Saturday, March 06, 2010

The GreatBongBook...

...is out! I met Arnab for the first time last evening, just before the launch of May I Hebb Your Attention Pliss, and of course it didn't feel like we were meeting for the first time. We've been blog-buddies for over five years, having bonded over such topics as Revenge of the Sith and trollish commenters, back in the days when the Indian blogosphere was in diapers.

The panel discussion was fun: Nilanjana moderated expertly (not an easy task when you're juggling four bloggers, including yourself, and also trying to keep the focus on the book of the evening), Arnab was very articulate, Sidin was very funny, and I managed to keep my hair in place (and was later commended for it by Samit, Aishwarya and Aayush, who spent the evening sniggering away in the audience, as these literary types tend to do). Topics discussed were too many to list in full but included the Mithun film Gunda as Bollywood's seminal achievement; why blogs are more respectable than books; religious babies; Shah Rukh Khan as the Matsya avatar of Lord Vishnu; and women who weed south Indian men out of the gene pool because their names are too complicated. Peals of laughter rang through the hall, and not just from Arnab's family (who had been instructed to laugh at regular intervals).

Finally: DO NOT email Arnab asking him to mail you a PDF file of the book "because I find it easier to read books on the computer". If this really is the case, you should buy a hard-copy (from a bookshop) and get it scanned and transferred to the soft-copy format of your liking. That's the morally correct way to do these things, as any publishing house will tell you.

Update: Arnab's post about the event (along with pictures and videos) is here.

12 comments:

  1. Thanks Jai for attending and being part of the panel. I had a great time personally and the feedback I have gotten so far on the event has been universally great. The karz I have for your presence I will chukao in my agla janam when I will be reborn as Rishi Kapoor (if I have been good) or as Himesh (if I have been naughty).

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  2. After reading Aishwarya's copy of "Modern Love Letters" I don't think I fall under the 'literary types' category (not that I did before, but anyway).

    Also, you were quite humourous too with your almost-deadpan expressions while replying to Samit's query and I think you should be seen more often on panel discussions which only have a humour quotient to them :)

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  3. as a literary type, i must come up with a name for your hairstyle of yesterday: The Jainstein

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  4. Are we to read anything into the fact that you've refrained from commenting on the book itself?

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  5. aandthirtyeights: nope. It's a fun book, as you'd expect from reading Arnab's blog. This wasn't meant to be a review post.

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  6. Never in the history of book launches and discussions an acclaimed writer has supported another writer by singing the book of the writer.
    For me that was the funniest thing at the event.

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  7. ...by singing the book of the writer

    Abhishek: you mean "signing", I hope? Yes, that was fun - though I was careful to write ("PANELIST!") next to my signature.

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  8. while reading this blog, the book launch one, I almost imagined farhan akhtar...

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  9. off on a tangent, but from one cricket fan to another:
    it is going to be very interesting as john howard, former prime minister of australia arrives at the helm of the international cricketing body. i dont think the indians are afraid enough of the kind of (dirty) politics this man can play - and i am not sure if they can be any match...

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  10. Anon: no idea what this is about. I haven't followed cricket in years. Between 2005 and now, I've only seen fragments of a few Sachin innings (when I happen to find out that he's at the crease and I have a TV nearby), including the last 50 runs of the 200 not out. Otherwise, no cricket at all. Haven't ever watched 20-20 or IPL or anything.

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  11. I think we should have sung the book. In fact, all book readings should be book singings. Finnegans Wake has lots of little lovely hummy bits, for instance.

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  12. Not only should there be singing but, wherever and whenever possible, dancing as well. And this is totally in keeping with the spirit of things since Sidin wanted to get belly-dancers for his Bombay book launch! :)

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