Rahul Bhattacharya Launches Railsong at Mumbai LitFest 2025

Rahul Bhattacharya in conversation with Alankrita Shrivastava, launching his book Railsong at The Mumbai LitFest 2025

By: Rahul Bhattacharya

While talking about why he chose the railways as a theme, Rahul Bhattacharya said, “For me, the impulse was, when I was thinking of a very raw idea, that it would be really interesting to look at a gigantic Indian enterprise, like the railways or the census, something which can gesture at the enormity, the complexity and the sheer scale of this country. And within that, place an individual.”

Discussing is experience of writing the book, he said, “I have been writing this book for about a decade, and I have handwritten the first draft because I absolutely could not descend into a fictional space on the computer.”

By: Alankrita Shrivastava

Alankrita Shrivastava shared how she resonated with the character, saying, “I loved her; I really really, loved the character and saw so much of myself in her.  It’s like you’re seeing the character in her life, but you’re also seeing the life of the country and the life of working women”,  further adding, “the book is a really wonderful chronicle of girlhood and then going into womanhood. In the book, with time you can feel a strong sense of rhythm and time.”