“Propped up in the middle on bean bags facing each other under calming warm yellow lights, reading from Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s ‘Unscripted’.”
POCKET DIARY BOOK CLUB
MINUTES OF THE MEETING
Year 2023
Edition 13
13/05/2023, 5:00 PM
We started it with a bit of a twist. As the readers slowly started filling up the studio, me and Sandeep were
propped up in the middle on bean bags facing each other. Everyone was intrigued with the new setup and the
calming warm yellow lights which washed over us all. We started off edition 13th with buddy reading from Vidhu
Vinod Chopra’s book Unscripted.
The autobiography of filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra , which includes his journey in film -making, his
conversations with Abhijat Joshi and moments which made his life a memorable one. एक ककस्सा from the book
was dramatized by us. एक ककस्सा where VVC received his winning money of 4,000 rupees in bonds instead of
cash as he had anticipated. What he did next would never be believed by anyone. He requested tha t the then-
minister L.K. Advani gave him cash instead, and he also suggested the president give him the cash if Advani
won’t do it. Everyone chuckled at this.
https://youtu.be/u9lkg3s3hVQ (Rehearsal Day: Dramatic Reading)
I read a paragraph in which they discuss goin g to see Charlie Chaplin, meeting Peter O’Toole, visiting Ghalib’s
mazar, and many dolphin moments. At the mention of Ghalib, Sandeep reminiscence his visit to Ghalib’s mazar:
It was a sunny day, but the floor of his grave was cold, so he sat there and recited Diwan -e-Ghalib and also
showed it to the readers as it was conveniently there on the new bookshelf.
न था क ु छ तो खुदा था, क ु छ न होता तो खुदा होता
डुबोया मुझ को होने ने, न होता मैं तो क्या होता
This couplet is engraved on Ghalib’s mazaar.
…
Yogesh. New Look. Stark bald. Concerned, Rajesh bent on one knee and talked in a hushed voice. Yogesh
dismissed him. It was Yogesh’s personal fight (call it a feat) with the heat.
After the regular round of rules which now many readers speak/mutter/sing along, this time around we
introduced Yogesh as the activity curator of our book club . Yogesh then went on to tell us that he required 6
members to volunteer for the next edition’s activity and that the volunteers would get what they have always
wanted (Well now we have your attention!). The volunteers were to select a profession they had always
dreamed of and act like it, rest of the information will be given by Yogesh later on.
…
Keeping in lieu with the premises that we started on , the first reader today had brought something that the
theatre and Bollywood buffs amongst us would be pretty interested in.
Bhavita came with this fun book, In a Cult of Their Own: Bollywood
Beyond Box Office by Amborish Roychoudhary.
The way she chirped “Aila” and the entire movie was projected upon
everyone’s mind.
Bhavita had earlier in the week thrown two book titles at Nirali, and
looking at the quirkiness and the sheer curiosity, Nirali said ‘let’s gamble’
in her mind and said why don’t you bring this Bollywood wala book, it
looks interesting. Well curiosity didn’t kill Nirali this time around and boy
oh boy what a start to the edition.
Countless undiscovered ‘gems’ exist in Bollywood’s cinematic universe,
which churn thousands of films every year. And this book explores that
very firmament of lost celestial bodies which have, for one reason or the
other, failed at the quintessential “box office” but figured out a way to survive and created their niche in our
hearts. This book had all those movies which were not for the masses but for the classes. (Cheeky )
Bhavita selected Mad Misadventures; Andaz Apna Apna, a movie which flopped back then (one cannot fathom
why). All with the iconic crime master Gogo, Mr. Bajaj and Teja “किलान के मुताकिक …” this was a classic cocktail
of success. Well, well… as all good art forms are classified, it too was Avant-garde.
Everyone was chanting the dialogues with Bhavita:
“Teja main hu, mark idhar hai.”
“Crime master Gogo. Aaya hu to kuch leke jaaunga.”
“Wo commissioner hoga to apne ghar ka hoga.”
“Sotey samay awaz to nahin karte ho na.” “Pass mein kabristan hai wahan se ccomplain nahi ani chahiye.”
