Raji Reads: My First Audiobook!
- Raji Writes
- Aug 2
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 13
It has been more than eight years since I set up this Raji Writes website, and since the first day, I have appreciated your readership. Now, I have something new to share with you: my first audiobook, published in collaboration with Parabaas, an independent Bengali-English webzine and publishing house, is out in the world. So now, Raji Reads as well, and I hope you will listen.
The Audiobook:
Looking for An Address, by Nabaneeta Dev Sen
Translated from Bengali by Chhanda Chattopadhya Bewtra
Narrated by Raji Pillai.
Published by Parabaas.
Here's the blurb:
Set in New York City in the 1990’s, when Rudy Giuliani was Mayor and Bill Clinton was President, Looking for an Address explores the lives of Bengali men and women from both Bangladesh and India. Jhilli has come to New York for a few months from Kolkata for training at the School of Social Sciences, staying with her childhood friend Shipra in Queens. Through Jhilli’s eyes, we see the wonders of New York, meet their Bengali friends, and experience their friendships and romances with native New Yorkers Gloria, Joshua, and Benjamin.
There are bombs, both literal, with India’s nuclear testing, and figurative, with unexpected revelations about the characters and their lives.
Nabaneeta Dev Sen’s keenly observed sensitively depicts the intersection of the immigrants’ lives in New York as they search for a home and an address: for their bodies and their hearts.
In 2025, as the plight of immigrants is hotly debated, the stories of these immigrants, whether cabbies or lawyers, are especially relevant and poignant.
About the Author:
Nabaneeta Dev Sen (1938-2019) was a highly acclaimed creative writer with more than seventy five publications and was equally powerful in an astounding variety of genres. She has been recognized with ‘Padmashri’, ‘Sahitya Akademi Award’ (twice) and ‘Bangla Akademi Lifetime Achievement Award’, to name a few. She represented Indian writing at various international festivals and received worldwide acclaim. Retired as a Professor of Comparative Literature from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, she was Radhakrishnan Memorial Lecturer at Oxford University and held the Maytag Chair of Comparative Literature and Creative Writing at Colorado University, USA. She was the President of ‘Soi’, Women Writers’ Association of West Bengal, India until her death at her residence in Kolkata.
About the Translator:
The translator Dr. Chhanda Chattopadhyay Bewtra is an Emerita Professor of Pathology at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska. She has published in both English and Bengali. Her translations include Distant Thunder (‘Ashani Sanket’),
and Ichhamoti by Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay and Sati’s Remains (‘Satideha’) by Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay.
I read the book a few times for the narration project, and loved it every time. Nabaneeta Dev Sen is a captivating story-teller. I hope you will have time to listen. It’s under 3 hours. Good for a few walks, or while driving, cooking, etc. :-)
It is available on multiple platforms, including your libraries, so feel free to check and request the book. Here are the major platforms:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6T6W0KEYoDxmgj3l5vYpqw
Amazon/ Audible (where you can find the eBook as well as the printed book):
Amazon.com: Looking for an Address (Audible Audio Edition): Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Raji Pillai, Chhanda Chattopadhyay Bewtra - translator, Parabaas: Audible Books & Originals
Google Play: Looking For An Address by Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Translator: Chhanda Chattopadhyay Bewtra - Audiobooks on Google Play
Apple Books: Looking For An Address by Nabaneeta Dev Sen & Translator: Chhanda Chattopadhyay Bewtra on Apple Books
If you’d like to hear about how all this came about, please read on. It has been a journey! It's a completely different discipline from what I've been used to. If you prefer to just listen to the audiobook, let me not stand in your way. Please click whichever link above works for your geography and listen away. And leave a review if you feel up to it.
The Journey to Raji Reads
“I Don’t Read Books Anymore."
It all began with a conversation with my friend Balaji Venkateswaran, author of the 2005 novel Rage published by Penguin Books India (Rage: A Novel: Venkateswaran, Balaji: 9780143033523: Amazon.com: Books). From my side, I wanted to gauge his interest in participating in our local Bay Area South Asian Lit Fest, SALA, at the organizers’ request.
When we were done with that topic, he said, “I wanted to talk to you about something."
