Author Soma Bose’s third book, The Garden of White Roses, was released at a glittering literary and cultural gathering at the Kolkata Centre for Creativity, attended by leading personalities from cinema, theatre, literature, dance and contemporary arts.
The launch brought together veteran actor Barun Chanda, danseuse Tanushree Shankar, social media influencer Sreenanda Shankar, theatre and screen actor Sohini Sengupta, nationally acclaimed actor Joy Sengupta, author and journalist Nandita Puri, interdisciplinary artist Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee and noted director Sudeshna Roy, among others.
The Garden of White Roses delves into the intimate world of memories, relationships and personal histories, placing handwritten letters and everyday experiences at the centre of its narrative.
The book explores how personal memories can acquire a larger literary significance when preserved and shared. Its treatment of letters highlights their ability to capture emotions, hesitation, vulnerability and imperfections—qualities that are often absent from the speed and convenience of contemporary digital communication.
At a time when communication has increasingly shifted to instant messages, emojis and short digital exchanges, the book raises questions about whether technological efficiency has come at the cost of emotional depth and reflection.
A significant theme running through the book is the preservation of ordinary lives. The Garden of White Roses suggests that history is not shaped only by celebrated personalities, and that the experiences of ordinary families can contain stories worthy of being remembered and documented.
The book also celebrates silence and understated human emotions rather than relying on conventional dramatic storytelling. Its focus on relationships, memories and things left unsaid offers a contemplative contrast to an increasingly fast-paced culture of storytelling.
At the heart of The Garden of White Roses lies an intimate encounter with absence—the profound vacuum, longing and quiet ache that followed Soma Bose’s loss of her mother. What began as a personal response to grief gradually evolved into a tender literary homage to a relationship that continues to live beyond physical presence. The book becomes, in many ways, a dedication to her mother’s memory: to the unspoken conversations, exchanged letters, shared thoughts, remembered words and the immeasurable emotional bond that time and separation could never diminish.
These pages carry the echoes of a relationship that refuses to end with loss. They preserve fragments of affection, moments of vulnerability, reflections, memories and those deeply personal exchanges through which a daughter and mother continue to find each other across the silence of absence. The Garden of White Roses is therefore not merely a book born of grief; it is an act of remembrance, an offering of love and an attempt to transform the ache of losing someone into something enduring. In its quietest moments, the book reminds us that some relationships transcend the boundaries of life and death—and that love, when deeply rooted, can turn memory itself into a living presence.
The launch itself reflected the interdisciplinary character of the book, with personalities representing different creative fields coming together to celebrate Soma Bose’s latest literary work.
The discussions around the book also highlighted the changing nature of reading and writing in the digital age. While younger generations are writing more frequently through captions, posts and fragmented digital communication, questions remain about whether such expressions can acquire the permanence and emotional depth traditionally associated with literature.
The Garden of White Roses thus emerges as a reflection on the value of remembering, recording and preserving human relationships. By focusing on personal memories and seemingly ordinary experiences, the book makes a case for stories that may otherwise disappear with time.
In author Soma Bose’s words, “I wrote The Garden of White Roses because I felt that some memories are too precious to be allowed to disappear. The book grew out of my desire to preserve the emotions, relationships, letters and quiet moments that have shaped lives but often remain undocumented. In a world where we communicate instantly but rarely pause to truly express ourselves, I wanted to return to the intimacy of handwritten words and the stories hidden within them. This book is deeply personal for me—it is my way of holding on to people, emotions and moments that time can otherwise take away. I hope that while reading it, every reader finds a memory of their own, a person they have loved, or a moment they thought they had forgotten.”
The release of Soma Bose’s third book became a celebration not merely of a new literary work but of memory itself—the people, relationships, letters and quiet moments that collectively shape individual and family histories. The event was hosted by Chaity Ghosh, founder of Phreedom4Ever, an event platform with a distinctive focus on creating culturally enriched experiences across India.
Soma Bose is an award-winning author, columnist and podcaster).
Follow her podcast SomTales : www.youtube.com/@SomTales-Podcast
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