The tv interview I mentioned yesterday is Walk The Talk, where the host, Shekhar Gupta, goes to your place of work and walks about with you asking questions. For me, he chose a large bookshop, but his questions were not about books, anything but. He wanted to know about Cherie Blair and Tony, about David Cameron and Gordon Brown, the Indian cricket team and why the England players were always injured, and with about 2 minutes to go, he deigned to mention the books. This was quickly followed by an interview with a young reporter from a literary mazagine, before I was rushed back to my hotel - well, we travelled at roughly 2 miles an hour with pedestrians overtaking the car. A quick turnaround before attending a very enjoyable dinner in honour of the a Mr Singh, former secretary at the Ministry of Finance. It was well-attended by a galaxy of Members of Parliament and the luminaries of the art world. Talk was of India's future, and the minister of tourism was convinced that India could do more than hold its own against China, and probably had a better chance of advancing on the world stage.
This morning I had a 9am flight to Mumbai (which some of you may remember as Bombay). Instead of a flight of just under an hour, having had a delayed take-off and repeated circles above Mumbai before landing, the journey from my hotel in Delhi was just over 5 hours. What is fascinating is the Indians take this all for granted and do not complain. I arrived at the hotel in time for lunch and have just completed 4 print interviews. This evening I'm giving another talk following by a book signing, which they tell me is likely to be the busiest of the whole tour.
This morning I had a 9am flight to Mumbai (which some of you may remember as Bombay). Instead of a flight of just under an hour, having had a delayed take-off and repeated circles above Mumbai before landing, the journey from my hotel in Delhi was just over 5 hours. What is fascinating is the Indians take this all for granted and do not complain. I arrived at the hotel in time for lunch and have just completed 4 print interviews. This evening I'm giving another talk following by a book signing, which they tell me is likely to be the busiest of the whole tour.
14 Comments:
Hello Jeffrey
I am really enjoying your very interesting blogs from India...it sounds wonderful and frenetic at the same time.
You seem to be having delay after delay. And we complain about the public transport in the UK.
At least they can spot a decent man when they see one, as they seem to love you...sounds like you could be Prime Minister there!
Hope you are having a good curry every evening to keep your strength up!
Kind regards
David
Hello,
I am unhappy coz I can't meet you today at the mall... But I sure do hope that you enjoy your time here in India...
We do complain about the delays here too but also take it as a part of life... Now think about it that you reschedule your tour and delay your departure by even a day, I am sure, Indians will be actually thanking you :)
Hi Sir,
I met you the other day in Gurgaon n I cant begin to tell it was dream come true...Ive read all yr novels n the latest one is one of the best! If time permits you should travel to the northeastern part of the state namely Guwahati in Assam to find out how much you are admired n the overwhelming number of ardent fans you have. Please give it a thought. Thanks
Regards,
Gayatri
My Lord,
With regards the book signing, are we expected to buy 'A Prisoner Of Birth' from the bookstore at that very instant? I would like to get my copy signed but I have bought it already and it wasn't from the place where our rendezvous will be (hopefully). Obvious problem - will the organizers allow me to get my book into the store specifically for the signing ?
If not, would it be too much to ask of you to pull some strings?
Thank you and looking forward to meeting you either way.
raghu - Jeffrey will be happy to sign your copy of 'A Prisoner of Birth' and there shouldn't be a problem taking it into the bookshop as you've already bought it. I'll forward your email to Jeffrey's tour manager, and hope there won't be a problem with this.
Kind regards, Jeffrey's PA.
uv - very sorry that you're not able to get to one of Jeffrey's talks or signings, but I'm afraid it will not be possible for him to extend his tour, much as he would like to. Kind regards, Jeffrey's PA.
Mr Archer;
I am an army officer from India and am hoping to catch you at Bangalore. I also collect autographs as a hobby and am one of India's leading autograph collectors with over 4600 autographs incl those of Mahatma Gandhi,Rabindranath Tagore,Mother Teresa,Mohammed Ali, Pele, Dalai Lama among other world personalities. I hope to get your autograph at Banglore. Enjoy your trip in India.
Regards
Shankar
Thank you Alison.
Hello Sir
I met you today and thanks a lot for signing my copy of the book. Meeting you i was so awed that i forgot to mention that First among the equals is one of my favorite book. Hope i can convey the message from here. Thanks once again.
Dear Lord,
I am really impressed that you are taking the whole indian experience in your stride,even though we may not please many most of the time but you have shown what a man of experience and travel you are..Looking forward to seeing you in bangalore..it will be like a dream. tazeem
Rushwd from work and was lucky to hv heard you amidst the bursting at the seams crowd in Landmark,Mumbai..n got my book signed too..Do enjoy the trip! Reading n enjoying the un putdownable( i doubt thats a word) Prisoner of Birth!awesome..Regards Rasheed
dear sir, i was there yesterday at infinity mall in mumbai. i heard your comments and i loved it as much as your books. i was amazed by your observations about india which we indians had failed to observe till the date.
here's a suggetion..... why dont you right aa book on your travaling experience, it will be interesting to read about the world and my country through your keen eyes and sharp pen....
Dear Sir,
I met you briefly yesterday at Landmark Mumbai but unfortunately did not get a pic with you as did not want to creat more chaos. I had been exposed to your book a year back by a friend of short stories and after that I have read a number of books. Yesterday I bought your first book and last book and got your autograph on it. I really enjoyed listening to your words of wisdom and congratulate you on your hard work and success. I understand the difficulties you have to got through when you are in India. It is not easy living here as you tend to be stressed the moment you step out.. but I must say that people here are very warm unlike many other nationlaties and it wonderful to be with them . God bless you and wishing you success....
Hello Jeff,
I love you a lot and am a great admirer of yours. I still recollect my college days (some three years back) when i used to read your books in my free time and would later catch up with my sister and tell her as to how we should go to the UK to meet you...
I was so happy to hear that you were coming to India, planned a lot to come down from Hyderabad (My city) to Bangalore so as to meet you...this was rather a much awaited meet. However, i am caught up with my office work and cannot make it there. I am highly dissapointed. Would love you to come to Hyderabad, but i guess we donot have a Landmark store here. Would say it is very dissapointing. However, Please enjoy your trip in India. I am sure you will have a very hillarious experience apart from the wondeerful people you may meet. India is a very beautiful country and you may find a lot of things rather odd but lot of things are also so wonderful. Please visit the Taj Mahal if possible. I am sure you will enjoy.
Luv and Warm Regards,
Sai
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