“Shoot," I said.
“You see, I don’t read books anymore."
“Balaji," I responded sternly. “This is a very bad start to a conversation with me.”
“What I meant to say is,“ he continued, “I don’t read books anymore, I listen to them."
“Ah,” I said, beginning to understand.
He added, “I was listening to a book the other day with three narrators, and one of them sounded just like you!”
He suggested I think about doing audiobooks, or better yet in his view, podcasts. We spoke about many things, including my interest in bringing more visibility to many wonderful books that have been translated into English from regional Indian languages.
Books in Translation: how to introduce more people to them?
In the previous several months, I had read many wonderful books translated from Malayalam into English: works by M.T. Vasudevan Nair for example, several translated by the incomparable Gita Krishnankutty. I felt these extraordinary books should be widely available and read by as many people as possible. And yet, by some accounts, readership is declining.
So, why not Audiobooks?!
After the conversation with Balaji, it struck me that a good way to bring these books to younger generations who don’t seem to read anymore but do listen (to podcasts etc.) would be to narrate audiobooks, importantly with the correct pronunciation of words that are still in the regional language. It is after all, extremely frustrating and cringe-producing when words are butchered by someone who neither knows the language nor takes the time to learn how the words are pronounced.
I had discussions with several people to explore this idea and to learn more. Samir Bhattacharya, the publisher of online Bengali – English magazine, Parabaas, had sent me a few of their books to review if I wished. One of the books was Nabaneeta Dev Sen’s novel, Thikana, translated into English by Chhanda Chattopadhyay Bewtra, published as Looking for an Address, a fascinating short novel about the life of Bangladeshi immigrants in New York City.
How Are Audiobooks Made?
There was much to learn about recording audiobooks. I watched some YouTube videos on audiobooks and voiceovers, and learned about
Equipment and set-up: microphones, recording equipment, environment, sound-proofing.
Audio quality and requirements: sound specifications and requirements, hardware, recording and editing software
Narration: "Performing"! While I have given hundreds of talks, they have been both audio and video, or live; it is an interesting experience to do audio only.
Caring for one’s Voice: Protecting one's voice, reducing dry mouth and clicking sounds, how to represent different characters by varying the delivery.
The business end: who owns what rights, on what platforms (Audible, Spotify, Google Play etc.) and how to publish.
I decided to record a few audio samples, from the Parabaas books as well as several on my bookshelves.
The Art of Narration
I shared the audio samples with my friend Rebecca DuMaine, jazz singer, acting teacher, and voice coach -- one of the most talented, joyful and generous people you will meet. She listened to my sample recordings and gave me many, many invaluable tips -- about how consonants carry intelligence and vowels carry emotion and how to balance the two, how to vary one's voice for different characters, how to avoid glottalization (it disrupts the listening experience), how to care for your voice, avoid dry mouth. A whole new world of learning for me.
Daisy Rockwell has good advice about the world of literature, translations and copyrights. Bereket Kearns, newly minted sound engineer from San Diego State University and son of my dear friend Gigi, gave me more tips on recording equipment and software, and explained sound editing to meet Audible's sound specifications.
I had been reading many Malayalam books in translation at the time, mainly by Gita Krishnankutty, and wanted to speak with her about narrating some of her translations. Searching online for Gita, I connected to Professor Janaky Sreedharan of Calicut University, who had written an article about Gita and her work. I learned that at JNU, Nabaneeta Dev Sen was Janaky's external examiner and her professor was Meenakshi Mukherjee. Janaky introduced me to Gita, and a few weeks later, I had the great pleasure and privilege of meeting Gita in person--see some photos here. She was gracious and generous and quite amenable to my idea of narrating some of her work.
Samir Bhattacharya, publisher of Parabaas liked my audio samples. We decided to collaborate for an audiobook, selecting Looking for an Address as our first project.
Others to acknowledge for helping me with gear and sound editing: Connor Galvin, documentary film maker, and Bereket Kearns, sound engineer.
Others who were instantly supportive were Vandana Kumar, publisher of India Currents and Ambika Sahay, executive Director of Art Forum SF, which hosts the SALA literary festival.
So now, Raji Reads! Stay tuned for more.