Hello everyone!
Though this is my blog for creative writing, mostly poetry, I think people here might be interested in the knowing about my recent non-fiction book, Earth Republic: Chatter from the Capital's Cauldron (and Beyond) by V Shruti Devi
Here's the press release and the video footage, enjoy! -shruti
ALMOST-RAW VIDEO FOOTAGE OF THE NEW DELHI BOOK LAUNCH
PRESS RELEASE dated 21st
March, 2018
BOOK LAUNCH OF EARTH
REPUBLIC BY V SHRUTI DEVI AT MAVALANKAR AUDITORIUM, CONSTITUTION CLUB OF INDIA,
ON 15TH MARCH, 2018
Earth Republic, V Shruti
Devi’s second book in quick succession after Deep Wood Trance (which is a work
of fiction published by Writers Workshop, Calcutta), was launched at an event
at the Mavlankar Auditorium of the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi, on
the 15th of March, 2018.
Published via the Notion
Press publishing platform, Earth Republic: Chatter
from the Capital’s Cauldron (and Beyond), is a set of ten essays, of which
nine were written within a span of three months in late 2017. One of the
pieces, a commentary on Imran Khan’s election campaign of 2013, was written
during that period.
The free-wheeling
articles written in a deliberately conversational style sometimes quote from
the author’s diaries of the 1980s, her Facebook posts, and an interview of her
grandmother’s personal food history that the author had conducted before her
grandmother passed away in 2013.
The running themes
through the apparently chatty curation of topics are the themes of global
governance, world peace, sustainable development, and human rights.
Topics that range from
sports to legal concepts are mooted for discussion, with a strong peppering of
autobiographical elements that draw the reader into a participatory approach to
the reading experience.
In keeping with the
author’s grassroots approach to politics, the first edition is a populist
glossy paperback, rather than a hard-bound book.
All versions of Earth
Republic are easily located online via the following methods:
Print version in India: amazon.in
; Flipkart; Infibeam
Print version
International: amazon.com ; amazon.uk
E-books: amazonkindle ;
googleplay ; kobo ; ibooks
The book launch at the
Constitution Club was on the eve of the meeting of the Subjects Committee of
the Indian National Congress Party that conducted its AICC Plenary at New Delhi
from the 16th to 18th of March.
The author, V Shruti
Devi, was in town as an AICC Member to attend and participate in the AICC
Plenary.
While the book launch did
not follow the traditional practice of inviting a designated chief guest to
launch the book, there were speakers from the fields of Politics; Law; Spirituality
and Theatre:
Prof. Saugato Roy, former
Union Minister from the Trinamool Congress party, who discussed aspects of
secularism in Indian politics spoke straight from the heart. He pointed out
that he knows the author since the late 1970s, when he was a colleague of the
author’s father in Parliament. His erudite and distinguished presence, and the
sharing of the highlights of a recent conversation on modes of worship with the
new Congress Party President brought the world of politics even closer to an
already tuned-in New Delhi audience.
Advocate Karuna Nundy
from the Supreme Court of India, deftly gleaned legal concepts from the overall
work, and described parts of the writing as being “stream of consciousness”.
Her articulate and able manner held the crowd in rapt attention.
Deepika Kumar, awarded as
an Iconic Leader in Peace and Spirituality at the Women’s Economic Forum,
referred to various points of the book that she had enjoyed reading. Emitting
positive vibrations and energy, Deepika Kumar’s cool, calm and unhurried pace
of conversation reflected the approach she employs to tackle tough questions
and situations.
Theatre personality, Jaya
Iyer, delineated some of her work in theatre in which the author has been a
participant and activist. This includes networking with international theatre
personalities from South America and elsewhere. Jaya’s wealth of experience in
grassroots theatre, and simplicity and austerity would accord to her, the tag
of being a Gandhian theatre activist.
All the speakers mentioned
how they knew the author, and their comments were acknowledged by the author
during the first half of the programme that was dedicated to speech-making.
The second half of the
event was a format that the author had devised: The Insta-Review segment. A
novel idea, whereby members of the audience who had submitted their names
volunteered to select and read out a passage from Earth Republic. This was
followed by a brief conversation with the author about why they had chosen the
piece. A roving mike then went around the auditorium for instant
comments/reviews from the audience, based on a hearing of the specific
paragraph, thus generating instant reviews of those pieces.
Among those who did
readings were: Ezeugo Nmundi Lawrence; Malati Rao and her daughter, Annika;
Pranab Dhal Samantha, and Ishita Deb Burman Ahirwal.
Copies of Earth Republic
were handed over to the winners of the insta book review segment by Kavi Kapur,
who has been associated with the Delhi Stock Exchange, and by Ms Madhavi
Goradia Divan, Advocate, Supreme Court of India, among others.
Members of the teaching
community, including those from Mater Dei Convent and St. Stephen’s College,
Delhi, were present, as were members of the bar, and friends and relatives of
Shruti from different walks of life.
The event organizers were
Kriti Team, whose founder leader is Aanchal Kapur. The main compere for the
event was Veenu Kakkar. The organizers, as well as a member of the audience,
Rohini Chauhan of The Angels Network livestreamed the event on social media.
Shruti Devi, a true
believer of the concept that the world is now connected in all ways, chose to
do a livestream of the event, which was keenly followed by many people of the
community.....In a way, reiterating the title of her book, "The Earth
Republic"!
Shruti Devi's spontaneity came across through the very flow of events at
the launch. It was intellectually stimulating to observe the author holding
relevant dialogues after each speaker had expressed their views on various
topics of the book. Her impromptu comments & conversations kept the
audience’s attention invested in the moment.
One would indeed say the book launch was an event which brought
"The Earth Republic" together!!!
The
evening was an eclectic mix of thought and creativity, vignettes of life and
politics, reflection and experiences expansive of environment, spirituality,
rights and more, much like the book which is a light and yet insightful read
into the minds and spirit of the Republic we belong to.
Shruti’s
book will be a great read, as she brings so many different perspectives, and,
of course, her great experience, to the work.
From
Kriti Team, the event
organizers of the New Delhi book launch
The author may be reached
at shrutidevi@gmail.com
