PRESS RELEASE and Video footage of the book launch of Earth Republic

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 21^st March, 2018

BOOK LAUNCH OF EARTH REPUBLIC BY V SHRUTI DEVI AT MAVALANKAR AUDITORIUM, CONSTITUTION CLUB OF INDIA, ON 15^TH 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 15^th 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 16^th to 18^th 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

Link to an amateur video clip of a part of the author interview of Earth Republic at the book launch

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

In conversation with V Shruti Devi on Earth Republic

Invitation to the book launch of Earth Republic

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

An invitation to the event connected to my non-fiction book...do invite your friends in Delhi to attend!

Join me at the Constitution Club of India for the book lunch 2018

Roll out the Shutdown

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

Roll out the Shutdown

Now to merge
the priorities
of the anti-nuclear concerns
with the seemingly
extreme
feminist voices

This is where
the government shut-down
will be met
by law and order
and
emergency services
and
the like.

Night-sky dreamer,
blue-river gazer.
Cool wind seeker,
bird-whistle-caller
bone-cruncher
rainbow-puffer
dragon-breather
star-craving evangelist
of the 'chines

This is where we rev
the carousel.

Joyride, dizzy-side, merry-go-round
Realms to mists and vapour-sound

Been there, done that,
on a miniature scale
A whiff, a shift of the invisible veil

Micron, neutron, tandav rock
Ballets at a chalet in a pista-green frock
__ Spirit __

The lil book on Estonian Birds and Animals
fluffs its feathers
_trunk calling.

Ducks and geese march past the skies
zapping cyberspace's Natgeo face

No nuclear power-plant
No Russian dollars
Edu-zone, health-zone, rainbow collars.

Solar grid-spots, ancient ports.
Subterranean disturb-me-nots.
__ The bejewelled Earth __

Dress rehearsals- time was
Earth hour, power hour
Lights on
and a semi flip-flop to the emerging world agenda!

Announcing Deep Wood Trance by V. Shruti Devi

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

A link to a facebook album
a sneak preview
of my work of fiction

non-commercial
artefact

many scenes, one act
-that's the pact

FYI, readers, pleaders, go surf
Here's a link to the Facebook turf!

The Crest

ad altiora
nitimur. close meaning to
allah hu akbar

(please note, I sometimes drift into dialects)

Dassehra Diary Global Day 3

autumn equinox

happy birthday #brucespringsteen

this, too, is haiku

cakes and cloches, stands.

simultanelously: court

-same-sex mariage -yanks!

clarenceclemons gone

hand-woven jazz towel shored up

-UN concert's on

'Haiku: It's Still Day 2 somewhere on Day 3

Deep-fried McCain bites
-a health-food coincidence
Not. Arizona preached, drew?!

Meanwhile, Hilary's
Shakespearean cosmonaut dress
creates waves on air

Haiku from Trilochan Enclave (First day of Dasara 2017)

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

Bruce Springsteen: BS
Campbell, a country singer
rescues Bruce Brothers

My Amazon cart
holds a book by Bruce Campbell,
published by UC

On the death anniv
of Annie Besant, CP
(into Theosphical)

literature, i see
Isis Unveiled, duo-gy
reading list for we

Autumn Equinox
public-sector energy
spiritually

A Clue to a Book Review

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

i don't mean to flog
a dead horse
but
those reading verse
might wish
to hop across
to my political blog
at shrutidevi.blogspot
to take a dekko
at
my reco
(and other commentaries)
- a series
on
#brucesprungsteen's
book
#borntorun

go on, then,
what-are-you-waiting-for!

trip around starlight

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

and so on and so forth.

 

Just to be clear:

It’s always the next day somewhere

Unless you’re talking realms.

And then it’s all irrelevant

anyway.

Almost.

That said,

in terms of

the experiential

and the variously interpreted

existential

across

space and time…….

Infinite avenues of conjecture

Could make for a freezer-full

of nintendogames

or whatever they’re called these days.

Blog it, flog it, or just slog it.

Alternatively,

talk straight

into my charms

if any

Which brings me

to an old billy joel number this time

and I’ll cherry-pick

for the line

that points out

that one

essentially

wakes up

with one’s self.

Clones and spirits,

memories and verse

Interesting clues

to one’s retrospectively viewed

universe

Shadow-boxing

at the grandest scale

-which the river

And whither the vale

Honesty

the virtue

that doth  prevail.

