Between all the drudgery and soul-depressing monotony that days seem to have been comprised of lately, life does surprise you at times with such bright days as that make you feel alive again. One such day was the Saturday that passed - the 23rd of March - when thanks to Penguin India's Spring Fever festival at the IHC Delhi, life brought me face to face with the creator of my favorite piece of literature, the much-acclaimed Vikram Seth. The book, after that, is easy enough for my readers to guess.
For someone who dreams of building for herself a writer's future while being caught in the throes of engineering and career-building, meeting such a famous writer, talking to him, listening to him talk and recite his works - it's like a dream come true. And to get one of his greatest books signed by him in your name - priceless. I may sound all drooly and awestruck, but guess what? I am.
The day shall hopefully come when I am an acclaimed writer signing awestruck fans' copies of my own works (aaah...beautiful imagination, that). But as of now, this book has been classified into my list of utmost prized possessions. How I got Vikram Seth to sign my book before any of those 40 odd other fans' who were waiting in line, is a story I shall not tell. But the man is amazing. And he talks a lot when given a chance to. Ask him any question, and whether he directly answers it or simply gives it a clever slip, he shall surely spend the next 5 minutes talking. About anything and everything that his chain of thoughts leads him to. Anecdotes, his trademarked spontaneously rhymed sentences or such an animated recital of his poems - he's a total delight to listen to.
P.S. Since life's been so generous on me, here's earnestly wishing Amitav Ghosh comes to town soon. Preferably on a personal visit to my house. Sounds a bit far-fetched, sure, but hey, why not wish for the stars while you can?
P.P.S. The image quality of the first 3 pictures is bad, I know, despite having taken them from my faithful camera. Apologies!
For someone who dreams of building for herself a writer's future while being caught in the throes of engineering and career-building, meeting such a famous writer, talking to him, listening to him talk and recite his works - it's like a dream come true. And to get one of his greatest books signed by him in your name - priceless. I may sound all drooly and awestruck, but guess what? I am.
The day shall hopefully come when I am an acclaimed writer signing awestruck fans' copies of my own works (aaah...beautiful imagination, that). But as of now, this book has been classified into my list of utmost prized possessions. How I got Vikram Seth to sign my book before any of those 40 odd other fans' who were waiting in line, is a story I shall not tell. But the man is amazing. And he talks a lot when given a chance to. Ask him any question, and whether he directly answers it or simply gives it a clever slip, he shall surely spend the next 5 minutes talking. About anything and everything that his chain of thoughts leads him to. Anecdotes, his trademarked spontaneously rhymed sentences or such an animated recital of his poems - he's a total delight to listen to.
P.S. Since life's been so generous on me, here's earnestly wishing Amitav Ghosh comes to town soon. Preferably on a personal visit to my house. Sounds a bit far-fetched, sure, but hey, why not wish for the stars while you can?
P.P.S. The image quality of the first 3 pictures is bad, I know, despite having taken them from my faithful camera. Apologies!
All I could do was just smile after reading this! This was your dream come true! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I would definitely love to know how he signed this for you! :D
PS: Amen!! (for your wish!) :)
I have taught him well :')
ReplyDeleteThe ladeej dig him.
Congrats Mahima :) wish you more such moments!! *envious of u*
ReplyDeleteYou're an inspiration! I want to some day be published, too. Acclaimed, not really. But just seeing my work in print would be AMAZING, I think! More power to you :D
ReplyDelete@Rose - Thank you!! :) :)
ReplyDelete@Priya - Thank you so much :)
@Sushmit - Sure you have. How old were you, again?
ReplyDelete@sgrmse - If you dream, dream big! It gives more power and purpose to your endeavors. :)
ReplyDeleteBeing published would sure be amazing. Cheers to your dream! Thank you :)