February 16, 2019. I readied the usual ingredients for a book launch: drafting a media release; inviting a guest to release my latest book,...
February 16, 2019. I readied the usual ingredients for a book launch: drafting a media release; inviting a guest to release my latest book, Song Sung Blue; preparing festoons from the novel’s paintings to decorate the rather sombre Black Box auditorium of the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, Goa; wrapping the copies to be released in jute; baking the carrot cake and ordering tea. Since 2007, this had become the sole means of promoting my books. Self-publish, self-launch, self-sell – or give up writing.
It happened to be the day of a major traffic disturbance. So we setup shop and waited nervously. The chief guest was already in attendance but the 100-seater Black Box was forlorn and empty. Finally, some thirty minutes after the scheduled time, people began to walk in. Just before the end of the formal book release, someone among the 35-odd guests suggested that Margao city in South Goa should have its own Book Club.
Everyone present seconded the suggestion. Soon the attendees regrouped, phone numbers were shared, and the first book-reading date for Song Sung Blue was finalised. The signatories comprised surgeons, college professors, lawyers, IT professionals, journalists, bankers and students. It seemed a stroke of destiny that such an eclectic bunch had come together.
There were...
