The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Actor’s daughter steals the show

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Thursday, Aug 02, 2007
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Actor’s daughter steals the show

Staff Reporter

Having read the book more than once, she was eminently qualified to take the questions

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

KEEPING IT ALIVE: Actor Ramesh Aravind interacting with the children during the book reading session of J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ in Bangalore on Wednesday.

BANGALORE: Actor Ramesh Arvind did the smartest thing when he accepted the invitation to read the latest Harry Potter book at Crossword on Residency Road. He turned up with his teenaged daughter Neharika, who fielded most of the questions shot at him.

She was eminently qualified, having read each of the books in the series 42 times, if the number given by her dad is accurate. In fact, she did the job so well some in the audience even insisted on Neharika answering their questions.

Even as Mr. Arvind was concluding his introductory remarks, he was faced with a bouncer: “Who will die ultimately in the latest book?” He simply turned to his more clued in daughter to unfold the mystery.

Which she did after ensuring that she would not kill the book for any prospective reader among the audience.

Then came more questions: How did you react when nudge-nudge-wink-wink died? How did you react? “Honestly, I cried,” said Neharika and went on naming characters in the series whose deaths she mourned. Then she brightened, saying J.K. Rowling was coming up with another series. Her source? A website, of course.

Mr. Aravind was comfortable answering general questions. Will not our children’s interest in magic and brooms take them away from reality? (Not at all.) Why do Potter movies not match the books? (“A movie is just an interpretation of the original word.”) What about piracy? (“Readers have to stop buying pirated copies.”)

The fact that his son was crestfallen at not receiving an acknowledgement to his fan mail to Daniel Radcliffe, hero of the Potter movies, taught him the importance of writing back to his own fans. He has begun to clear his inbox fast.

Mr. Arvind said his interest in the series was basically because of “my children”. It was a nice sight when three children in his family with their individual copies were competing finish reading the book first.

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