Interview with Payel Dutta — Author of On The Way They Gave a Hand

Hi friends, today, we are having an interview with Payel Dutta, author of On The Way They Gave a Hand.

Payel Dutta calls herself Jill of all trades but mistress of none!! She is a travel blogger working in a 10 to 6 management job in the travel industry. Travel is her obsession. She enjoys solo-traveling.

Apart from traveling, she loves food, books, and sleeping. She has a wish, just for one day, to sleep the entire day in her house with no one living there, and no one means no parents.

She is open to learning new things, good-bad doesn’t matter. She believes in taking lessons and remembering them as long as possible. She looks forward to valuing loved ones and people who genuinely care. This is where her book On The Way They Gave a Hand comes into play.

Her book shares about the people she met during her journey that stayed back in her heart for their gesture, sense of hospitality, or out of the way help. It’s her acknowledgment of their kindness to her. She also learned some lessons from those episodes.

It’s about self-learning, self-realization that needed to be grasped, gathered, and got along within the daily growth process. She’s sharing these learning with a touch of humor in the form of stories, as stories always connect hearts.

Her book On The way They gave a Hand talks about the travel chronicles of a solo-lady-traveler. Some fun, some not so fun episodes from her travelogue with a bit of levity.

Reading these stories may enable readers to recollect the people they met during their journeys or the incidents that left a mark in their hearts.

Interview with Payel Dutta – Author of On the Way They Gave a Hand

Meaning of Name and Personality

Welcome, Payel Dutta! Thanks for sparing time to talk about you and your book On The Way They Gave a Hand. First of all, tell us about the meaning of your name.

Ravish, you are just amazing. Thank you for coming up with this interview. It’s a pleasure and feels great to get such a spotlight. Firstly, I want to congratulate you for your book, and thank you for showing us what an art ‘Words’ are.

Now coming to the meaning of my name, ‘Pa’ means ‘Leg’ in Bengali, so a person whose ‘Pa’ or ‘Leg’ is ‘L’ shaped in called ‘Pa-L’/ ‘Pa-yel’…

Thanks, Payel, for mentioning my book. By the way, I found a photograph of yours showing your L-shaped leg. 😂

I am so Sorry, Ravish. This is how I used to get teased by many people when I wasn’t even 4 feet tall, and your question reminded me of those days all of a sudden. Pardon me for such a cracked habit.

Otherwise, the usual meaning of Payel is Anklet, which is an ornament being worn by women on their ankles.

You said somewhere that you’re a bong at heart and a typical bong by look. Well, by looking at your photographs, we may get an idea of how a typical bong looks.

Please tell us a little more about bong’s heart.

Don’t be so convinced with just my pictures, I assure you that the majority of Bengali girls are more beautiful, and elegance is something talks for Bongs, where I am an exception.

Apart from that, any Bengali you meet they have few things common always: the opinionated tattling over hot cups of chai, educational degrees, Food, Fish, sweets (which is not only Rasgulla), festivities, Rabindranath Thakur, travel, and our loud voices.

And, if you ask me in particular, I am loud but only in my closed circuit. I love my food-fish-sweets, only there has to be an added healthy tag before them.

I love my own zone where a lot of magenta, violet, and lapis dreams are bubbling around, and I am slightly a break-free kind!

In general, you think a lot before revealing your thoughts, but in this book, you shared your thoughts quite generously. Why do you remain so cautious? And, how did this change happen?

Being cautious is quite a nature bound for me. I am quite an introvert, and effectively I think before speaking my actual thought. Another reason, I guess you will also agree that I become quite mean at times with my words, and in that case, it’s better to hold them in my thoughts only.

For the second part of the question, well, honestly nothing has changed much. I still am the same while speaking to a person. But yes, writing is really an easier medium to express one’s views, and I thought of being my ‘true-self’ while writing and giving my long-stored freakish thoughts some shape and kept my fingers crossed as to how things would go.

Why do you consider yourself a grumpy person?

Because I can complain about anything and everything. I have inherited a lot of talents from both sides of my family. Grumping is one of them. And, I think it’s good to get your agitation out because such emotion doesn’t do any good to anyone.

Travel on Memory Lane than Physical

Most travel bloggers talk about places, but you talk about people in your book On The Way They Gave a Hand. Any specific reason? You talk about people on your blog, too, or this is the case in this book only?

Actually, if you see my travel blogs, they are all about destinations, how to reach, what to see, required duration of stay at any place, etc. I talk all these in my travel blogs. So, when it came to the Blogchatter challenge this year, I wanted to do something different.

I have come across some overwhelming, heart-warming people during my very small travel journeys so far, and I am sure there will be more in the future.

For me, travel is not complete with only a destination, it’s completed by the local people, fellow tourists of & in that destination we meet and the relation we share with them during that time.

I think my book will remind a lot of travelers of their travel stories, whom they met during their journeys, who did something unusual for them, and I’m sure it will bring a little smile, or may a bit of exasperation on their face.