“Suraj dhalne ke baad batti nahi jalana.” By order Sevaram
Almost wishing we could actually put in every funny punny thing said over the conversations that followed.
…
After toe dipping in the tinsel town, we had one more genre being introduced to the book club meeting and
albeit for the first time. Bharat read from Uzumaki by Junji Ito
Manga, Anime, Uzumaki, Naruto….
To be frank we started from scratch , i.e., how to pronounce these
terms. In Bharat’s words when it comes to graphic novel , he has a
banger locked and loaded and he brought it. How to go about it? He
had it all structured.
Spirals are what the word ‘Uzumaki’ denotes. We too started finding
patterns and spirals around us. Bharat and Nirali both spotted the
Warli painting hanging on the wall below the Hogwarts lamp with
spiral pattern and pointed it out to others.
Nirali claimed that while she had never watched an anime, she was
shocked to learn that Naruto and Pokémon were in fact from the anime series. Uzumaki follows a high-school
teenager, Kirie Goshima; her boyfriend, Shuichi Saito; and the citizens of the sma ll, quiet Japanese town of
Kurouzu-cho, which is cursed by supernatural events involving spirals.
It was new for most members. An art form from Japan, many of us did not know about. Also, the Japanese write
from right to left and the novels are also to be read from right to left.
After spiraling a bit into Japanese cult-literat-ure, we came to know about Najabai and Tehmina. It is a story of
their livelihood.
…
Ankit read us this story from Tales from Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry , a collection of short st ories. Ankit
wanted us to retrospect on the story and everyone was reminded of how their childhood and the arrival of
gadgets always brought a lot of mayhem and galores of memories.
Kusangi read Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. The author defines a tipping point as “the moment of critical
mass, the threshold, the boiling point.” The book seeks to explain and describe the “mysterious” sociological
changes that mark everyday life. “Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread like viruses do.”
For the first time, Shreevidya attended the Pocket Diary Book Club. She and Harshvardhan are the first Pocket
Diary Book Club (a.k.a. PDBC) members under the age of 18.
She sat there confident and yet with eager bright eyes near the bookshelf. She selected Anne Frank’s Diary of
a Young Girl for her debut edition. She read us the passage from the book’s final chapter in which Anne Frank
describes her journey. The voice comman ded interest, awe and adoration from us all. The way she read and
the way she felt r ight at home amongst us varied bunch of readers was simply filling us with a sense of pride.
The youth has arrived.
She had selected the last entry in the diary, dated August 1, 1944, discussing Anne’s feelings of loneliness and
longing for freedom. She ex presses her desire to make something of her life and her hope to become a writer
and journalist after the war.
“Actually, I’m what a romantic movie is to a profound thinker —a mere diversion, a comic interlude, something
that is soon forgotten: not bad, but not particularly good either.”
Isn’t it surprising that there has been a book about World War II in practically every edition. Shreevidya made a
diary based on the book and named it Anne. It was such a wholesome feeling to see young adults tuned in to
the books and how.
Nirali – ‘You can still read. You have 15 seconds.’
To lighten up the atmosphere Rajesh said – ‘िहुत वक़्त दे कदया आिने तो साहि ।‘ (with a slight chuckle) Following
that, Ankit, Kusangi, and Priya started admonishing one another to keep discussion short because we were
running short of time. And Rajesh was stunned and said – ‘ये सार े टेढ़ े लोग एक द ू सर े को चुि होने को क्ोों िोल रहे
है?’
…
We were all asked a question when we had all settled down.
‘Can you name any famous woman who has worked on the ground during World War II?’
She had a code name, Nightingale. Ruchi introduced us to the book Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. The book
tells the story of two sisters in France during World War II and their struggle to survive and resist the German
occupation of France . The book was inspired by the story of a Belgian woman, Andrée de Jongh , who helped
downed Allied pilots escape Nazi territory.
“Code-named Nightingale, Isabelle led the injured soldiers alone through the rugged mountainous terrain on
foot. Instead of applauding her for sav ing lives when she arrived at the embassy, they were stunned. The
Embassy is more surprised that a lady is capable of doing this than it is that the soldiers were saved. She was an
active member of the resistance against Nazi Germany.”
