By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 19 Feb: The Literary Table (TLT), hosted another event on 18 February, the book launch of “Codename Stallion”, authored by retired DGP Aloke Lal and Maanas Lal, and “Till the dust settles” by Indrani Talukdar.
Both the books were launched by Jyotsna Brar, retired Principal of Welham Girls’ School, and Aloka Dasgupta Niyogi along with the respective authors. Subhi Arya of Parchment Publisher, who has published Indrani Talukdar’s book was also present at the launch.
TLT hosted the first event of the year, after the immense success of the Art and Literature Festival which was a national event, held last year in the month of September. This was their tenth endeavour. With the diverse backgrounds of the authors and their storytelling styles, they enthralled the audience. Dr Aloka Dasgupta Niyogi was the host of the event.
Project, ‘The Literary Table’ (TLT) was initiated in the year 2021 under Arogya Wellbeing Trust, a not-for-profit, public charitable organisation which was established in 2005, under the patronage of former Governor of Uttarakhand, the late Sudarshan Agarwal. TLT is a book promotion club where authors are featured so that they are able to promote their books through this platform. It’s a brainchild of Dr A Niyogi, but she initiated the project with Nita Roy, Usha Guha, Bijoya Sawian and Neeta Singh who are the core member group of “The Literary Table”. TLT already has 50 odd members in their Book Club. It is a platform for authors, writers, journalists, social entrepreneurs and above all booklovers of Doon. In each event, the authors share their various life experiences which triggered them to pen down their books.
The emcee of the event was Roopa Soni. The front desk was handled by Tarit Mohan and Geetikaa Kakkar. Rajeev Sachar handled the backstage. The session began with the welcome address by Aloka. And then, along with the Emcee Roopa, she introduced the stars of the evening Aloke Lal, Maanas Lal and Indrani Talukdar. Roopa steered the session with her natural flair. Discussants of the evening Mona Verma and Aloka Dasgupta Niyogi addressed relevant questions to the authors and the publisher. Mona with her intellect, perceptive approach and verbal command held the session till the end. She also read out a passage from Aloke Lal & Maanas Lal’s book “Codename Stallion”, while Aloka read out snippets from Indrani Talukdar’s book, “Till the dust settles”.
Aloke Lal and Maanas Lal narrated what led them to pen the book ‘Codename Stallion’. Aloke Lal said these were part of his life experiences, so they are better left in his memories than penning them down.
Indrani Talukdar said the book, “Till the dust Settles’, has been churned out from bitter experiences around her which she encountered in life. She also said she wanted to bring to light “The real India”, the rural India. Growing up in Dehradun, her love pours out in each page of the book. When Aloka asked whether the plot was based on a true story, she said people and incidents inspired her to pen down the stories which she incorporated in her ‘Novelette’ and in the other stories of the book.
At the end, the honours were done by Indrani Pandhi and Dr Niyogi. The session ended with a book signing session by the authors.
