The New Indian Express ·
Odisha Literary Festival 2026: Ravi Shankar Etteth’s ‘The Little Book of Goodbyes’ released
BHUBANESWAR: Every action we do is a goodbye. This observation became the emotional spine of author and journalist Ravi Shankar Etteth’s book ‘The Little Book of Goodbyes’, which was released at the 14th Odisha Literary Festival on Sunday.
In a conversation with consultant and author Lipika Bhushan, Ravi reflected on memory, loss and the inevitability of endings. “The book has emerged from the belief that life is a series of goodbyes. Every moment is a memory of the past,” he said adding, the book explores how we make peace with the last goodbye. As per Ravi, the boundaries between life and writing are very porous. “The people you know, you’re living their story as part of your story. So I think every work is autobiographical in nature,” he said.
Asked how he reconciles painful memories with pleasant ones, Ravi said there was no need to strike a balance. “Bad things happen to you, you don’t have an option, you go on. Good stuff happens to you, you throw a party and you go on,” he said.