Dehradun, 24 Jun: The Literary Table (TLT) hosted another scintillating event with two Doon based Authors, Madhu Gurung and Indrani Talukdar. With their diverse backgrounds and storytelling styles they enthralled the audience. Dr Aloka Dasgupta Niyogi was the host and moderator of the event.Aloka moderated the event and steered it forward while reading snippets from Madhu Gurung’s book, ‘The Keeper of memories’ and Indrani Talukdar’s book ‘The colour of Poplar’. Both the authors with their diverse plots kept the audience enthralled.
Indrani Talukdar narrated what led her to pen down the book ‘The Colour of Poplar’. She said, initial inspiration was her mother and her paintings. Then as she was growing up, she would see the plight of the Bangladeshi maids who would come to work at her parental house. Later in the years she came upon a marriage bureau where young girls were trafficked off under the guise of marriage. All these life events spurred her to pen down the book, ‘The Colours of Poplar’. The book beautifully illustrates the contrasting dispositions of women in the same family, one a dominant matriarch and the other being inferior ones, always conforming to their husbands and the head of the family. She has also described the condition of women and Dalits in society and splendidly woven the incidents keeping the quandary hidden till the climax. The book also displays glimpses of forced marriages and bartering of brides.
While Madhu Gurung grew up hearing stories of her ancestors which remained with her like an appendage to be later churned into a book. ‘The Keeper of Memories’ is essentially a story of survival, of retracing the path to one’s roots. The novel carries a dark undercurrent that eventually envelops the Gurung family home, nestled in the idyllic green hills of Uttarakhand, untouched and pristine until change strikes. It has the effect of a cinematic experience. Its narration is delightfully visual, engaging the imagination and alerting the senses. It is a very well researched historical novel about the valiant journey of a Gorkha family from a small village in Nepal to Dehradun, who gallantly fought wars during the Raj Era.
The audience, a very well-informed group of Doonites, were full of questions for Madhu Gurung and Indrani Talukdar. The Q&A session thus lit up the session leaving the audience wanting more. Indrani Pandhi was also present.
The MC of the event was Priyakshi Rajguru Goswami. The logistics of the evening was handled by Shalini Dhanda, Rachna Dushyant Singh and Jasleen Kaur.
