Went to Delhi for the book launch of "If you love someone" two days ahead. The flight was full of people we knew: Asif from AA Husain, the Midhani team, BG Raj. Delhi was pleasantly cold but the warmth of my friends blew me over. Suresh and Vasu put me up magnanimously at their guest house at Barakhamba Road, Bhaskar lent me his car and had me picked up from the airport in fact, Prasad used his PR experience extensively, D. Suresh made it all possible, Basant Pandey took time off his otherwise busy schedule, Das gave me his journo contacts, Tanuj gave me as much time as he could, Anil Kak, Sandeep, Sahu ...and many more.
The World Book Fair
First time at the World Book Fair and it was a pretty nice experience. Pragati Maidan is a huge place and Hall 1 had all the big names; Penguin, Harper Collins, Rupa, Hachette etc. Did not pick up any books because I did not want to lug any. Indialog had a stand in Hall 2 manned by Sahu and his Man friday, Bipin. Met Clement at the Fair which was great. Food was lousy. Distances were huge to and fro the gate. Crowds were manageable. Ambience was great.
Book launch
The book launch went off very well. Sheela did a fine job of compering. There was a capacity crowd with many familiar faces. Good to see Tanuj, Madhav, Bhaskar, Sandeep Nath, D. Suresh, Clement, Anil Kak, Domblekar, Annshu Mishra, Gita Rajan and her sister Radha, Prasad among the crowd. Anuradha Marwah gave the book a wonderful introduction. My reading went off without a hitch. And the Chief Guest Smt. Renuka Chowdhury gave a great speech that was far beyond my expectation. She dwelt on the book in detail, said that the protagonist was a 'real person' that every Indian woman could relate to, and that it was a sensitively written novel that everyone should read. The Press was in attendance in a fair number.
All in all it went off far better than I expected. Thank you all!
And I loved what I experienced of Delhi. Plan to go there again and explore it at leisure.
6 comments:
I had a hunch that the event organized for the book release of Harimohan's second novel is going to be a "time to remember" by him & his friends.I have read his first novel & immensely liked it. I am waiting for the book to come to my hands & will give my comments once I am through with reading --- Basant Jaitly, Jaipur ( Rajasthan ),India.
Well done, Hari. Good show and all the best. Hope to read your book and hope it does well. Keep on writing and keep up the good work.
Krishnan (Mumbai)
Super stuff Harry, looking forward to reading the book. Am also waiting for the movie release of the Men Within. Am sure it will be a huge hit.
Hey Hari..saw the pics of ur second book release and read the preview..looks like u have got a second bestseller on ur hands..u must advertise this by saying if u love someone..u must read "if u love someone". From what we discussed in the preminary stages i know its going to b a gr8 book and cant wait to read it..parag and me are proud of u for following ur dreams..
congrats
will get back to you after i read it
all the best
I've read this book. This book is amazing. Highly inspiring. Where love is not about being together and pushing each other as per your wish. The inspiration that encourages you to follow your decision, is love. Perfectly written. Thanks for writing such a beautiful story of Meghna and Aditya.
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