CSA at the Book fair on 17th Nov

CSA at the Book fair on 17th Nov.

The main hall at the Chandigarh Book Fair was once again the hub of literary activity which commenced early in the morning and continued all day. Most of the activities were hosted by the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi, beginning with book launches and author interactions.

It seems as though the residents of Chandigarh are becoming more and more creative day by day, judging from the number of books being published in the city. There are established writers coming up with new titles and also emerging new voices joining the literary chorus.

Pam Handa, who has moved to Chandigarh recently, launched her book of poems in English: "Kismet and Karma".  Subhash Sharma has translated Madhav Kaushik's Hindi poems into Punjabi and published them as "Parat aao Paarth".  Anant Sharma has published Hindi poems under title "Kabhi Khatam nahi hoti Kavita."  These titles, among others were released at the Book Fair this morning. Charandeep Singh and Ekum Manuk brought out their debut books. The Ahmadiya Society came up with a book on world peace.

The special guest of the day, poet and journalist Parminderjeet Singh released all these titles and then engaged the audience in a discussion of poetry, reciting some of his moving poems to an appreciative gathering. It was indeed another busy day of the CSA but everyone in the packed hall seemed to enjoy the sessions.

In the evening there was an interactive session with the very young and successful writer Sachin Garg who belongs to the rapidly burgeoning tribe of talented MBA graduates who combine their literary talent with marketing strategies. Sachin has published several bestsellers till date and is now a full-time writer. Engaged in a lively conversation with Meenu Gupta, he talked about the ideas that trigger his imagination, the need to be disciplined in one's writing habits, as also his passion for travelling and his love for people. 

Sachin came across as a very amiable young man with starry dreams in his eyes and a confidence to see his dreams turn into reality. Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi wishes him luck in his future enterprises.

The evening session marked the last of CSA events at the Book Fair. The Valedictory function will be held tomorrow and then it will be curtains on the event that has caused a giant ripple in this City Beautiful!

Thank you, UT Administration & NBT, for providing this delightful treat to all book lovers!

Photographs taken today are being posted on CSA Facebook.

November 16 at the Book Fair

At the Book Fair today the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi was busy indeed, first with book launches, then with an author-interaction, and finally with a kavi sammelan.

Among the local authors whose books were launched was a fifteen year old girl from Bhavan Vidyalaya. Ishita Aggarwal has penned a novel entitled Lieability in which the main protagonist is a  high school girl from the eighth class who has the uncanny ability to detect lies! Ishita spoke about her book and her love for writing and her talk was much appreciated particularly by the youngsters in the audience.

A Banker who Writes:

Ravi Subramaniam hails from the south but he considers himself a punjabi. "I am a Punjoo at heart," he says, "having lived in Ludhiana for 17 of his formative years.

An IIM Bangalore graduate who became a best-selling author with his If God Was a Banker, Ravi is serious about his creative writing although he says he will never give up his regular job for the sake of novels. His inside information of the banking system, gathered over almost two decades of his career, gave him the raw material for his books. Although he is steeped in non-literary subjects like banking and economy, he uses his background as a framework against which he builds his stories.

Ravi writes thrillers which sell like hot cakes because they portray men and women who are not super-human beings but ordinary creatures that his readers can identify with. 

His latest book is Bankerupt, again on similar lines and Ravi is happy with its sales.

Not only did Ravi talk about his novels, he also spoke of the art of writing, the techniques he follows, and the need for pushing the sales of a book. Writing, he feels, is the easiest part of being a novelist. The major challenge lies in pushing the sales and many a good book suffers because it is not marketed properly.

The audience appreciated the author's candid talk and his account of the discipline and regularity he had to practice in order to produce his novels.  Of particular interest to all was the fact that Ravi Subramaniam's father was also a writer and his daughter had published her first novel last year at the age of thirteen. So much for the literary leanings in the family!

The grand finale of the evening was a Kavi Sammelan in which several poets participated, reciting their poems in Hindi and in Punjabi. Among those who recited their poems were Laaj Pushp, Kumar Vinod, Gyan P Vivek, Virendra Madhur, Dr Mukta, Sharanjit Kaur, and Janak Raj. 

Tomorrow the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi will hold book launches and author interactions in the morning. In the evening there ill be a discussion with writers Nitika Singh and Sachin Garg.

