AAA with Manu S Pillai; Dona performs at ICCR

April 25, 2016: Took a Kolkata-Jaipur IndiGo night flight and checked in at ITC Rajputana. IndiGo has recently started its third daily flight on this route late at 9:40 pm which I find very convenient.

The other two flights, one at 5:25 am is too early and makes you compromise on your sleep. The afternoon 2:40 pm flight takes away your whole day. Many Kolkatans use this night flight to travel to Rajasthan for a short religious trip to visit either Salasar, Ajmer Sharif, Khatu Shyam ji and other such places. I will be in Jaipur for four to five days and have lined up quite a few things.

On Saturday there was the event An Author’s Afternoon with young upcoming author Manu S Pillai. He was the youngest guest author at the AAA so far. Manu’s book is a saga on the remarkable life of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, the last-forgotten-Queen of the House of Travancore. Researched from materials lying in the archives of London, Manu retells the story of how a Queen becomes a commoner and fades into obscurity in the backdrop of sweeping social changes and palace intrigues.

The book The Ivory Throne is a great read and of much archival value. From there I went to attend Dona Ganguly’s function at the ICCR where the ICCR, Director General, Shri Rajashekhar, a career diplomat was present. Dona would be leaving for Egypt with her troupe of 13 Odissi dancers and perform at the India By the Nile cultural festival on April 30, 2016, at Al Gomhoria in Cairo. The two week cultural extravaganza is being organized by the Indian Embassy. On Saturday night I went to a private function at Alipore where I met my old friends and many known faces. Few of them I met after quite many years and it was a good feeling catching up with them. Friday evening went to a religious function hosted by Rupa chairman P R Agarwal.

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