"Virasat" My New Book

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My new book "Virasat", the first one in Hindi from my desk, finally got released at Patna yesterday. Mr Arun Kamal, the noted author and poet of international repute released it in the presence of the chief guest of the function Dr Imtiaz Ahmed, Director of Khudabaksh Library. Mr Vyas Ji, the novelist and presently working as the Chief Secretary Deptt. of Labour under Govt. of Bihar was the chief speaker. Mr Arvind Pandey, DIG (Railways) and the eminent blogger (http://paraavaani.blogspot.com/) was the special guest. Mr Kamleshwar Prasad, the Chief Postmaster General of Bihar was the honoured guest. Mr Jitendra Sahay, the Civil Surgeon (Retd.) and dramatist presided over the function. Mr Rajesh Shukla, Proprietor, Vatayan Media and Publishing conducted the proceedings.

The function was well-attended, by all standards. The conference hall of Bihar Industries Association was full to the capacity. People representing various streams--poets, authors, novelists, dramatists, critics, philatelist, lecturers, civil engineers, trade union leaders, journalists from both print and electronic media, my colleagues from various postal establishments, my country-cousin Oriyas, my senior colleagues enjoying quiet retired life in the city, and even an ex-MLA--attended the function.

I honestly did not expect that senior fellows from the field of literature that assembled there would speak so generously about my work. First of all, they allayed my worst fear, saying that I've been really successful in maintaining the nuances that are special to Hindi. Yes! Hindi is not my mother tongue and the book is an attempt just like that without any serious preparation in grammar and style. The stalwarts, in their own words, praised my power of observation, the love for detail, the skilful portrayal of human relationship, the pace of the story-telling…. Mr Arun Kamal himself even highlighted that the book is the first of its kind, culling stories entirely from post-office settings!

I could continue, extracting verbatim what all they said from the full-length video recorded during the function, but then it would entail a bit of labour on my part. Besides, I don't forget that a blogpost should not be so long-winded.

Almost all the newspapers from Patna covered the event in detail with suitable photographs. To name them: (1) Hindustan Times. Patna, Tuesday, May 12, 2008 under caption-'A Peep into post offices with "Virasat"'; (2) Hindustan 13 May (in Hindi) Page-4 "विरासत में डाक विभाग का चित्रण"; (3)Aaj, Patna, 13 May Page-4 "डाक संस्कृति की अमूल्य कृति है 'विरासत'"; (4) Dainik Jagaran, Patna, 13 May, Page-7 "कहानी संग्रह 'विरासत का लोकार्पण"; (5)Rashtriya Sahara, Patna, 13 May, Page-5 "इंटरनेट युग में डाकिया खास : कमल" . I could not watch television, but going by the interview taken from me, Etv might have telecast it.
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By
A. N. Nanda
13-05-2009
Muzaffarpur
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