User:SSChhetri/sandbox

=  SATYADEEP SINGH CHHETRI  = Satyadeep S Chhetri (born June 1973) is an Indian writer. He is an author of both fiction and non fiction books in English and has also been a translator. He has written historical fiction Gorkhaland Diaries : Even Deams, Uneven Lives and has also written a non-fiction work discussing the merger of Sikkim with India in his book Sikkim: From Autocracy to Half Democracy.

Chhetri studied at Don Bosco School, Siliguri,  and earned a Doctorate in Chemistry at the University of North Bengal He works at NBB Government College in Gangtok, Sikkim. His first novel Gorkhaland Diaries was published in 2022, which he followed with later Non-fictional works Sikkim: From Aurocracy to Half Democracy in 2023. Before that he also translated a book Kaalobhaari: The Black Buurden from Nepali to English. He also won the first Sikkim Awards for Writer of the Year-2022 for his debut novel Gorkhaland Diaries.

Chhetri is often found saying that he is a writer 'By Chance' else he was happy reading books.

Life
Chhetri was born in Siliguri in June 1973 and was educated at the all-boys school Don Bosco School in Siliguri, West Bengal. He went on to do his College in Siliguri College and then his Masters in Chemistry and Ph.D in Chemistry from the Department of Chemistry, University of North Bengal. During his course of his study he has been a voracious reader and had contributed to articles in newspapers and the college magazines.

He won University medal fro standing first in the B.Sc (Chemistry Honours) and M.Sc (Chemistry ) in his college and university. he was also the recipient of the Prof. R. N. Khastagir Memorial Award during the course of his study.

In 2000, he joined the Department of Chemistry, Nar Bahadur Bhandari Government College (Previously Known as Sikkim Government College, Gangtok as an Assistant Professor (Lecturer) and presently is working in the same college as an Associate professor of Chemistry.

He lives in Gangtok with his wife, Binita Sharma (daughter of the Sahitya Akademi Award winner in Nepali Tulsiram Sharma Kashyap) with their two children Jyotiraditya(Jojo) and Divya Nishtha (Divya).

Fiction
Gorkhaland Diaries: Even Dreams... Uneven Lives (Fiction, 2022)

It was published in 2022 by Bee Books, Kolkata

Two Lives … Two Generations… and a Saga Spanning over 33 Years Gorkhaland Diaries, the first English novel to capture the Gorkhaland Movement in its entirety, traces the lives of Rajen and Bijay. It questions their perennial quest for a fabled land, a land of their dreams. From 1984-2017, it has been a test of endurance.

Who is Rajen? Who is Bijay? How do their lives change amidst the surge for identity and search for a homeland? When simple lives get crushed between the small and big-time leaders.

Gorkhaland- the elusive dream continue….in their minds, in their voices and in their soul.

It is interesting to note that each of the chapters3 in the book is the name of an album of Bob Dylan.

Book Excerpt :
" ....I still remember 27th July. I was standing near Damber Chowk when this whole town was littered with blood, smoke, cries and deaths. That day I had ferried so many people to the hospital that I did not understand whether I was carrying a dead body or someone injured. I hope Birey Daju remembers that. He didn’t wash my clothes soaked in blood that day. How could a country kill its own sons and daughters? How could a country fire on hapless protesters who were asking for a state? Democratic processes have always respected the desires of the people. To provide or not to provide is secondary. But how can you shoot people dancing and singing in cold blood? Kalimpong was witness to that. And even after so many years there has never been any remorse from the rulers of my great country. Not once did they say ‘sorry’. The saddest part is that not even once did our own leaders ask for an apology.....' (Page 115, Gorkhaland Diaries)

Non Fiction
Sikkim: From autocracy to Half Democracy (Non-Fiction, 2022)

It was published in 2023 by Bee Books, Kolkata