At a Reading- Karan Bajaj's 'Keep Off the Grass'

It was an unusual reading in more than one way that I attended last week. I had been to the reading of Karan Bajaj’s ‘Keep Off the Grass’ at the Crossword store inside the City Centre Mall at Banjara Hills on Friday evening. I had read about it in the papers and decided to attend it to know more about what has been described as another ‘campus novel’ by a reviewer in ‘The Week.’

What was unusual was that the author seemed to have arrived at the venue much before the audience did. I got introduced to the tall, young and smiling author in the most unexpected way even before the reading began. Hari introduced me as a writer which the author remembered, since he wished me good luck with my writing when I queued up to get my copy signed by him. I need all the good luck I need now that my own book is getting ready.

Another thing that was unusual was that there was no other literary figure or personality to introduce the author to the audience. One of the Crossword staff, a young girl did quite a nice job of the introductions and the rest of the show. Of course, being a young author of a first novel it would have been better if there was another experienced writer or someone literary present in the reading. Not surprisingly there weren’t many of those who came for the reading.

As if so many unusual things weren’t enough for one evening, the lights went out a few times before the reading began plunging the store into darkness. Mercifully it did not happen during the reading.

The author was the only person on the dais and he read out portions of his book to the two dozen or so odd people gathered. At the end there were the usual questions to the author- what is the inspiration, how did you get the idea and so on. Karan Bajaj said he was inspired and influenced by Upamanyu Chatterjee who wrote the 80’s bestseller- ‘English August.’

I haven’t yet begun ‘Keep Off the Grass’ and I will do a sort of review when I read it. Incidentally, while flipping through the book I found that one of the characters in the book was named Vinod. Quite a coincidence.