A moment years in the making

By Gaurav Parab

Yesterday evening, went down to Crosswords Aundh and experienced a moment that had been more than 10 years in the making. From the first time I entered a bookstore, I have been waiting to have my work displayed in a room full of stories. Good, bad, average, brilliant. It does not matter. To have your work breathe in the same air as stories from the most brilliant minds from across thousands of years is that moment when a little whisper about making a small dent runs through your soul.

There it was. Smiling back at me. In the new arrivals shelf. Glancing every now and then at the bestsellers group – like it might just end up there in some months.

Rustom and the Last Storyteller of Almora, a crazy tale that began as a simple thought in my mind in a garden in Bangalore, moved hesitantly through my hands on a notebook in a café in the Himalayas, got slammed into a hard drive in Pune, splattered by ink in Delhi – finally made into bookstores across the country.

It was nice to share this moment with my mom and the missus. The missus smiled back at me. We have been visiting bookstores for more than a decade together now, and every time I would glance at her my eyes would say one day. One day love. One day.

That day is here. Good lord, the day is here.

So many of you have ordered the book online and it should start arriving in 3 or 4 days. Thank you for your patience.

For those planning to get it from a bookstore, it should be available over the weekend in other parts of the country. For those in Pune, its already here at the wonderful Crosswords store in Aundh. Do pick up a copy. And do thank the bookstore folks for being stubborn in keeping alive one of the great experiences in our lives in some challenging times. Nothing beats visiting a bookstore.

If the book is not available in a store near you, you can order it on amazon.in 

PS - My Baba up there, wish you were here. You cannot imagine how much we missed you. You just cannot.