Kalam series takes off in Jaipur

July 21, 2015: The last two weeks I was so occupied that I could not post a blog. On Monday (July 13) I took a flight from Kolkata to Jaipur and attended a private dinner and after that I met up with few friends. By the time I reached my hotel ITC Rajputana it was 2.30 AM.

Again on Tuesday (July 14) I had a few meetings in the morning and in the evening there was another series of the Write Circle event with Anuja Chauhan. 

With Anuja Chauhan at the Write Circle, Jaipur

Earlier, the Author's Afternoon with Anuja Chauhan in Kolkata on June 2 was extremely successful and we had requested her to come as a guest author for the Write Circle. In fact, I have requested her to be in Patna and Raipur also for Kalam.

Kalam is a new series that I have initiated in Patna and Raipur, which is based on the same lines of An Author's Afternoon and Write Circle in Kolkata and Jaipur respectively. As of today, we have already had two episodes in Patna and one in Raipur.

Author Prabhat Ranjan and Pankaj Dubey were the guest authors in Patna and Raipur. Very recently we made a debut of Kalam in Jaipur in association with Dainik Bhaskar.

With V K Singh at KALAM, Jaipur

Shri V K Singh, ex-Army chief of India and the current Minister-in-Charge of State for External Affairs, was the guest at the event.

In Jaipur, I have initiated Kalam in association with Dainik Bhaskar for the Hindi and regional authors. The first Kalam edition was held at the Marriott Coffee Shop called Okra. The event was a hit from the word go. All the partners and presenters of the series were very happy.

After Anuja’s Write Circle, I went to the Jai Mahal Palace and had dinner with a few family friends and from there I went to attend a birthday party of another friend at Ambrosia Farms. Again, by the time I was back to my hotel, it was past 3 AM. The next morning (July 15) I took a flight to Delhi.

In Delhi, I attended the book release function of Deepta Roy Chakraverti for the launch of her book Bhangarh to Bedlam – Haunted Encounters at the Gulmohar Hall of India Habitat Centre.

At the Rajasthan Forum meeting

July 16 early morning I returned to Jaipur from Delhi. After having a couple of meetings went to IHMR Institute to attend the meeting of Rajasthan Forum. After the Forum meeting there were two other meetings to attend and then I went to Anand Van banquet for a for dinner hosted by Reena and Dr Sudhir Bhandari.

With V K Singh at lunch

The next day, July 17, was again a very busy day as I hosted a lunch for Dr V K Singh and who was in Jaipur on my invitation. In the evening, I had dinner with Dr V K Singh at the Peshawari and also invited Lt General Arun Kumar Sahni, Commander-in-Chief, South Western Command, Jaipur, Vinnie and Saurabh Kakkar and Anamika and Sunil Gupta.

Weekend Saturday July 18 was again full of meetings and I was back in Kolkata.

The whole of yesterday and today I was busy in office. This whole month is full of events like Recipe Rendezvous and the tete-a-tea series at the end of the month. Also, there are many other social commitments to meet.

I shall fly off to Delhi tomorrow.

ess bee