Victor Kalyan Ghoshe (born on 12 November 1974 in Kolkata, India) is an Indian writer in the genre of Historical Fiction and Paranormal. His first English novel 'The Job Charnock Riddle' (TJCR) was published in January 2016 and instantly topped the Amazon Best selling book chart [1], Ghoshe's second novel 'Tomb of God' (May 2021) has also been a best selling book on Amazon for several months after its launch.
An international Brand and Communications professional, former Senior Adviser of BBC, Ghoshe works on global projects on policy development, advises Govt. agencies of developing countries and also works with corporate & social sector organisations to build brands, campaigns and communication strategies. He lives in New Delhi, India with his wife Juthika and two sons, Shivank and Hrishaant.
Victor Ghoshe was born in Kolkata, India on 12 November.
As he grew up, Ghoshe became an avid reader and was attracted towards mysteries and riddles. By the age of ten, Ghoshe had learnt to write and read twenty different codes. At the age of 6 Ghoshe picked up the Guitar as his instrument, and by the age of 12 he was playing for All India Radio and Doordarshan - the national TV network of India. 1987 onwards Ghoshe founded several Pop & fusion bands (RhythMakers, Brahmo, Agni, Mariech) and composed & performed for them.
In 2000 Ghoshe started writing songs on social issues, and started performing to raise funds and mobilize masses for several global nonprofit organizations. He also shared his research work on 'Music - An Innovative Tool for Social Communication' with students of several universities and institutions. Later in 2014 he wrote, composed and recorded an 'Urban Folk album' titled SoulScape[2], a compilation of songs which later became instrumental in creating awareness about several social issues.
Indian Writer
A St. Xavier's College alumni, Ghoshe graduated from University of Calcutta and did his masters from University of Gwalior (India).
Studied 'Editorial Leadership' at BBC Academy, London (2017)
Studied 'Behavioral Sciences'atYale University (India Center) 2018-19
Ghoshe holds 2Master Degrees in 'Social Studies' and in 'English';
He also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in 'Communication Design'.
Following his degree he attended the college of visual art and communications, where he won a Post Graduate Diploma in communication design. He joined the advertising firm 'Mudra Communications' as 'creative head' and moved to Bengaluru.
Later Ghoshe came to New Delhi as Creative Director of Mudra and developed strategies and award winning creatives for brands like - Compaq computers, Samsung TV, Mc Donald's, Nestle, Frito Lays, HBO, National Geographic and many more. Later he had developed some of the well-known 'Incredible India' Campaigns as well.
In 2005, he established his own communication consulting company and did extremely well until he wrapped it up to start his career in the social sector. from 2008 to 2013 He worked for global Non profit agencies like USAID, DFID, UNDP, UNISDR with a special focus in Social Branding, Design Thinking, Social and Behavior Change, Knowledge Management and Human Centered Campaigns and advised several Government bodies in Maldives, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Ghana, Ethiopia and Govt of India. In 2014, he joined BBC Media Action, as a Senior Advisor and continued to work for the development of rural communities of India.
Music - Ghoshe's unique voice for social change[edit]
With over 500 shows and around 100 musical workshops spanning over a sterling 37 years of a musical career, Victor Ghoshe is an engaging storyteller and performer. Ghoshe's impactful song writing, rooted music, foot-tapping riffs have made him a celebrated performer of Urban-folk genre in the Indie music scene.
Ghoshe’s commitment in telling stories of urban and rural India is rivaled only by his commitment to use music as an instrument for social change. His efforts for changing social outlook and bringing social change have been relentless and a constant in his musical career. Through the unpredictable global ups and downs of 2000’s, he was singing songs of dreams, hope and change.
He started creating music for people with RhythMakers - the first Pop band (1987-89) he founded, then with BRAHMA (a fusion band, 1989-91), then with AGNI (Pop-rock 1991-94) and finally with MARIECH (Folk-rock early 2000s).
In 2001 Victor Ghoshe wrote his legendary song 'A song for Rehman' - a song that narrated the story of dreams & hopes of millions of children on the streets of big Indian cities and suburbs. When the song was composed in 2005, it instantly became a hit with the global social sector giants striving to find an anchor in India.
Ghoshe published his first musical album SoulScape (EP) in 2014 https://music.apple.com/us/album/soul-scape-ep/863122763. The album raised over 75 thousand Indian Rupee, which was donated to build washed out schools in disaster stricken Rudraprayag. Today his songs are played on over 1200 online music channels and portals and have already raised a notable amount of funds for children's rights; education and disaster preparedness programs through many Indian non profits.
Ghoshe now performs in public concerts & in corporate shows to bring positive changes in the society, to raise funds for issues of his concern, to create social impact and continues to receive accolades for enthralling audiences with his unique voice and storytelling style.
Off note, he has received several literary Awards since 2010 for exemplary writing, and has received special mentions from Apple i-tune, Spotify, Music India for producing notable music for Social Change. But he considers his biggest achievement is the 11,000 + students from different strata of the nation who have stated that - Ghoshe's music has helped them to change the way they looked at people, communities and life and also has inspired them to work for the communities.
