Day dreaming, playing doctor, carrying tales, innocence mingled with mischief…if these are some of the things we best remember about our childhood, then this and many more memories came alive at a book reading session held at Landmark, Citi Centre on Wednesday.
With versatile theatre personality Yog Japee of Theatre Y reading aloud some of the choicest extracts from Daisy Hasan's The To-Let House, the audience, for sure, had something to jog their memory.
The book reading is a prelude to The Hindu Best Fiction Award, instituted by The Hindu Literary Review as a precursor to its 20th anniversary. Eleven books have been shortlisted for the Award, and the winner will be announced at a literary function in the city on November 1.
Mr. Japee, through his lively descriptions, showcased the style of the writer and brought some of the main characters before the eyes. “Shillong cracks open like a child's story book…,” “Swing swings from the strongest branches of the plum tree…,” “Addy, go away…you cannot be in our secrets”, “Fragrance of warm chapattis from the neighbour's kitchen”. Each of these descriptions was magically evoked the beauty of Shillong where the story is set. The book is about the four children — Di, Clemmie, Kulay and Addy — who grow into adolescence together.
Tanvi Shah, the Grammy award-winning singer, set the tone for the evening by introducing the author. The U.K.-based Daisy Hasan is currently pursuing her post-doctoral research at the University of Leeds and this is her debut work published by Tara Books. Ms. Shah said the literary scene has been energised with The Hindu Best Fiction Award .
The audience enjoyed the breezy reading that took many down memory lane. C.S. Nagarajan loved the description of the train journey. For Usha Japee everything about the book was very pictorial. “I was reminded of my childhood. Some parts were very poetic.”
Seline Augustine of The Hindu proposed a vote of thanks.
