Nautical Musings

It was the demise of his seafarer friend at sea three decades ago that prompted professor Sunil Shetye to pen his first novelette, ‘Echoing Sea’, released recently

KALYANI JHA | NT KURIOCITY

The literary and artistic instinct of Professor Sunil Shetye has found expression in a novelette. Three decades ago, the demise of his close friend left a deep impact on him and it is this story that he has attempted to express in fiction.

“The two of us passed out engineering together. My friend was very passionate about going to sea and being on the ship. He would return and tell me stories. On one of his returns, I found him dejected and said he wanted to quit. And in one of his letters he mentioned quitting and coming back, But within a week, I received the news of his death in an accident on the ship,” he reveals, adding that while the story is based on true events, 30% is fiction.

While the story was always on his mind it was only in the last five years that he completed writing it. “When I was doing my PhD, I would take breaks from my work and write the story,” shares Shetye, who is currently serving as head of the Department for Mechanical Engineering at Government Polytechnic, Panaji.

However, since the story was based on true events, there were challenges. “It is hard when you write about people, living or dead or having any resemblance to the fictional characters. I would get feedback from people that I should not write things as it is. I was expressing very honestly initially,” he shares. “It was hard as the story I wanted to tell and the diplomacy and conservative writing that was demanded didn’t let me be honest in storytelling. It took some work to understand how to tell the same story I wanted to tell without upsetting readers.”

Through this work, Shetye is also seeking to shine the light on the life of seafarers that, he says, is misunderstood by many, and the importance of technical education in life.

And he is happy with the responses he has been getting so far for the novelette. “The book is yet to be made available online. The copies that Broadway and I have shared with my friends and peers, have been received very well and I am happy with the honest reviews I am getting,” he shares.

In fact, he says, the reviews have also compelled him to come out with a sequel to this story that he has already started working on. “One suggestion I got from a writer is to write more about Swayam, the friend who survived. So that will be seen in part two. I have included mysticism in this story and kept an open ending. This leaves me with the scope of a sequel,” he says. The sequel should be out in around six months, he adds.

With four years to retire, Shetye plans to focus his time on writing more later. “My son is a short film director and we have already discussed that I will help with scripts for his short films. As I write about people, script writing is an aspect of writing I want to focus on,” he says.

For his constant flow of ideas, he gives credit to his reading and minute observations. “Read literature, understand, don’t copy but use it as inspiration and thus evolve your way of thinking and writing. AI aids in writing but I don’t feel like resorting to that. It takes away the originality of the story,” he says.

(Pic By: Hemant Parab)