…
“Today I begin a new life.” said Yogesh.
He was reading from the book The Greatest Salesman in the World by OG Mandino. It serves as a philosophy
of salesmanship and success, telling the story of Hafid, a poor camel boy who achieves a life of abundance. It
encourages a positive mindset, personal growth, and the pursuit of success through the cultivation of positive
habits and adherence to guiding principles.
Principle 8 of the book – I will laugh at the world.
Rajesh wanted to hear the backdrop of the book citing, Yogesh always left him curious about background of the
stories and he said – ‘आज िताओ आि योगेश जी। इस कहानी में क्ा है? कदक्कत क्ा है? िर े शानी क्ा है? मुद्दा क्ा
है?’
…
Our next reader Prita, a first-time visitor, sat patiently , listening to conversations and taking in the ongoings .
She gave us a gist of the book she is currently reading, Everyman’s war by Raghu Raman.
Even as outrage over safety of women and rising terror take cent er stage, there continues to be limited access
to information on the subjects of national defense and security, especially in language that a layman can
understand. He recalibrates the great ‘I ndia rising’ story with its real and present dangers and the role of a
regular citizen in this everyman’s war.
We also talked about Salman Rushdie’s work that she had read recently and how his magical realism works for
some and not for all.
…
Rajarshi took us to the stories of Ramayan. Sita’s Sister by Kavita Kane.
“Re-vision:
the act of looking back, of seeing with fresh eyes, of entering an old text from a newcritical direction is for
women more than a chapter in cultural history. It is an act of survival.
– Adrienne Rich
Mythology has always been a part of our collective unconsciousness. It has and will always rule our values and
belief system. As Roland Barthes says in his Mythologies, myth is a special form of the myth told with an
intention. The famous epics of India, the Ramayan and the Mahabhara t are always used to present the
quintessential woman so that the patriarchal norms are maintained. However, rewriting the mythology has
been an effective tool of feminists to subvert the ideas of the ideal woman.
Urmila, is the most unheard character of the Ramayana. She is always accused of not accompanying her
husband, unlike Sita. Sita’s Sister presents the Ramayana from Urmila’s perspective. The rewriting gives voice to
the unheard and marginalised Urmila and present her in a very different perspective.”1
…
Prince continued reading The Da Vinci code by Dan Brown. He started with the first chapter. Robert Langdon,
the expert on Symbology is on an adventure of uncovering the truth about Holy Grail following a murder. Prince
kept reading after 3 bells . Finish the sentence . He went till the last sentence of the pages long conversation.
Rajesh had to say, ‘You are a good sentence.’
Abhishek – ‘I am gonna read तुम्हारी औकात क्या है? by Piyush Mishra’
Priya – ‘तुम ही िता दो।‘
“यह आत्मकथा कजतनी िाहर की कहानी िताती है — ग्वाकलयर, कदल्ली, एनएसडी, मुम्बई, साथी कलाकारोों आकद की —उस
से ज़्यादा भीतर की कहानी िताती है, कजसे ऐसी गोचर दृश्यावली में किरोया गया जो कभी -कभी ही हो िाता है।“
Rajesh has read this book and he told us a few excerpts from the book about Piyush Mishra.
“जहााँ ध्यान से नहीों िहोोंचा जा सकता , वहाों अकभनय से िहुोंचा जा सकता है।”
While ringing the bell, it fell from Nirali’s hands and broke in two parts. Which gave Rajesh so much happiness
he said ‘Yes, गयी ये मुसीित की जड़।‘
1 https://www.academia.edu/37781245/HEARING_THE_UNHEARD_A_STUDY_OF_SITAS_SISTER
It was around 7 PM and Disha read the book Call me by your name by Andre Aciman, and even though she was
running over schedule, she read it with such love and patience . PDBC won’t let you leave without listening to
the book you brought to us!
Oliver and Olio’s tale. She began reading the passage in which Oliver is leaving for the United States and Olio is
heartbroken because it was his first love and first heartbreak. Hearing this Ruchi went outside for a few minutes.