Ghoshe has traveled through India, south eastern Asia, UK and Canada with his social sector work and has encountered thousands of individuals across the urban and the rural areas of the country. Based on his travels he began writing stories in Bengali in 2007. Later in 2011 he started writing novels in English as well.
Ghoshe is the only Indian Fiction writer who writes in Bengali and English both languages and has a huge readership across the world. His first book 'Ethernet' (Bengali), a collection of paranormal tales was published in 2010.
His second anthology - Megher Khata (the cloud book) was released in 2012. The second book did extremely well in Bangladesh and became a best-selling book in both India and Bangladesh. Ghoshe's third and fourth story collections PARANORMAL 1 & 2 were launched in 2019 and 2023 respectively. PARANORMAL 2 was launched by award wining, veteran writer Shri Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay at the Oxford bookstore in Kolkata.
In 2011 an old research paper on old Kolkata motivated him to write a historical thriller based on the 300 year old history of Kolkata. He researched for three years and by 2015 he completed his first historical fiction– The Job Charnock Riddle[3]
Victor Ghoshe receiving the 'Author of The Year - Fiction, 2022' award in New Delhi
Ghoshe's English Novels are research-based thrillers. The primary themes of his work are history, adventure, treasure hunt, riddles, codes and symbols. His first novel - The Job Charnock Riddle (TJCR) was an instant 'Amazon Best selling book' and loved by his readers[4]. His works of communication and fiction books are translated into several languages. His book TJCR has 4.78 among 5 stars in Goodreads rating.[5] And TOMB OF GOD has 4.9 among 5 stars in Amazon.
TIMES OF INDIA has mentioned - The job Charnock Riddle as "our own version of The Da Vinci Code"[6] TJCR is a tale that encourages historical debate and takes the reader out on an adventure. Ghoshe's rigorous research has made TJCR a brilliant as well as a successful book and helped readers walk through a part of history which was never written and never told. The other side of his work - his paranormal tales are based on his experiences and research works.
The Telegraph has recommended Tomb of God as – “A compelling script waiting to be made into a full-length feature film – a gritty thriller that would be liked by the fans of Lee Child and Dan Brown.”
In an interview in 2016, Talking about his next book - Tomb of God, Ghoshe indicated that he has 10 more historical story ideas with Eric Roy as the central character.[7][8]
Talking about his literary influences Ghoshe has mentioned Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who influenced his writings. He has named his six favorite literary works as 1. Gitanjali by Tagore, 2. Around the world in eighty days by Jules Verne, 3. Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll, 4. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, 5. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, 6. Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter.
The other features of Ghoshe's novels are - incredible story lines, fascinating landscapes, strong characters, great camaraderie and chemistry between people. In Ghoshe's publisher's words, "Ghoshe leaves a cinematic imagery in the mind of the reader through every sentence he composes. His style is controlled, precise, meticulous, and yet, it evokes deep emotional response from the readers. His stories depict a fine sensitivity without using melodrama or dramatic excesses. He has developed a simplistic style that is almost invisible. He strongly believes that - 'the best technique of storytelling is the one that's not noticeable.'
Author of The Year - Fiction 2022, for Tomb of God - poster
Ghoshe's second novel TOMB OF GOD brought him the 'Author of The Year - Fiction 2022'; Literary Award conferred by Ukiyoto Publishing. Decorated veteran - Lt. General (Dr.) VK Ahluwalia handed over the award to Victor Ghoshe in a ceremony at Delhi in September 2022
TOMB OF GOD has featured in the most prestigious list of United Kingdom's 'Best English Literature - Fiction Text'
Victor Ghoshe's Tomb of God becomes No.1 Indian Fiction at WH Smith Book store chain all over India, February 2023TOMB OF GOD stayed among top 3 Indian books through 2022 at WH Smith Book store chain all over India. The book became the No.1 Indian Fiction in February 2023.
Driven by his mission: To empower every young person on the planet to become a resilient human being with a strong mind and achieve their best, Ghoshe encourages and supports young entrepreneurs and startups. As an international Brand and Communications expert he has supported over 50 startups and has helped entrepreneurs to build strategic brands till the end of 2019. He undertakes these projects as pro-bono initiatives and charges almost nothing. Every year he provides Pro Bono support to small non profit organisations around the world.
Ghoshe has a belief :
"Socially responsible people are catalysts...
they take care of individuals and help them transform...
transformed individuals transform communities
and transformed communities constantly contribute to the development of the
nation.... to build a better nation."
Ghoshe has created an initiative called 'MindGym' for training and skill development for individuals, organizations, institutions and start-ups. Ghoshe also has founded a non profit named 'Centre for Behavioral Sciences and Social Impact' to promote research based learning and to encourage creative thinking among children and young adults. Ghoshe believes in the power of 'art and aesthetics' and donates 100 free hours of coaching in this field, every year.
