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Reading sessions sans hype

Mandira Nayar

NEW DELHI: There will be no fringe benefits for going to these book readings at The Bookshop. Offering only the pure unadulterated pleasure of perhaps the most potent drug -- the written word -- there will be the exhilaration of a good book and intelligent conversation with its author.

Bringing back into the limelight the real "hero'' usually forgotten in big celebrity book launches, The Bookshop is trying to give old-fashioned readers the chance to take their reading experience a step further every month.

"We want to target real book lovers and have decided to start Meet the Author evenings every second Tuesday of the month. We hope that this is a trend that will catch on and other bookshops will start this. The idea is to get the readers involved and not make it a Page 3 event,'' said K. D. Singh who owns The Bookshop.

While it might sound like many of the highly publicised events that take place in the larger bookstores across in the city, The Bookshop event may be similar in idea but will be quite different in terms of "design''. The last of a dying breed, The Bookshop -- now moved to Jor Bagh market -- is still one of the few places where the helpers don't need a computer to locate a book or an author. Still for those who enjoy browsing through books without being disturbed, it is a place for people who just love to read.

Kicking off this real book event this Tuesday, The Bookshop has brought in Baby Halder. A domestic worker who has written a book "A Life Less Ordinary'', Halder has managed to make history of sorts in the publishing world. And unlike the title of her book, her life is not usual.

Defying stereotypes, she has managed to rightfully earn her place in the literary world. Her book has been published by Zubaan/Penguin and has been translated into several languages including Malayalam, Hindi, French, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese and Korean.

"We wanted to contact only serious book lovers, so we sent out emails to book clubs in the city. The store is small so we can fit only 25 people. But those who don't mind standing are most welcome,'' said Mr. Singh.

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