World Book Fair 2012

Delhi is busy celebrating books and readers at the World Book Fair 2012 at Pragati Maidan. I spent some quality hours at the stall of my company, Oxford University Press.


My friend, Sukhdeep, was kind enough to stop by at the stall and give me company. Not only that, he also insisted on clicking photographs to ensure I would have memories to cherish and showcase on the blog.



Unfortunately, I exhibited really bad social skills and forgot to even offer to click his photograph and he was kind enough to point that out. However, since I was too tired to pick the camera even then and oblige and so took a rain check. You can follow this 'asardar sardar' on Twitter. He goes by the handle: @s4sukhdeep


Sukhdeep and I went to say Hi! to brothers--Mayank and Tarang. They have started a very interesting venture called Dial-a-book.



Please visit their website Dial a Book and make the phone lines go crazy. You can also follow them on Twitter. They go by the handle: @dialabook


When Sukhdeep was busy going shutter-crazy, Mayank was in front of the lens while Tarang was busy shutting the stall down after a good day of business.

I will be visiting the book fair again and will get you more pictures soon. Today's post is all thanks to Sukhdeep.

Say Na Something Anupam Uncle!

Had the good fortune of attending a promotional event for actor Anupam Kher's book, The Best Thing About You is YOU! today.



My younger brother, Akshat, and I reached the beautiful bookshop called Bookwise 20 minutes before the event began and bought the book. Akshat was worried that the author might ask some questions based on the book and he took a seat and started reading the book while I mingled with people who were waiting for the amazing actor to arrive.

As is my wont, I tweeted: Waiting for @AnupamPkher at Bookwise in Shapurjat, Delhi. Lil brother has already started reading the book.

Within minutes I got a reply from him saying: At Bookwise :-)

I was floored by his punctuality. It was a refreshing change to attend an event in Delhi where the guest of honour was on time.

He spoke to the gathering about how the idea of penning down his thoughts came about. His anecdotes were hillarious and the audience responded to every joke with hearty laughter.



At the request of the event organizers, he read out a few paragraphs from his book.

At the question and answer session, when I asked him a Twitter related question, he promptly asked me if I was the one he had replied to and then surprised me by saying, "And your name is Priyanka." He correctly said that chances are I would remember that moment for a long long time.

Once the book reading was over, a painter called Ranjeet gifted Anupam a painting he had made in 24 hours. Unfortunately, I was unable to capture Ranjeet in my frame because of the crowd that had gathered near the author.



Akshat stood in the queque to get the book signed by the author while I went shutter crazy.


He was kind enough to pose for photographs with the fans. Here are Akshat and I posing with the actor-author.

It was a fantastic Saturday!

Psychedelic Art

After lights, water took my fancy. I forced my mother to assist me and together both of us created a storm in a bowl and the end result were these psychedelic photographs.

A Light Love Story

In a world which exists near India Gate, New Delhi, little hearts live.



The humans, who always seem to be in a hurry, seldom notice these beautiful colourful hearts.


They dance to the music they create and only they can understand.


Sometime ago, two white hearts that shone brighter than any other, saw each other and it was love at first sight!


The male heart gave the female heart a big red heart shaped balloon.



They came closer and the other happy hearts became bigger with all the love in their hearts.


The love was great and so magnificient that the two white hearts it seemed became ONE!


And they lived happily ever after :-)


P.S: My first attempt at custom bokeh. Hope you all liked it. I had a great time learning the technique.

The Lost Box

I get very emotional whenever I see a letterbox. In this day of instant messaging, even email is limited to official communication or sending a barrage of forwards which often are sent umpteen number of times. Writing letters, sticking stamps, dropping them in the letterbox and then anxiously waiting for a reply have sadly become a part of folklore. I remember writing letters to my grandparents. Some of those letters have stood the test of time and have been preserved by them for over 2 decades. One day, I'll show my children these letters and will try and explain the whole process of letter writing with great difficulty.


This neglected letterbox in Karol Bagh has been reduced to a place where people throw garbage and stick posters.

Karol Bagh

I could have come up with a more witty and artistic title for this post. But I think the title would have been a 1000 words long paragraph. Karol Bagh is a paradox. There is possibly everything that one might need in this market.

Shiny, brand new cars.


A sprawling market full of the best of brands


Clowns inviting you to the latest store of a fashion chain


Men selling cool lime water outside a store offering designer clothes for grooms


Box-shaped-cycle-pulled vehicles


An old, rusted scooter

Cameras
Lights


And many many more things that make this market a shopaholic's delight. So come shopping with me to Karol Bagh :-)