7/20/2024
8:30 pm
Gajner Palace Summer Parlour
Keyur starts off with an excerpt from Tumhaare Baare Me by Manav Kaul (side note: absolutely loved the metaphors used).
He talks about friends during their younger years smoking cigarettes while chatting about their lofty dreams about what their future would be like. Typical wishful thinking, dreams of a big mansion, a dream job etc. But here they were many years later, with none of those dreams met, so all the dreams that they had back then were all gone. And the narration ended with a powerful line, one that highlighted that he stopped smoking cigarettes as well, a metaphor that ties all of it beautifully together since not only were all the dreams gone, the cigarette, which was probably the last thing that he had left from those younger years, was also now gone just like the dreams.
Then we move on to Bhavita ji narrating an excerpt from Rumi’s The Guest House. It was a lovely analogy of treating every guest the same way, with the same gratefulness and the same smile. Cleaning up the same way after every guest. Made me think that if my life is like a guest house, I must apply this policy with everyone I meet, and not be different with different people and rather be nice , warm and welcoming to all, irrespective of our differences. Powerful message from a powerful lady!
Next up, Samir ji reading a short story written by Bibhutibhushan Bondopadhyay, which of course did intrigue the Bengali in me. I do not want to spoil what was a typical and yet brilliant Bengali plot twist towards the end, so I shall not delve into that here, however Samir Ji’s narration of the part of how ideal Radhamohan’s ancestral home was according to the protagonist, and how he often felt like his now deceased ancestors were probably unhappy with him after he inherited this mansion, is not only a joy to listen to but also very impactful to the twist towards the end of the story.
Priya Sogani, the Robin Williams in our (alive) poets society, then recited an excerpt from Mic Testing (a short piece from Rajasthani Lok Kathaye).
It was about Subodh ji and Roli and a beautiful analysis of expectations within any relationship. Subodh ji was worried that he wasn’t ‘heroic’ enough when they were at a restaurant but he didn’t scold the waiter for a mistake he made that affected Roli. Subodh ji had romanticized the idea of being the knight in shining armor, ready to challenge anyone who inconvenienced his damsel in distress. However, Roli then told him that firstly she can very well take care of herself but secondly and more importantly, she fell for Subodh ji because he was a kind person with a soft heart. These were the characteristics that made her fall in love, and she would never expect him to be any different, since that would contradict the properties that she had fallen in love with. Made me think a lot about relationships in general as well, about how sometimes we try to subscribe to the stereotypical notions of portraying affection, not realising that the person she had fallen in love with wasn’t some hero from an action movie but rather just whoever he was deep down.
Up next, Anagha reading Lessons in Chemistry, one of my personal favourite romantic tragedies (do NOT let the title mislead you) that I’ve come across recently.
The passage that Anagha had chosen was one that dealt with Liz talking about her insecurities with her boyfriend Calvin. She felt that she was never recognised by anyone as her own independent individual self. She was the daughter of an arsonist when she was a kid, in high school she was THAT girl who was molested by that teacher, and now at work she felt that she was the girlfriend of 3-time Nobel nominee Calvin, instead of being perceived as a successful female scientist on her own accord. These were the reasons of her insecurities as well as her unwillingness to marry Calvin and have kids with him. But then Calvin clarified that he actually meant that they should get a dog, not a kid (SURE man whatever you say) and that’s the origin story of the couple’s dog who has hands down the best dog name in fiction in my books!
Next up, the Prince at Gajner recited Bulletproof Pyaar (remix) from Rajasthani Lok Kathaye. Most of it was pure unadulterated smut (in a positive way of course, we’ve all been there folks…)
It’s the same story as Priya’s about Subodh ji and Roli. Subodh ji asks her to make poha. He says he would love cashews (or maybe peanuts, not important) in the poha, to which she asked him if he wanted chillies and salt in his poha as well. He replied to her by saying that he already had her to eat if he wanted chillies and salt (calm down, bossman, there are kids reading this)
Maharaja Bharath was next with ‘Chasing the Monsoon’ by Alexander Frater.