Network Earth and Beyond

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

from my facebook wall of today:

another pome
this time from home
from me in india
(and to the reading non-english-speaking enthusiasts:
please don't rely on my grammar and spelling...
in these abstractly-rendered
yellings - or typings - or whatever).

so the day will dawn earlier
on earth
than on the hearth
at number sixteen
the first time the white house's seen
a recce by the non-political class
-top brass
soon to step in
to slightly diminished flipflops
but hawaiis nevertheless
even on a cold day

no problem with the heating?
and one hears they'll be greeting
      at the front door all ready
and waiting....
(thanks, jackie, for the interior decoration tips
from continuity to continuity
and from your aristocratic trips
before the advent of
modern-day veganism
and other political correctnesses!)
(ye olde worlde order definitionally subverted by now!)

and now for the gems:
legal opinion handed over
in tech-bound poetry
no less
that's how it is
at this esteemed appointment-house
your highness

article two, section one, clause eight
wait, wait!
this be the american constitution
(hereby nonchalantly claim one's expertise
and string thou on with researched ease)

(bung in the quasi federalness of our fast-expanding empire
and you get the big picture)

so twixt the land of the star-spangled banner
and the dharti-asmaan-zameen-antarix and beyond
of hamara bharat mahan
overlaps
the spirit of our
constitutions

key differences:
the harmonious one first:

you are free to join us,
we pirouette and/or stand at ease
and go nowhere,
but do assimilate.
so that sorts out
the secession bit.
no conflict, cando.

then, the bit on secularism.
ahem.
we provide the option of solemnly swearing, or swearing in the name of god
(for heaven's sake!)
whereas
you folks
forsake the holy joey bit
and insist on rubber (god in punjabi, i gather from a daler mehdi song).
(though one of your chappies did throw in a bit about an almighty
no record of it, i'm afraid
and just as well
in terms of garnering all-round
common minimum consensus

fair enough
for governance
and so we co-operate
-in the name of bizness?!-

bring on the magic oath!

to preserve, protect and defend
the Spirit
of our Constitutions
on Earth
and beyond!

One Love: i, me, myself!

(now you know what to amend)
or slip in at the end
:)

Addendum a few hours later:
Socialism is inherently implied, you seeeeeee

punjab elections and other matters (poem)

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

the latest from my facebook wall!

(written after having surfed my twitter feed, and on having read a snippet or two of india-news connected to my party and punjab elections; an elocution competition, and other news from punjab, as far as the beginning of the poem goes)

punjab elections and other matters (poem)

be it elocution, be it politishun, i have the script, jee.
it shall be read, and we might win instead
and if not, we'll try for a less beastly scene...
esp since shru recited
a fairy went a-marketing
but that was in class teen!
no bourgeois responses to this, please
i would
rather prefer
an appeal to the atmosphere
to retrieve me lost poetry book, cloth-bound
(from giggles, those days, not archies)
and perhaps even the unlocatable book that grates
the one with poetry
that was written
after the one about the golden gates!
(sourced from gal-go-tia's those days)
-a part of a prize
which reminds me of wright
and so
coincidences
of things lost; literature (read and created)
and the deity
and fest
in
AP
where the belief is that you go there if you've lost something.
so a magnifying glass, and a microscope and a telescope
and a few ayes
would
do
to regain
paradise! (chronicles of empire)

Allegation/s (and another poem)

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

Two bits of verse that i just wrote on facebook:

Allegation/s (a poem)
another poem
close on the heels of the one i just wrote
(it was a facebook update that turned into imitated synctactic verse)....
automatedly.

now:
just to state a few seemingly obvious stances:
if people in one's immediate surroundings
deliberately attempt to indulge in devious methods of communication
(like i said, immediate surroundings being: while in one's presence)
and do so with no explanations
(and one isn't talking about artistic communication among friends, or small children who might unconsciously imitate adult behaviour), or about when linguistic forensics skills are called into play while reading or writing works of any kind (such literature is analysed as and when relevant, if at all).
but about those either deliberately mirroring (and/or stonewalling) one,
or deliberately, and, without explanation or preface, exhibiting random behaviour, (most often, to one's detriment), then there is definitely cause to doubt aspects of integrity at some level or the other.
usually with petty origins.
(more specifically, check my facebook note on Day 1, Dasara 2016).
they do so at their own peril.

................................................................................

dear those sending me linkedin invites!
a politician can't really have work contacts, that's conflict of interest.
even when one doesn't actually hold a post.
that's been my policy so far.
everyone's a social contact....
and nothing 'matlabi' or selfish about it
if/when we're on the same page
ie
supporting the goal of achieving world peace
via good governance.
my loss, your gain
as always
(at a personal level).
inter-galactically, no doubt,
we rule!
(no points for guessing who hogs the credit,
not me, so far).

