Kunzum Media Lab offers you a unique opportunity to attend a creative writing workshop that promises to get you thinking differently.

Titled, ‘Turning Yourself Into a Character,’ this workshop will allow participants will learn how to see and how to describe themselves, from the outside in. We will steer through six creative writing exercises, in which descriptive and metaphorical writing will be encouraged. Particular attention will be paid to both the physical and  emotional details of our selves.

Participants should expect to complete the workshop having written various physical profiles of themselves, having completed an extensive character mapping questionnaire on the internal sense of self, and having written a personal essay expanding upon these details.

It is also possible (but not necessary) to submit completed pieces to the instructor for feedback, and for possible inclusion in an international literary magazine.

Classes will be taught by Brandi Dawn Henderson, who holds a MA in Writing (Creative Nonfiction) from Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC.

HOW TO REGISTER: You may send cash or cheque (favouring TCP Media Pvt. Ltd.’ for Rs. 500 to reserve a spot. Payments may be sent to Kunzum Travel Cafe, T-49, GF, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi, India.

CONTACT
Please email brandi@kunzum.com or call +91.9650702777 with any questions you may have.

BookWag, the Book Club, hosts travel writer Rishad Saam Mehta on Saturday, Jan 21, 11:00 a.m.
Well known travel writer Rishad Saam Mehta will be launching his new book, Hot Tea Across India, and will also make a presentation from his travels. Quiz him on how to make a career in travel writing. He sure will have some answers for you. More details on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/175291179237810/.

Kunzum Film Club presents Dilli with filmmaker Sushmit Ghosh on Sat, Jan 21, 7:00 p.m.
As Delhi straddles through its different worlds, Dilli tells the story of this city, as seen through very different eyes. Shot in the heart of this bustling megapolis, Dilli finds its storytellers in the men, women and children who are the invisible hands that continue to build this city of dreams. Sushmit Ghosh will be available for a Q&A after the screening. More details on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/199469916815765.

Nazar ka Adda, a Photography Discussion curated by well known Photographer Mustafa Quraishi on Sunday, Jan 22, 7:00 p.m.

BookWag presents a Skype Date with Travel Blogger, Unbrave Girl, from China on Saturday, Jan 28, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Unbrave Girl is a very popular travel blogger, and is currently in China. You can chat with her about travel blogging, her experiences and anything else you like. More details on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/345928132101366.

COMING UP: Creative writing workshops, Photography Workshops, more book discussions and film screenings. If you would like to organize an event, feel free to share your ideas with us.

EVENT VENUE
Kunzum Travel Cafe, T-49, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi 110016, India.
Contact: +91.9650 702 777, mail@kunzum.com

The first meeting went very successfully with just about the right number of people – ten! Some of the pics have been posted here. Following are some of the recommendations by members who attended the meet:

Excuse the typos / grammatical mistakes as these have been reproduced as written by attendees in the BookWag scrapbook. We want to retain the original words here.

1. River Dog by Mark Shand, recommended by Ajay Jain: A humorous travelogue by the author in his attempt to navigate the banks of the Brahmaputra and go to its source-in the company of his dog.

2. Stories from Here and There by Sunil Handa, recommended by Vikal P Dubey: a collection on simple, meaningful stories from across the generation.

3. The Razor’s Edge by W.Somerset Maugham, recommended by Anshul Gaurav: the story is about a young man who walks “The Razor’s Edge” in life forsaking the pleasures of the earth.

4. Inspite of The Gods by Edward Luce, recommended by Neha: a non-fiction based on the relationship of ‘India-U.S- China. Talks about economic factors that followed the stock market to crash in 2000.

5. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, recommended by Abhijeet: a book (non-fiction) which has created waves all over the world since it was published, popularising the phrase ‘tipping point’ so much that it can be a part of everyday use. The book is about social phenomenon, things that go viral and how different factors contributing towards the tipping.

6. The Sacred Self by Dr. Wayne W Dyer, recommended by Nalini Varshney: I’m still reading it; what I like about it is that finally I was able to distinguish between the ego and your true self.

7. My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, recommended by Nilesh Shrivastava: just finished reading this. A novel set in 16^th Century Turkey. It is a murder Mystery but with Multiple narrators and in the rather closeted world of miniature artists. A revelation in terms of what a writer can do with a large cast of characters and attention to details.

8. Hicthhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, recommended by Piyush Ahuja: absurd, funny, profound, quirky. A must read for everyone!