Stories from the Kitchen

Day 3 at the Book Fair

So this was Tara Deshpande, the lady with the dimpled cheek and the winsome smile, with a bagful of stories gathered from the kitchen space. Stories with the flavour of cinnamon and pepper, and cloves and garlic.

At the Chandigarh Book Fair this evening the star attraction was Tara Deshpande who opened for the Chandigarh audience a totally new take on literature.  Whereas the Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi has encouraged its speakers to explore the various dimensions of literature and its multifarious connections with diverse fields like music and art and painting and cinema, this evening a totally novel perspective was unravelled before the packed hall at the Book Fair: cuisine and creativity!

Tara Deshpande has donned many hats in her career: as a stage artist, as an actress, writer, former model and MTV VJ. She has appeared in several acclaimed films such as Sudhir Mishra's Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin and Kaizad Gustad's Bombay Boys. She played Begum Sumroo in Alyque Padamsee's play of the same name. Since her marriage to an American citizen and moved to Boston in 2001, she has shuttled betweeen Bombay and Boston where she has been running a catering agency. Her husband, a graduate of Harvard Business School, is in finance. Tara published her first book, Fifty and Done (Harper Collins) at the age of 23. Her latest book A Sense for Spice: Recipes and Stories from a Konkan Kitchen (Westland Publishers 2012) has become a best seller.

In an animated conversation with CSA Chairperson, Manju Jaidka, Tara explored the relationship between food on the one hand and folk-lore, myth, history and culture, she spoke at length on how cuisine can be a bridge of understanding between peoples and how food and literature are inextricably intertwined.

A fascinating talk indeed, on a subject the is of interest to one and all, it was attended by a number of dignitaries and their wives. Mrs Ninette Sharma, wife of the Adviser to the Administrator, was present in the audience and felicitated the speaker.

Bhaag, Milka, Bhaag!

Chandigarh Book Fair 2013

This was soon after the inauguration of the Book Fair by His Excellency, the Governor, Shri Shivraj Patil.

The especially erected main hall of the exhibition was packed to capacity. From a distance you could hear the din. The heaving crowd within the tent roared, almost as though it were baying for someone's blood. From time to time there were catcalls and hoots and whistles.

But if you mustered up enough courage and approached the tent you would see that the noise did not emanate from anger or any other negative emotion. The young and the old packed like sardines were full of enthusiasm. Their excitement was almost palpable. They were waiting for their celebrity, Milkha Singh, the Flying Sikh.

And they waited! Waited patiently for the legendary hero.

Milkha Singh came slightly late. But he dashed in and almost dashed out. It almost felt as though he were running a 400 metre race, teasing his captive audience, cocking a snook and challenging them with a "catch me if you can!"

In the very precious half hour that the Flying Sikh spent with the tumultuous crowd he told them about his achievements and the lessons he had learnt in life. He exhorted them to work hard, not to cut corners, and keep on persevering until they reach their goal.

Apart from his bio-pic, "Bhaag, Milkha, Bhaag," the sportsman of yesteryears has penned an autobiography with the help of his daughter. It is entitled "The Race of my Life". Published this year by Rupa, it is an inspirational account of the ups and downs of his life, the courage and fortitude with which he overcame obstacles, and the hard lessons he learnt.

The crowd sat spell-bound and listened. But when Milkha Singh wanted to leave they all rushed on to the stage and mobbed him. The Flying Sikh had to do a disappearing trick and was whisked away deftly by the very efficient security guards provided by the UT Administration.

All in all a great start to a long-awaited Book Fair.

AKADEMI AT THE CHANDIGARH BOOK FAIR 2013

Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi will be very busy at the upcoming Chandigarh Bookfair to be held at the
Parade Ground, Sector 17, from 13th to 17th November. 

Take a look at what we are doing:

Nov 13: Ru-ba-ru with Sh Milkha Singh at 6pm

Nov 14: Childrens' Day Celebration at 11 am to 1 pm

Nov 15: Interaction with Sh Surjit Patar at 6pm

Nov. 16: Meet the author, Ravi Subramaniam, at 5 pm
              Kavi Darbar at 6 pm

Nov. 17: Book Launches and Author interactions from 11 am to 1 pm
             Meet the Writers: Nitika Singh and Sachin Garg from 6 to 7pm