...the attainment of which is not an ego-need,
but its a logistical nightmare
when appropriate credit isn't accorded
and causes and effects are misinterpreted
or not factored in, to use parlance

Mass Delusion/s

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

written and posted on facebook on 22nd Dec., 2016

switch to poetry! (or risk being called -and dealt with as- delusional)
peerless and priceless constitutional interpretaion
(even if i say so myself)-
WE the people: WE as in addressing our World Empire
(see what i mean by intangibles?!)
there's a hindi phrase that goes meri billi mujhee sey miaon
which, if you're invoking it approx twenty years down the line,
signals that you've totally empowered your student, and/or are in a bit of a thankless position
and what sort of mission would that entail, kundalini?
thus spake a muse

"However, NO to a nuclear power plant at Kuvvada" or "The Voices of the Rosy Flamingo"

The hunters moon,

it gathers sway

Bricks are made of mortar

but also of hay

Piggies’ tales and greenwich times

The Quill-o-the-Wisp’s

back to rhymes.

Woods and lakes in Anastasia’s wake

do find a page or million

via the vermillion

lore

of India’s gates.

Convergence

with the Mohawk

the Spock

and even the

digeridoo.

Draw a tarot card or two

And dowze the realms

In dreams.

Oh, Blineys?!

jest like that: (shanty-morning poetry)

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

jest like that: (shanty-morning poetry) OR Day 13 Monsoon Session 2016 Non-comprehensive Observations

star bright, star light, this last draft, i read tonite.
i wish i may, i wish i might, with one fell stroke, revoke the blight.
a council's diktats shall prevail, the pallor of the upper house shall pale.

pull up your socks, get ready, vox
from now till november, there's limited time
pull the tide, or endlessly abide hyphens, siphons, elusive stipends

Beautiful Solitude (written in 1990)

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

Hi, this is a poem i wrote on the 15th of February, 1990.
Am currently working on an annotated version of my entire collection of poems, for publication in a book, but i choose to upload this work here today:

Beautiful Solitude

                                                            15/2/1990

Much has Man created

__Much more than meets the

     Eye

And I speak not of fancy things

Nor of war and peace speak I.

Stop, my friend, and think

                                    awhile

Of human relationships and

                          human ties

We revere and accept these earth-time bonds

__Live we not in a fool’s paradise?

     Some time of ours is spent on

                                             Earth

Call it a gruelling test,

Call it a short respite

Where human beings align

                         themselves

With others of their race

As if forever

Here, in this dream-like place.

These bonds are but the

                 creation of Man

That offer him security

In this short span.

Hark! let the truth unfold

It is not as bitter as it seems

__Not as cold.

    For alone we come

    And alone we go

  And so alone we shall be

      Forever more.

Reportage

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

i suppose only nonsense verse
would serve to converse
on matters such as dreamt thoughts
or heard news
such as 'holy communion' quite far away from the pews
(realms of dreams)
-applied then
to visuals in the morning's papers:
a striped one with the pope
being administered
holy pop!

then the word 'campaign'
quite universally applicable, no doubt
irrespective of which podium
or exit
you use.
you know what.
earth first.
RIP? the spirit stays.

then a racy, heart-stopping actionsequence
wherein
a ferocious canine
retrieves fair game.

signature: 'barack'?
how awesome is that
but i have to ask:
how does one ensure the republicans' defeat?
would a bernie think-alike, look-alike suffice as a last-minute entrant from another party?
yeahyeah
we could speak for the greens
if only to set the stage
first, for hilary
and in time to come
for a successful green party candidate
before the planetary system
is ready for an earth president
(for now, divinely ordained earth empress shall clumsily write)

and read.
i suppose.
and string together

#DreamtOfRamanaMaharishi

By V. Shruti Devi (quill-o-the-wisp)

I wish i could recall the trick

For how to write a limerick

A simple feat,

one could tap into the beat,

and google would solve the mystery quite soon

(i’ve done it before, a syntactic score

of minor import

in the larger picture, no doubt)

But a simple rhyme

ought to suffice this time

-twixt this era and another divine.

Woke up to a near-holler-heard:

“Do you know a Monk!”

(ah, that bottle of dark rum of the said nomenclature

that was a part of the previous day’s caricature resurrected as such) (and one returns here to clarify that one hadn't imbibed any, so that wasn't why!)

But what was a bit much

To comprehend

Was the visage of a monk-like

Or, rather, sage-like persona

That came into focus without any hocus-pocus

Followed by the visual of a yantra

You know, a diagram of the holy sort

All authentic, with a dot and what-not.

Just researched images of saints and monks

And believe it or not, the funk

-It was the face of Ramana Maharishi

(one barely recalls the names of individual saints and suchlike

So the coincidence was not entirely trite)

And the bio says born on 30/12 (just like me)

Though neither of us uses linkedin much as of yet

the right-hand felt the stirring of an electro-magnet