She did not want any spoilers since she was reading the same book.
So, Olio tried to talk to his father about his
heartbreak only to know that his father knew about
his relationship already.
“He came. He left. Nothing else had changed. I had
not changed. The world had not changed. Yet
nothing would be the same. All that remains is
dream-making and strange remembrance.”
Many readers had watched the movie but had not
read the book. I strongly suggest reading the book.
…
Yatvi read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. She too was attending the edition for the first time. The Alchemist
has been everyone’s favorite at a given point of time. Yatvi, like a magician, pulled out a masterpiece of a passage
from the book and boy! Were we shook. She read the part where the boy meets Fatima on his path to find the
elixir of life.
“When he looked into her dark eyes, and saw that her lips were
poised between a laugh and silence, he learned the most
important part of the language that all the world spoke — the
language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in
their heart. It was love. Something older than humanity, more
ancient than the desert. Something that exerted the same force
whenever two pairs of eyes met, as had theirs here at the well. She
smiled, and that was certainly an omen — the omen he had been
awaiting, without even knowing he was, for all his life. The omen
he had sought to find with his sheep and in his books, in the crystals and in the silence of the desert.”
Anjesh read from Split by Chris Voss. He advocated that the skills of negotiations are the only ones that are
going to get you going. Many claimed to be non-negotiators which were swiftly proven to be the real negotiators
in life. What we think we are and what we are…!!
Priya: ‘If you have ever bought vegetables in a vegetable market, you are a negotiator.’
Rajesh read V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
He started with ‘Main niyam nahi todunga.’ (He denies but he actually
comes to the club for the rules that we recite in the beginning of the
edition.) He gave us a brief background of the story . He had brought a
beautiful graphic novel version. Discussions swayed to Guy Fawkes, the
last man to enter the parliament house with honest intentions. A
stickler for rules , with “Mai passage pe aa raha hoon seedha baki toh
cheezein chalti rehti hai filmon ki tarah” he started off with the iconic
letter from the book.
“I shall die here. Every inch of me shall perish. Every inch but one.
An inch.
It is the very last inch of us.
And within that inch, we are free.
It is small and it is fragile, and it is the only thing in the world worth having.
We must never lose it or give it away. We must never let them take it from us.
I don’t know who you are. Or whether you’re a man or a woman. I may never see you or cry with you or get drunk
with you.
But I love you.
I hope that you escape this place. I hope that the world turns and that things get better, and that one-day people
have roses again. I wish I could kiss you.
With all my heart.
I love you.”
– Excerpts from Valerie’s Letter
When he was done reading , we were all silent, a moment for which time stopped. He broke it himself. More
discussions about this almost cult-like book ensued before we moved on to the next reader.
…
Vin is his favorite character from the book. Harshvardhan is another green member of the book club. Vin likes
solitude, he said, reading from The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson.
“Ash fell from the sky”, he started reading from the first page.
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and
lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the “Sliver of Infinity,” reigned with absolute power and
ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a
terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler’s most hellish prison.
Kelsier “snapped” and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned
his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.
For a while we were all lost in discussing fictional books. Six of crows, Lord of the rings, Hobbit etc. There is
something about magical realism giving words and form to the unspeakable with no rules; is that what appeals
to us?
…
Last book was read by Shaurya, Justice by Michael Sandel.
“Everyone is looking at it but no one wants to understand it.”
The book intended to ask some very brutal and crucial questions looming on the precipice of ethics, justice and
the laws. It was a book which needed a deliberate slow sink in and simmer way of reading. Priya and Shaurya
both agreed to this and it was decided that the book will be coming back and w ould be read with deliberation.
Everyone will hear and everyone will understand.
Disha donated some really lovely books; Poetry collection of Kalidas, Plays by Bernard Shaw and The Perfumer
and she very sweetly put up a condition that she will be the first one to issue them which was fair enough.
Yogesh had brought an entire collection of books on Yoga and its various form to donate. He brought one of
them to the retreat and we need to get him to read it from the book.
With silly smiles, happy hearts and an overflowing ‘to be read’ list we say adieu.
X-x-x