
It was a two-hour programme which started with introductions, felicitations and talks by the MIT faculty about the importance of reading.
It was an honour to be felicitated by the Vice-Chancellor and an honour to be invited. Prof. Ajay Nagre initiated
this project.
I talked about my book The Hawa Mahal Murders and its launch at the inauguration of PILF19 with Javed Akhtar who was the chief guest. The manuscript of my book won a contest at PILF18 and Vishwakarma publications awarded me a contract to publish my book.
During my talk I referred to some of the points the professors made about the importance of reading. Prof Nagre had talked about how reading fiction has the effect of enhancing one's creativity and imagination as opposed to absorbing canned stuff from the screen. Prof Thakur compared reading to meditation and how it improved concentration. I added two points. One, that reading improves one's language if one reads good books and secondly, reading fiction (as opposed to reading non-fiction) can develop one's character. This is because one learns about morality, especially when reading the classics. It helps us distinguish right from wrong.
The website of the book club was inaugurated during this time. A professional looking website which reveals the hard work the students put in. Instagram posts advertised the event.
I was quite relaxed speaking in the warm and informal atmosphere.
Nice to read about all the great work you're doing!
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