At a Book Reading- Abha Dawesar in Hyderabad

Whether it was the recession or the desire to promote a new venue or whatever, the book reading of Abha Dawesar’s ‘Family Values’ was held at a place different from the usual venues we Hyderabadis are accustomed to. Not surprisingly, it was a sparse gathering with the usual suspects missing. Maybe the usual crowds that throng such events thought the venue was too down market for them. (Imagine telling your chauffeur to take you to ‘Domalguda’ instead of ‘Grand Kakatiya’ or ‘The Taj Krishna’) The elite ‘literary’ crowd, the sort who come wearing silk kurtas and designer saris, was missing this time. Which was all for good because it really was a short but interesting event.

All through the past week the magazines and the papers were full of articles on Abha Dawesar and her latest book. I got a mail from someone about the reading in Hyderabad and then I came across Brinda Bose’s review of ‘Family Values’ in the latest issue of India Today. The Saturday ‘Weekend Plus’ supplement in the Hyderabad edition of ‘The Hindu’ carried another write up on the author on the last page along with the venue and timing of the book launch. So I arrived at Domalguda expecting a biggish gathering for the reading.

On Saturday evening, Abha Dawesar read from ‘Family Values’, her latest book, at the Vidyasagar Art Center at Domalguda. I was there with Hari, the two of us forming part of the thirty-odd crowd that gathered to listen to the young and accomplished author who also paints and is also into photography. There weren’t many questions though Hari asked most of the interesting ones- about her decision to write the book without having actual names, about whether she was tempted to give her characters real names afterwards, and about writing from a boy’s point of view. Abha Dawesar elaborated on how she wrote the book and that it took her three years to finish writing after some major structural overhauls.

The author had said that the book was black, white and grey with no colors just like her drawings. I may have to wait for a while to find out because I have to first finish reading Moritz Thomsen’s ‘The Saddest Pleasure’ and Molly Haskell’s ‘Love and Other Infectious Diseases’ before starting ‘Family Values.’ Then there is her other book, ‘That Summer of Paris’ that Hari picked up that I plan to read later. If they are any good as the reviews say I'll read the other two books she has written- 'The Three of Us' and 'Babyji.'