is currently working on two novels and Durjoy’s next — Hold My Hand — is slated for a July release.
From being an avid blogger to an engineer and now as an author, Durjoy has been enjoying every phase of his life. He, however, had no clue that he would end up as an author. “It wasn’t really planned. I never thought I would take writing seriously. I loved to write during my college days. But getting into writing and eventually publishing, I never thought I would make this transition,” he says. AIESEC, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi, and TEDx are some of the organisations that invited him to speak at various seminars. Durjoy gets candid about his college life.
What did college teach you?
While school (Bal Bharati Public School, Pitampura) was more of the same people in different shapes and sizes, college meant a lot of people with varied backgrounds and dreams. College taught me to respect choices that people make and to accept the fact that everyone’s different.
What is your proudest moment in college?
I think it came a year after I graduated when in the college magazine, I was mentioned as one of the top 50 alumni of Delhi College of Engineering. That was pretty cool.
Have you had any embarrassing moments in college?
It’s full of them. I was a bumbling idiot who didn’t even have good grades. So apart from being socially awkward, I was also constantly thrown out of class.
How did you score points with the opposite gender?
I scored zero points with the opposite gender. I wasn’t very desirable in college and I really didn’t know how to talk to girls. I would just stare at them from a distance and stay away. At MDI, there weren’t any girls so as to speak, so I didn’t really get a chance to put my skills to test.
Was bunking a part of your college routine?
At Delhi College of Engineering, it was. Our classrooms weren’t air conditioned and Delhi’s heat could really get to you so I bunked a lot of classes! At Management Development Institute, attendance was a big deal and missing classes was suicidal. I bunked classes only to catch up on sleep or for a getaway trip.
Did you have any rifts with professors? Why?
It was a constant thing. In the first couple of years it used to revolve around studies because I wasn’t great at academics. And then it used to be about funding for college festivals. So none of my professors was ever a buddy to me.
Where did you hang out in college with friends?
At Delhi College of Engineering, we all had a very strained cash flow so we hung around the library because that meant high speed Wi-Fi, and it also was the only centrally air-conditioned building in the college! Management Development Institute was in Gurgaon and close to a lot of malls. After a strenuous day, we would go out and watch a movie or get crazy drunk.
What extracurricular activities were you involved in?
I was into sports, mostly tennis, and I worked for a few societies. I was always involved with organising festivals, both technical and cultural. This was during engineering. In my postgraduation, I just lay back and let life pass me by.
— diana@newindianexpress.com