Bibliofile

Wrong Books

Early November is when Chandigarh’s bookworms crawl out of their many sectors. The city has not one but two litfests—The Chandigarh Lit­erary Festival (held at Chandigarh Club) and Literati, by the Chan­digarh Literary Society (at the Lake Club). This can lead to a lot of authors scratching their heads about where they should head. So, author Mahesh Rao joins a bunch of literary types at the railway station and gets into a car with five other speakers. The volunteers hand over kits to everyone else except him. As we reach Hotel Mountview, the CLF’s host, all are given their room keys, except Rao. Then it strikes one volunteer: could it be...is it possible...maybe you are? Yes, Mahesh Rao’s session was at Literati, not CLF.

Hear Hear

Author Alexander McCall Smith recounts an incident when he was to give a talk with William Dalrymple. In backs­t­age chat, Dalrymple asked Smith how old did he think his readers were, saying, “Mine are positively ancient”. Someone told them that the mikes were on and the audience can hear their chat. They were red in their faces but Smith consoled Dalrymple, “Never mind, Willie, if your readers are as old as that, they wouldn’t have heard anyway”.

Lucky Birdies

Penguin is serious about its children’s books—the fastest growing segment for many publishers—Puffin. There is a Puffin car roaming around on Delhi’s roads, The Wimpy Kid Car, based on the hit book ser­ies. If children spot it and send across a selfie with it, there are many books up for grabs.