Second Book Walk in Delhi NCR

 Past Sunday I organized the second book walk for my meetup group and it wasn’t a grand success as barring me, the number of participants was one less than last time. Last time, we had two participants. :P

I wasn’t disappointed though because it is not bad for a start. The purpose of the book walk was fulfilled where I met someone who had an interest in books and was willing to share his thoughts. I wish this idea snowballs into something beautiful one day.

Mr Hitesh Rathi, an engineer by profession seemed to have a keen eye for good contemporary nonfiction books. He told me that he had recently completed the book ‘Breaking India’ by Rajiv Malhotra and would highly recommend it. He told me that the book contained 60 pages of bibliography and was a thoroughly researched book. As he was into Indian history and busting myths, I recommended him my favourite book on the topic- ‘Sanskriti Ke Chaar Adhyay’ by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. Very few people know that Dinkar was actually a historian by education and he took up literature as a hobby later.

Mr Rathi also shared his views about the popular series of Games of Thrones and I couldn’t but ruefully mourn my ignorance in the fantasy fiction department.

I also seem to get the same reaction from every book lover when I tell them I haven’t yet read Mario Puzo’s Godfather which is a wide-eyed look of surprise. I need to read it ASAP. I am losing face.

 

I shared my experience of reading Indian authors- Amitav Ghosh and Arundhati Roy in their respective works The Shadow Lines and The God of Small Things. Mr Rathi talked about how some movies more than make up for the books. We also talked about how the book ‘Shantaram’ is a literary gem.

His prime recommendation to me was ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen R Covey. 

I have never touched the genre of motivational books but he talked pretty enthusiastically about it. We also gave a quick thought to Paulo Coelho and how all his books other than 'The Alchemist' were a bit disappointing. We discussed the idea of pooling our reading lists together in the group so that when we meet, we have an idea of who is going to talk about what. Mr Rathi was a keen follower of Indian tradition and wanted to read more about it. He wants to learn Sanskrit so that he can read a firsthand account of Yajurveda etc. I applauded the idea.

Hope to see more people in the next book walk.

Here’s a short note to thank Teja and Pathik for showing up at the first meet. I have bought and am reading Teja’s recommendation- ‘Kane and Abel’ by Jeffrey Archer.

Until Next Time!

Do join us by signing up for the group AND the meet at- http://www.meetup.com/Talking-Books-in-Delhi/events/219372313/