Kitaab Festival draws Indian booklovers

"Subhas Bose is many things to many people, but, to me, he is someone I empathize with, am almost fond of. I cannot find easy, obvious or universally acceptable choices coming his way. And I admire how he faced the endless dilemmas life sent his way, without, at any point, being a man of compromise or adjustment. And I admire even more how, instead of being nothing more than a man of steel forged by all those fires, he retained and sustained his sensitivity, inclusiveness and objectivity. I have often mulled over the "if this had been" aspects of his life. I searched for some such stories to read, like Robert Harris's 'Fatherland', in the Indian context. I could not find much, perhaps because there is in any case so much mystery, intrigue and speculation about his real life. And then, I ended up writing the book that I wanted to read," Chaturvedi said at the launch, explaining the journey of the book.

NEW DELHI, 04/01/2022 (informazione.news - comunicati stampa - editoria e media)

" Subhas Bose is many things to many people, but, to me, he is someone I empathize with, am almost fond of. I cannot find easy, obvious or universally acceptable choices coming his way. And I admire how he faced the endless dilemmas life sent his way, without, at any point, being a man of compromise or adjustment. And I admire even more how, instead of being nothing more than a man of steel forged by all those fires, he retained and sustained his sensitivity, inclusiveness and objectivity. I have often mulled over the "if this had been" aspects of his life. I searched for some such stories to read, like Robert Harris's 'Fatherland', in the Indian context. I could not find much, perhaps because there is in any case so much mystery, intrigue and speculation about his real life. And then, I ended up writing the book that I wanted to read," Chaturvedi said at the launch, explaining the journey of the book.

He added, "With much trepidation, I requested Mihir Bose , who has written a very good biography of Subhas indeed, 'The Lost Hero', to read and hopefully say a couple of non-critical lines about the book in advance. He sent back a note that ended with this – 'He combines a sure grasp of history with an ability to convert little-known facts into a marvellous fictional page-turner, establishing himself as the Robert Harris of India .' And I felt I could now happily retire from fiction writing, even before the launch!"

Speaking about the book, senior bureaucrat and CEO of the Niti Aayog, India's primary policy planning body, Amitabh Kant , said, "It is a tremendous reading. He (Chaturvedi) deals with the subject with a lot of compassion. Imagine the ethical dilemmas that Bose was undergoing; he wanted to free India and so had to work with the Nazis. The book brings out Bose's character, uniqueness and commitment to the freedom of India . It's one of the finest books I have read in recent times."

Global marketing maven Suhel Seth and award-winning Indian filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda were present at the launch. The book, published by Pan Macmillan India, is available on Amazon.com and at leading bookstores.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1572874/Prabha_Khaitan_Foundation_Logo.jpg
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1719565/Kitaab_Festival_Logo.jpg
Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1719566/Anshul_Chaturvedi.jpg