But, anyway, this feeling of remembering those lost old memories is something very different which is very own to each heart. You can say I kind of took a chance.

No, it’s for the first time I attempted writing about the people. Otherwise, it’s the only destination, and nowadays, I talk about food in my blogs.

You mentioned somewhere that you travel more on your memory lanes than in physical? Could you care to elaborate on it?

You pick up everything, Ravish. 🙂🙂 I travel more in my memory lanes because I have a job to sustain, and I can only travel as much as leaves I am allotted per year.

So, it’s not throughout the year I am traveling, which I really want though. The only option I have is to recollecting those memories, rejoicing on those moments passed, and sometimes taking lessons from them as well.

Pros & Cons of Travel Blogger in Travel Industry

Does working in the travel industry make it easy to travel by providing ample traveling opportunities?

There are people who do get to travel a lot due to their job profile, but very sadly, for me, I have never got any sort of that opportunity. The reasons are many and quite valid ones, as I work for a different segment where such opportunities are quite less.

One thing I must highlight here that in such journeys, you don’t get to explore places the way you expect. So, I don’t have any complaint for not getting such opportunities though there was a time I used to complain a lot, but then I wasn’t a solo traveler at that time.

Yes, one good thing about working for the Travel industry is I am already aware of many tit-bit facts, which regular tourists may not.

How do you strike a balance between your professional life and your passion for traveling?

I am not a widely traveled person. I only get to travel as much as my leave allows. However, a sort of drawback working for the travel industry is you can’t take leave during season time, which means when most of the people are traveling, my colleagues and I have to work hard. Again that’s not a big deal.

And, of course, I should thank my Bosses here, they are aware of my expeditions, and they approve my leaves. One confession here: This is one of the reasons I am working in this company for quite some time. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been possible.

Traveling requires money. How do you arrange that? Does all the money come from your salary? Or, is there some jugad?

You made me so upset with this word ‘jugad.’ I wish there would have been some jugad like Bellatrix’s private vault, but there isn’t any.

YES, My Travel Expenses are MINE, no-one else’s, no Jugad. But, I am not a huge earner. I plan my travel budget, and accordingly, I plan my holidays. And, I travel on BUDGET. So, I am a Solo-Female-Budget-Traveler.

Travel, Learning, and Writing

It’s common saying that ‘Travel teaches you a lot,’ and this is the reason people go to pilgrimages. Meeting people of different types are more enlightening than visiting holy places. Holy places are just a means to begin the journey, not the destinations. What do you say? Could you share your take on it, please?

Ok, two things: One, Travel has a lot of aspects. For me, it’s the journey, the destination, and experiences. Travel is anytime a teacher, no matter wherever you go. You will learn something. You just have to be open to know something new. You have to be ready to learn something that was unknown to you so far. And, then no matter you are going for pilgrimage, honeymoon, bachelor’s trip, there will be another baggage full of new experiences.

Coming to Pilgrimage, it’s more of a spiritual aspect that people seek and travel for. Even that has its role of teaching you something. Which is enlightening in its own way. It’s beyond any comparison. Everything is in our heads. It all depends on the wired walnut-shaped head, how it’s registering things.

I say be open to learning, it can even come from the most unexpected corner of life.

Payel, kindly share any difficulty you faced while writing the book On The Way They Gave a Hand.

It wasn’t quite difficult to write the book once I was quite clear about what I wanted to write except for those few days when I would contemplate as to which story would go after which.

And, I used to take hours to come to a decision. But, that’s quite a normal problem of writing. Right?

The main challenge for me was to know or understand how the readers would react to this book, or at all, there would be any reaction!

How do you see the ability to connect with others through writing? Is this ability a skill (which could be developed) or a gift of God?

Connecting with people whom you can’t see or hear is the toughest thing to do. I think the only way to connect is to be yourself and just share your true emotion with your readers. They understand you then.

By ability you mean connecting? Then, I will say it’s a bit of both. For me, however, it had to be developed over time, and I’m still working on it.

I am very poor a communicator. My speaking ability is quite baffling at times. But, writing as I said earlier, is quite a better medium of communication for me.

I think my fingers coordinate better with my brain that my vocal-chords when it comes to expressing my views.

When did you first realize that you want to develop this skill? Tell us about your writing journey?

My writing journey will actually upset those harder-working writers’ community. I was never good at writing, during my school days. I was more interested in writing précis than essays. But, somehow things changed all of a sudden.

During my first solo-trip, while it was at a planning stage, I was searching for information, but it was quite difficult to get everything in one place, or maybe few queries didn’t have any answer at all.

Then, one fine morning, a strange thought came, and I wanted to be a blogger. I went with the thought. Things have been quite different (it’s different good) from then. I still question myself though, as to how am I doing this. But, somehow, the wheel is rolling!

