Abheek Arjun Dutta sells his popular stories online to help Amphan victims
Misfortunes never come alone. When you are down on your luck or feel as if you just can’t catch a break, sometimes it’s difficult to pick up the pieces and get things moving again. But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining, similarly, during these dark days, a large number of our fellow citizens have come forward to show camaraderie and have extended a benevolent helping hand. This only goes to confirm that not everything is lost yet after all and there is still a glimmer of light at the end of the dark tunnel. Abheek Arjun Dutta has been working silently away from the bright arc lights, extending a helping hand to the victims of Amphan.
Dutta, a resident of Ashoknagar, is a busy chemical engineer but writing is his passion. He was forced to study engineering due to family pressure but could never get over his love affair with words. He answered his true calling much later and began penning short stories, novels et al and sharing them on social media.
Dutta is a prolific writer and has been writing fiction on Facebook page. He is a very popular author and has a loyal following. During the lockdown phase, Dutta decided to compile his writings and self-publish them in PDF format and sell his books, requesting his readers to buy them. He got a very positive response and sold his titles via Facebook. He did all this single-handedly and collected over Rs five lakhs. He has donated this entire amount to organizations working for the welfare of the affected victims including Covid relief fund, Amphan relief fund and other cash-strapped NGOs. He also donated to College Street book sellers’ fund for those sellers whose shops were severely-affected and books were destroyed in the aftermath of the cyclone.
The nation-wide lockdown has destroyed a staggering number of jobs, worse than anything the world has ever known. Dutta has been witnessing the struggle of the hapless people and he felt an inner urge to help them. The idea of selling his books via Facebook struck him. He appealed to his readers and was overwhelmed by the response he received.
Dutta has penned about six titles specifically for his charity work. On July 1, his latest novel, Atal Hrader Rahasya was released amid much fanfare. He used social media extensively for promoting his books. His Facebook profile contains a catalogue comprising the names of the books with a price list. Readers can choose the books and buy via online payment. After the payment is processed, the buyer has to send the receipt to a mail ID and he/she gets the book instantly. A couple of his articles/ stories can be accessed on his profile which are available to readers free of cost. If a reader likes the content, he/she can contribute to Dutta’s relief fund. He has two Facebook groups for creative writing. Interested writers or wanna-be authors have to pay a joining fee to become a member of either groups. This fee is also channelized for relief work.
Dutta single handedly handles the entire workload. He has made PDF files of all his writings he has been doing in the past five years for building the fund. He has made 29 PDF files and they have been released in the market for fund collection. His labour of love has been lauded and people from all walks of life have come forward to join his cause. Dutta now wants to increase the target amount to Rs 10 lakhs to help the needy. Dutta says he will send all the money he receives from his PDF sale for relief work. “I can surely do this bit for my fellow citizens,” he said with a smile. It’s said where there is a will, there is always a way for sure.
Image Courtesy : Abheek Arjun Dutta
