The first Book Launch ever, that I was a part of.
Let me give you all a lil rewind of whatever happend, so you guys don't find yourself utterly lost !
;)
Well, every year, there is this National Scholastic Writing Awards Competetion by Scholastic, in which kids all over India send their entries, their stories, and their thinking.
In that comepetition, I came 5th position all over India.
So,
recently I was informed in school that my entry had also been selected for getting published in a book called "For Kids, By Kids" which was a compiplation of stories by children who've got a national level recognition in the field of writing.. I was invited to the book launch, as I was one of the authors.
Yesterday was the Book Launch.
I went... And the first thing I saw were more than thousand copies of the book being sold in the counter. Excited little kids, and smiling parents,and interviewers, and everybody else, everybody was just running around, buying copies of the book.
It still hadn't sunk in.
I went to the counter and picked up a copy, my parents were waiting for me to get the book.
I went through the content, I couldn't spot my name. Despair covered me like a tight black blanket, I felt complete dissapointment for whole 10 senconds. I came back in form, and gave it another try...
anishk, rhea, blah blah.. xyz.. abc... . blah....... Nilanjana Bhattacharjee- Breaking Free.
THERE IT WAS!!!!!!
My heart skipped atleast 3 beats! {Okay, maybe just one }
But.. I saw my name. My story, right there..I took a copy, and took it to my parents..
My mum and dad was talkin to someone else, dad introduced me to that person, saying "Yea, my daughter is one of the writers.." and this person leaped over me sayin "Congratulations dear!!!! Doesn't it feel great!?! Keep it up darl!!!" and went off.
Then, this lady came to me, and said "Hi, I'm the organisor of this event, your name ?"
I said " Nilanjana Bhattacharjee"
"Oh! You must be one of the authors then!! Welcome in! Please have a seat in the Author's seats, yea, right over there" she said, pointing towards a direction.
I stared at her blankly, "You must be one of the authors".
I was thinking to myself,
This lady said I was an author. I. Yes, I!!
What?!!!!
"No wait, Nilanjana, don't freak. Be a good girl, go sit."
I went, and sat. Trying to look through these people who were looking at me intently.
Finaly, the program began.
We were asked to read out little extracts from our stories.. i read my favourite part..
At the end of it, someone asked me
"What inspired you to write something on Breaking Rules , and Chandni Chawk together?"
I said
"I just wanted to send this msg accross, that today Breaking rules is considered a wrong thing to do.. but what people don't get is, breaking rules is a part of discovering yourself, who you really are, what are your limits, and where you start and stop... and as far as Chandni Chawk is concerened, people really need to discover where our real Delhi started from, from where New Delhi began.... "
And then there was this hugeee roar of applause for me!
FOR ME?!!
It sunk in. Finally. It did.
"Today, I am an author. "
It sunk in.
I saw someone's face without who this feeling wouldn't have been complete.
I was living my dream.
after few more questions, we were made to conclude the gathering,
we spoke our last few words, and it officialy ended... But not unoficially!
There were little kids, guys, girls, ladies [!!] coming upto ME and asking for autographs!!
This lady made me sign a couply of copies
"This is for my daughter"
"this is for my grand son"
"this is for myself! please sign it!"..
Never in my life had I signed autographs for someone, and today, so many kids and adults were asking for my autograph!
I had lost count of how many books I signed.. i could see the excitement in the other fellow authors with me too, when they signed..
we were all under 16, and this was our frst time, ever...
I got my gift hamper., and when I went into the bookshop , there were MORE people wanting to talk to me!
I gave some of them my email, and I made a friend "Meghavarshini". She was a book fanatic like me, and we had similar tastes. Also met this interesting person named Anirudh. He seemed to be extremely well read, and very polite.
My parents and family were too proud. Mom said "there was this lady who said, who knows? your daughter might be the next jhumpa Lahiri!"
I could tell she was proud. My dad too.
My night ended with a high, with a high of happyness.
This was my first step towards ambition.. I can see many more now.. Coming to me, and I am decending forward.. right towards them..
