Dialogs and Travels of Three New Yorkers

The Author’s Truth:

“I have seen truth from several angles. It does not look the same. The refraction of its light shows me different shapes and chromatics from different angles and through different lenses - as my identity changes from that of a physicist to a musician, from a technologist to a writer. How would I know that it is the same truth?

It may not be.

It, however, has in it a truth that has driven humanity to different heights of attainment. It may not be the same truth that has energized and inspired the human race to realize its potential in diverse fields of interest. It has been a silent inspirer. But it may not be the same truth for everyone.

Objective and subjective realities, for instance, are different. They do not converge. Faith and science sometimes do not. Love for individuals may conflict with love for the collective. Institutional and personal values may clash.

The human race, however, from times prehistoric, has always tried to surpass itself. There is a universal joy in freedom. Freedom of the body, getting its original ingredients from universally-scattered stardust. Freedom of the mind - an abstraction of our body chemistry.

I have followed this history of freedom since my adolescent days. In the past I have written about many subjects but not about freedom. I did not know that a book that had started to progressively develop in my consciousness would someday emerge. I was not sure about this until about eighteen months back when I started researching on the subject and started writing.

A few months into the writing I decided to change the format of the book from a research paper to fiction. To start with, as conversations between three New Yorkers. The characters are not the same age, their heritages and backgrounds are different, their circles diverse. But ever since they appeared on the pages of the book, they started growing in me. As I was writing for them, I became them. I started thinking like them. As each chapter was being narrated by one of the three characters, I started living in virtual reality, embodied in them.

I believe this happens to writers. This is, literally, an out-of-body experience. Any creative work is transcendental – I know this as a musician and as an intrigued physicist. It lets you live in hope, especially when the time is tough. It transmits the hope to others who have lost hope. Knowledge of freedom as the fundamental truth makes us embrace all the different elements of truth, good or bad, as things we can have a handle on to reinforce the sense of purpose in our lives.”

About the Author

Shyamal Sen, the author, has a colorful history of working at Wall Street firms and financial industry networks. He has studied physics, technology and music. He is a lover of art, philosophy and poetry. He has taught technology, literature and music. He expresses his creativity through music and poetry. This is his first work of fiction.

Contact Author:

sks@shyamalsen.com