The auditorium was packed. Everyone had something to say to the writer on stage and few even got a chance to. A teacher complained that his books couldn’t be taught to college kids, while another lady labelled him as an ‘elite writer’. “But how am I an elite writer? I was just told that my works have no literary value,” asked a bemused Chetan Bhagat, leaving the audience laughing.
It was the first day of The Hindu Lit for Life Festival 2015 and the last session of the day. The auditorium was full of people who stayed back just for this interaction, with some who came in earlier to get good seats to watch the man of the hour in conversation with Karthik Kumar.
The author spoke about handling criticism; moving away from his investment banking job to write his first book, which he described as a “naive, innocent and cute effort”, and his journey since; about speculations of him joining politics (“I'm so irreverent; I'll say something foolish everyday,” he laughed); about unfairly being held accountable for the actions of his protagonists; about the importance of having conversations about love and love-making; about his support of Perumal Murugan’s cause.
The author was relaxed and laid-back while having, what often felt like a living room conversation with Karthik. Every chance he got, he made a joke and digressed far from what was discussed, and collected his thoughts again to answer the questions he was asked. Like the reputation his books enjoy, he was less literary and more relatable. He took digs at Karthik, at himself and at everything else possible. He kept the session light and often had the audience collapsing into laughter, providing an engaging end to the first day of the festival.