The excerpt was from when the rains just started pouring in Kochi, when the narrator was in a coffee shop. Immediately after it started raining, lots of people entered the coffee shop for obvious reasons. However, the downpour was such that water had seeped in to the shop. However, that inconvenience did not seem to bother anyone in the coffee shop, as the narrator portrays how this occasion triggered the spirit of comrade among everyone present there. Guests and waiters worked together in unison to mop the floors, portraying how problems can seem tiny when everyone’s helping each other and everyone’s in good spirits.
Mitesh is reading Ishqyapa by Pankaj Dubey. He has as always the most chatpate dialogues. His hindi पुस्तक plots never fail to entertain us .
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Full Moon Edition
7/21/24
8pm
Gajner Palace Balcony by the lake
Charmi charms us with the good old Alchemist by Paolo Coelho.
She narrates the part where Santiago, who travels from Spain to Egypt in search of hidden treasures in Giza, is stuck in the Sahara for a few weeks due to the ongoing war. However, he falls in love in Egypt and asks her to marry him. He told her that the war seemed like a blessing to him as he got to spend the extended period of time with her. However, when the group was finally leaving the Sahara back to search for the treasure, he told her that the real treasure was her.
She replied that all women in the Sahara romanticize these groups that leave to hunt for treasure. Dunes change with time and wind (signifying the fleeting moments of men stopping at the Sahara before finally resuming their journey to Giza) but the desert remains the same (her current state). The desert always takes men away from the women in Sahara, and the men become part of the clouds (a metaphor for women staring at the clouds wishfully, waiting for the men to be back) and whenever any one man does return, it gives all the women hope. She realised she was one of those women now.
Jainal was next, with a 3 parter from 3 different books. Desire by Murakami & A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum & Stories from Here & There.
Rohan, from the great Kingdom of Rohan from Lord of the Rings, was next with Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain and my goodness what an absolute banger of an excerpt did we have to finish up!
Gautam read Ulysses by James Joyce. He starts off with the line ‘James joyce is a troll’ as his book is a parody of odyssey by Homer. Gautam goes on how protagonist of the book roams the town and does not want to go back home to his cheating wife. He then goes on to explain how much the author has unnecessarily described the city and its characters . Gautam finally starts reading his book after what feels like an eternity….
And lights went out !
In his autobiography, Bourdain talks about a specific interview that he was giving in the hopes of being a sous chef at a prestigious restaurant. The owner asked him a question “what do you know about me?”
Unsure of what the question was, Bourdain asked the owner to repeat the question once again, and it seemed like the same question was repeated back.
Bourdain very hilariously portrays what was going through his mind within the few seconds before answering the question, he thought first off that the question was incredibly snobbish and narcissistic in nature and then he comes up with a few of the funniest sarcastic jibes I’ve ever heard, but of course refrains from saying those words out to the owner. Instead, in all his confusion over such an unorthodox question, he gave what felt like a safe answer, “next to nothing”
The look of disapproval on the owner’s face after that seemed strange to Bourdain as he wondered whether he should rather have given an answer that would satiate the owner’s ego a bit more. However later on it finally hit him. He had just misheard the question. “What do you know about meat”
Vallari is reading Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak , which she has yet to complete. Reading in cafes is romanticized but it’s not for everyone like Vallari here. She goes on to talk about protagonist of her book who doesn’t have love in her life 💔 Though she has a husband in the book. “Love is not just a sweet feeling that goes away” profound lines from her book.
And in conclusion Priya talks about when the cockroach from Kafka’s Metamorphosis comes back to human form. All he knows is his name, nothing else. There was pain that he was feeling but he was unsure why it was, until he realised that the pain was actually hunger. By this time in the session, it was 9:30pm, which meant that all of us to an extent related with that feeling for sure, which was our cue to go for the lavish dinner awaiting us, marking the end of an amazing session!
Written by: Gautam & Prince
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