A landmark occasion in their journey was celebrated by the Booknerds in the Doon valley on Sunday. It was their 100th hangout and they included discussions, music and a book launch to make it memorable for book lovers and writers of the valley.
The Booknerds is a literary startup based out of Dehradun founded by the young husband and wife duo Rohan Raj and Neha Raj, with a presence in both Dehradun and lucknow. It was launched in October 2015 with the vision to connect book lovers in India and beyond.
The Booknerds have conducted 100 meetups/events and hosted more than 50 authors in Dehradun and lucknow till date. Over the past two and a half years, they have collaborated with the best publishing houses in the country.
Sunday’s event had a session on the life and works of renowned Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto (exploring Manto-ness) which was conducted by author and journalist Jaskiran Chopra. The audience responded very well to the discussion and many a youngster said he or she would go back and search for Manto’s stories. There were some who had heard of him but not read his stories. All in all, it was an educative session which rekindled interest in this author who faced such harsh criticism for some of his stories while he was alive. Chopra spoke about Manto’s stories including “Toba Tek Singh”, “Kali Shalwar”, “From Peshawar to lahore” and “Thhanda Gosht”.
Rohan Raj, later, was in conversation with Chopra and asked her what would have a meeting between Ruskin Bond and Manto been like. She replied, “Perhaps some of Bond’s wonderful sense of humour would have brightened Manto’s outlook on life!”
She congratulated the Booknerds for the efforts they have been making since 2015 to revive the interest in reading in the Doon valley.
Parrot Under the Pine Tree, a novel written by Surendra Pratap Singh, a retired army officer, was released on the occasion. The author spoke about his book and said he had been inspired to write it after he visited Kausani in Kumaon. In fact, Kausani is the major protagonist in the book, he said.
Music by Cardamom added to the celebrations. Ashish Sharma regaled the audience with some western music.
Among the select audience were Upendra Arora from the Green Bookshop, Dr BK Sanjay, army personnel, students, academicians and other book lovers.
The Booknerds community is increasing due to the consistent efforts being made by the members who organise quizzes, book readings, launches and discussions. English, Urdu and Hindi writers (classics) feature in the discussions. Interesting sessions on Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Mirza Ghalib and Gulzar were held by them in 2017 and 2018.
Rohan Raj said on the occasion that it was the Booknerds’ dream to make Dehradun the “literary capital” of India.
The way they are going, this dream will soon be fulfilled, it seems.