Solo Woman Traveler and Safety

There’s a famous dialogue in the movie Jab We Met regarding women being an open-safe & other stuff. Movies like Queen are also there, which is a story of a solo-lady-traveler like you. How do you see it?

Firstly, both are my favorite movies. I don’t remember about ‘being open-safe’ and all. But, I remember and believe in ‘main apni favorite hoon.’

And, Queen is a movie I can watch anytime. All I remember about that movie is how her life changed after meeting those three geek boys and how she ended up sharing her room with three stranger boys and feeling the safest. Life is like that. Isn’t it?

Of course, I don’t say to jump on such random things. There actually can be a whole discussion on Solo travel. But, to make things short, Solo-FEMALE-travel is quite popular across the world.

There are women, who travel for months, years all by themselves. And, luckily, I got to meet some of them which gave me more confidence in my habit of traveling.

How safe is traveling alone and staying at a stranger’s house, especially for a woman? Would you like to share any tips for ensuring personal safety during solo traveling?

It’s absolutely safe to travel alone, only do your own research before choosing a destination. Yes, we shouldn’t ignore the reality. As the internet gives so much access these days, we should do our research beforehand.

Follow your instinct, and most importantly, it’s ok to say ‘NO.’ Have your budget set ladies. Very important to keep track of your every paisa.

And, Hey, I don’t end up at random people’s house!! But, good you asked that. I prefer staying at home-stays than hotels.

Again I only book places which have existing reviews and which have very good reviews. Otherwise, whenever I have taken chances, things have gone wonky for me.

How do you see the status of women in society globally?

I will say that today’s women are quite empowering. They are strong, confident, and they are so focused about their goals or expectation from life.

Society as a whole is still coming in terms with all these rapid changes. And, we all have to accept the fact that nothing will change overnight. As long as people are accepting the changes, even slowly, that’s an improvement and that’s advancement.

Payel Dutta, how do you see Feminism?

Feminism, for me, is she has a bright career, she is excellent in her job, and by the end of the day, she comes back home, she cooks dinner, washes the dishes, puts clothes in the washing machine, irons the clothes, does school project of her babies, gets the school bag ready, takes phone-calls in between, does weekly grocery shopping, and sleeps less than 6 hours, whereas, he has a bright career, he is excellent in his job, and by the end of the day he comes back home, stretches on the sofa, switches the TV on, finishes his pending office project, plays game while she is still running between rooms and kitchen, he eats his dinner, and gets his 8 hours beauty sleep.

Respecting all Men in my life and beyond, till this daily routine exists in any family, the rest of the discussion on feminism is futile.

Spiritualism and Philosophy

What is spiritualism is your eye? What is your philosophy in/about life?

Spiritualism is something I believe in. I believe in the supreme power, who holds us at the time of need, who shows us the way when we ask for, who gives us strength when we are on the verge of breaking down.

I have philosophies in life. One of them is to believe in myself, be happy with myself, and here is a harsh one: “I can’t please everyone in my life, let’s not try it.”

Would you like to share something with your fans apart from these?

You make me feel like a celebrity!! I don’t want anyone to be my fan, but yes appreciation makes me very happy.

Whoever has been able to read this far, I will only say, do everything which keeps you happy. Being happy with yourself is very important in order to keep others happy or in order to take care of others.

It’s a tough time. We all are going through a difficult phase of our lives. Stay connected with everyone you want to. Speak, as words have so much power. Live and love, it’s only one life. We will come through everything. And, remember you are blessed.

Ravish, thank you very much for thinking of all these questions. I wonder how much time did you take to think of these brain wracking questions, but I loved replying them. I had a great time as your questions took me to so many hidden alleys. What questions they are if the brain isn’t getting some shock!

Thank you for giving me the center stage. Lots of love to you…

Thanks, Payel, for joining us. It’s a fabulous experience chatting with you.

Reviews of On The way They Gave a Hand by Payel Dutta

That was Payel Dutta with us talking about herself and her book On The Way They Gave a Hand in detail. Let’s see what others are saying about her book.

One can’t help but be prompted to devour the book and relish the lovely stories delineated in these segments.

Her book reminded me of some of the travel moments that I still cherish.

The uniqueness lies in the way it’s written. It gives a very personal appeal wherein the author has poured her heart out.

Details of On The way They Gave a Hand by Payel Dutta

Book Details
Title	On The Way They Gave a Hand
Author	Payel Dutta
Genre	Memoir
Sub-genre	Travel Stories
No. of Words	30K (Approx)
Reading Time	150 min (Approx)
Format	Kindle
Available at	Amazon

Contact Links of Payel Dutta

Do read the book On The Way They Gave a Hand by Payel Dutta and share your views with the author here:

Website: turtlegotwings
Email: payeldutta24@gmail.com
Twitter: @payeldutta24
Facebook: Turtle Got Wings
Instagram: @Payel_turtlegotwings

Thank you.

Pics Courtesy: Payel Dutta