BANGALORE: It was a full house at the British Library on Friday as CK Meena launched her third novel- ‘Seven Days to Somewhere.’ Playwright Poile Sengupta and Chiranjiv Singh, former Ambassador of India to UNESCO in Paris, were also present and engaged in an audience discussion after the reading.The story focuses on thirteen-year-old Nischit, a super achiever burdened by his parents’ expectations which include visions of Harvard for him. Facing failure for the first time, he makes a plan that he will end it all. Into the fray flies Po, the telepathic parakeet who studies people and, who tells Nischit stories of people from another world.Published by Dronequill Publishers, Meena’s third work of fiction is different from the first two with regard to its subject, but the tone is unmistakably hers. She read out several excerpts from the book that kept her audience mesmerized and alternatively made them laugh, smile or just gave them something to think about. The excerpts gave the audience a flavor of the story, written in Meena’s inimitable style, with the unique sense of humour that is present in all her work.During the discussion that followed the reading, Chiranjiv Singh expressed his thoughts with, “Why do parents not leave their children alone?” He dwelled upon the fact that even though Indian literature has several characters that do n’t do anything, today children have become a project of sorts for their parents. Poile Sengupta remarked that parents go by what the world expects of them. She opined that success is measured by a moment, whereas failures are dogged. She recollected how, when she was working as a teacher, she would often wonder why, in a child’s report card, there was no space for self-assessment and though this might be considered idealistic, “idealism is required” she insisted.Chiranjiv Singh’s observation, that the launch of the book coincided with the SSLC results, led Meena to clarify that it was sheer coincidence. The idea of the book was born from her irritation with the manner in which parents push their children, she said- “I would hear horror stories about children breaking down.” The character of Po was inspired by a story of a wild parrot in Maharashtra, and Meena described how she kept wondering what she would do with the kid and the parrot. She mentioned, while writing, “I was trying hard not to write a book with a message." Well, there may not be a moral to the story but, it certainly leaves you with food for thought. CK Meena is a well-known journalist and her other works of fiction include ‘Black Lentil Doughnuts’ and ‘Dreams for the Dying’.
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