Bijoy Idicheriah: Strikingly Original
Dr. T. Bijoy Idicheriah is a financial journalist who now doubles up as a Communications Consultant and writer. He currently consults as a Senior Editor – Special Projects with Economic Times.
He handled the Reserve Bank of India’s communication strategy between 2023 and 2025, and worked as a consultant for the Madhya Pradesh government for the World Economic Forum 2026 at Davos. He is a theatre enthusiast by passion.
During his 18-year journalistic career, Bijoy has written and led coverage at BQ Prime (formerly Bloomberg Quint), Rest of World, DebtWire, NewsWire18, Informist Media, Cogencis Information Services, and CRISIL MarketWire. He has written extensively on central banking, banking, para-banking, financial markets, and the economy. He used to pen a fortnightly column titled ‘Big Bank Theory’. He is a recipient of the Citi Journalism Excellence Award and the Shriram Journalism Award for his journalistic endeavours. He was also awarded as one of Times of India’s Influential Leaders for 2024.
His debut poetry collection ‘CLICK Snapshots in Verse’ has won the prestigious 21st Century Emily Dickinson Award, Rabindranath Tagore Award, Mother Teresa Award, Runner Up at Salis Mania Editor’s Choice Award for Best Poetry Book and Best New Poetry Book. He was recently selected as the Poet of the Year at Kolkata Literary Carnival, and also awarded the International Excellence Award 2025 for Contributions to Poetry.
He has just completed his doctorate on the Indian media industry from the Swiss School of Business and Management. He has completed a course on Public Policy from the London School of Economics and another course on Exploratory Journalism from the Knight Center for Journalism at the University of Texas.
He is the founder of LoudMouth Entertainment, for which he writes and directs plays. Their award-winning plays have been performed in various locations such as Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi, and Colombo.
He also conducts theatre workshops and has done so in Mumbai, Bangalore, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Dubai, Nepal, and Myanmar.
He is a voice coach and corporate trainer, who uses theatre techniques as an integral part of his sessions. He has trained some of the top names in the corporate world.
He also teaches students at Xavier’s, IIJNM, KC College, St. Paul’s Institute, and BSE.
Coffee, tea, or silence?
Coffee
Morning writer or midnight writer?
Midnight Writer
Pen or keyboard?
Keyboard
Your favourite word?
Metamorphosis
Your least favourite word?
Basically
One word that describes your writing style?
Real
Fiction or nonfiction?
Fiction
First draft or final edit?
First Draft
Plotter or pantser?
Pantser
The hardest part of writing?
Avoiding Distractions
The book you’ve reread the most?
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
A book everyone should read once?
The Bible (just as a blend of stories, history, poetry, songs, and philosophy)
The book that changed your life?
Metamorphosis by Kafka
Most underrated author?
Charles Dickens (wrote his books in a serialised manner to cater to a newspaper audience that had opinions and were invested. Incredible to write within that constraint)
Most overrated book?
Self-help books
Last book you finished?
Swallowed by Nupur Anand
Current read?
Bharat Bluff by Soumya Gupta
A book you wish you had written?
Waiting for Godot (Play by Samuel Beckett)
Favourite literary character?
Sherlock Holmes
A character you’d never want to meet?
Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
Where do your ideas come from?
Lived and shared experiences
Best place to write?
On the go when I am alone
Most unusual writing habit?
I just jot down random words. I can revisit that years later and pick up the thread and write from exactly that point. It bewilders me too but it’s super useful!
Music or complete silence?
Music
A distraction you can’t resist?
My kids
How do you beat writer’s block?
I write. Even if it’s bad, the process of writing somehow triggers mental points that help overcome those blocks.
Describe your creative process in three words.
Write. Edit. Rewrite.
A writing rule you love breaking?
People are too caught up in which tense and voice a story/poem is told. Breaking that rule cost me grades in creative writing sessions but eventually helps me write for Open Mics today!
What’s always on your desk?
Black Coffee
Your secret productivity hack?
Incredible memory for detail. It really helps.
First thing you did when your book was published?
Asked my father to open the first copy
Most memorable reader message?
Reader said, “The poems felt like someone entered my head and scraped out my thoughts, and then made them beautiful verse.”
Biggest misconception about authors?
They live in the realm of ideas. They don’t. They have ideas because they live life mindfully!
What’s harder: writing or marketing?
Marketing
Your dream book tour destination?
Angkor Wat
Favourite part of being an author?
Sharing something so personal with the world that readers can experience at levels even the author never imagined!
Least favourite part?
Being asked when your next book is coming!
Most surprising thing about publishing?
The focus is too much on pushing out content, rather than curating and editing it. Publishers need to hold the line on quality.
One thing aspiring authors should know?
To be published is easy; to be published by a good publisher who will ensure distribution and visibility is not.
Best advice you’ve received?
Be critical of your own writing. Don’t fall in love with your own words.
Which of your characters is most like you?
I often write personal pieces about creative souls stuck in corporate spaces. That is just me ranting in verse.
Which character would you invite to dinner?
Raju the Leper. He has disappeared from the street he used to sit on, so I wrote about him. He was ever smiling.
Which character scares you?
The lover who loves to the point of obsession.
Have you ever cried while writing?
No.
Happiest scene you’ve written?
About a character giving birth and becoming a mother.
Hardest scene you’ve written?
Yama gathering the soul of a newborn child.
If your book became a movie, who stars in it?
I write poetry, but if there is an actor I would cast to play some of the characters in my poem, it would be Hrithik Roshan.
What genre intimidates you?
Science fiction. I love it to bits but would dread getting the science aspects wrong!
A story you’re still afraid to tell?
My own. Autobiography.
One theme you keep returning to?
Grief
Favourite way to unwind?
Read
A hobby unrelated to writing?
Karaoke
An everyday luxury you enjoy?
My iPad
One thing you can’t live without?
Coffee
Favourite city?
Mumbai
Favourite season?
Monsoon
Sunrise or sunset?
Sunset
Introvert or extrovert?
Extrovert
A place that inspires you?
The Golden Temple
What’s currently bringing you joy?
Seeing my daughter discovering words
If you weren’t an author, what would you be?
Public speaker
One fictional world you’d move into?
Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings)
One famous author you’d invite for coffee?
JRR Tolkien
Bookstore or library?
Library (I was not rich enough to own all the books I wanted to read, so I did most of my reading at libraries!)
Literary award or bestseller list?
Bestseller list
If your life were a book, what’s the title?
My Autobiography – A Work of Fiction
One word readers would use to describe you?
Dark
One word you’d like them to use?
Intense
Most-used emoji?
🫡 Salute
A guilty pleasure read?
All Ludlum books. Quick reads that helped rebuild reading pace.
One thing on your bucket list?
Writing a book on Radheya/Karna from the Mahabharata
What’s next?
More poetry! Soon!
What’s one question nobody asks you, but you wish they would?
Why do you not write about happy things?