April fools day was celebrated by me and my friend Rohit Khaitan at the Dehra Doon Literature festival which had a grand opening at the Hyatt Regency which is situated on the outskirts of the city near the Mann State. It was a gala night on the lawns as one celebrity author after another was on display. I meet my old pal and mentor Prahlad Kakkar who was at the event he looked a little thin and his hair had gone a bit thin but the man was enjoying his drink and chatting away with the guest. He was in the company of one another genius the ad guru Piyush Pandey show as tucking into his dessert.
Today Tushar Kapoor was the guest of honor. I managed to listen to some of the speakers on the lawns of the Hayat and even took a selfie with some of my own fans. A local couple who had been reading my blog struck a polite conversation as I walked the lawns from one side to the other.
Dinner was at 9:00 pm and I payed Rs 2500 for the dinner coupon although I am on a weight loss diet I did have a cheat day yesterday and after five months for the first time tucked chicken biriyani. I also managed to gobble up a shahi tukda and sip on a single malt after a long long time. Caught up with a couple of old pals from Welham Boys who were enjoying the evening. A young budding writer came up to me for some advice and that was faltering my ego. I dolled out heaps of advice to him and my experience of writing crime novels and other books.
The festival will go on for another two days with more guests coming over like Ali Zafar, Ruskin Bond, and even Imtiaz Ali. For young budding writers, this is a goldmine of knowledge and experience and I would recommend all loves of literature and book to come over and enjoy the party. its a fun evening out for the family and there was enough good music and lighting to make things glitter.