9. Day Break Over Dharamshala by Janet Thomas, recommended by Dipika Mukhija: story of a woman’s journey from being a saviour of a satanic cult, to finding a refuge in Buddhism. Inspiring, touching, Love It.

10. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy, recommended by Shubhra Krishan: the Quintessential tragic hero – flawed, alone and so human. Dare you to keep a dry eye when you read ‘Michael Henchard’s Will’…

After the successful BookWag meet on December 17, we are meeting again on December 24 as per the following details:

• Theme: Travel and Adventure
• Format: Attendees read a book of their choice in advance. It has to fall under the travel and adventure genre.Everyone will be given 5-7 minutes to express their opinion of the same. You may also read extracts from the same that you found impressionable in any way. A discussion will follow after everyone has had a chance to have a say. If you do not want to discuss a book, you can attend to listen to others, and participate in the discussion later.
• Date and Time: Saturday, December 24, 2011 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
• Venue: Kunzum Travel Cafe, T-49 Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi 110016 (For directions call 9650702777).
• Who may attend: The meeting is open to all.
• Charges: There is no charge for participation. If you order tea, coffee and cookies (the only items on the cafe’s menu), you can PAY WHAT YOU LIKE (this is how the cafe charges). Please be on time for a meaningful discussion.

Contact BookWag at club@bookwag.com for more info and to confirm participation.

You are invited to join Shubra Krishan, well known author and editor, for a discussion on Saturday, December 17, 2011 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Kunzum Travel Cafe, T-49 Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi 110016 (For directions call 9650702777). The meeting is open to all.

Format of the meeting: All attendees will read a book of their choice in advance and will be given 5-7 minutes to express their opinion of the same. You may also read extracts from the same that you found impressionable in any way. A discussion will be moderated by Shubra only after everyone has had a chance to have a say. If you do not want to discuss a book, you can attend to listen to others, and participate in the discussion later.

There is no charge for participation. If you order tea, coffee and cookies (the only items on the cafe’s menu), you can PAY WHAT YOU LIKE (this is how the cafe charges). Please be on time for a meaningful discussion.

Contact Shubra at shubhkrish@gmail.com or contact BookWag at club@bookwag.com.

If you would like to start a club, or join an existing one, BookWag is the platform for you. You will meet other book lovers, exchange notes with them, and make friends. Just as you will be able to enjoy great deals from publishers, get advance copies and meet authors. What are you waiting for? Time to go book clubbing.

There are many who believe that Tom Sharpe writes the funniest books in the world today. And there is good reason for this belief. The English author has been entertaining readers for over three decades now with books that mix confusion and destruction with an amazing turn of phrase. One critic had observed that Sharpe was like PG Wodehouse with a lot of sex and violence thrown in. High praise indeed. And Sharpe has for the most part lived up to it. So when his new book, The Gropes, hit the stands, we were quick to grab a copy.

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In terms of plot, The Gropes, is very much in familiar Sharpe territory. There is an isolated family in England called the Gropes, dominated by strong (and sometimes, masculine) women who write roughshod over the wills of generally effeminate and weak-willed husbands, and sometimes even other men.

The book begins with some background of the family and it is here that Sharpe is at his witty best, combining some dazzling language with tongue in cheek digs that would horrify historians and alienate just about every feminist in the world:

“In the past, several husbands had turned out to be so infertile or incurably impotent that desperate measures had had to be taken, either the kidnapping of passing strangers or paying for the sexual services of improvident tradesmen with large families to support. More than one traveller had undergone the horrifying experience of being waylaid by a Mrs Grope dressed as a man and being forced to commit what he took to be an unnatural act before being stupefied with gin and opium and left unconscious in a ditch miles from Grope Hall.”

Anyway, to get back to the plot, the Gropes get into the modern era with the female-domination of the family just beginning to weaken and that is where the real story begins. There is a bank manager who is fed up of his son and wife;  the wife’s brother who runs a shady business and whose own wife happens to be a Grope (although he does not know it); and of course, the remnants of the proud Grope clan. Sharpe throws them all together and adds the usual liberal dose of sex, violence, alcohol, blundering policemen and confusing dialogue, lots of explosions and hopes for the best. There is lots of confusion as the bank manager’s wife thinks her husband wants to murder her son and sends him off to her brother, from where he disappears with her brother’s wife, leaving the brother drunk and devoid of cash. Meanwhile the husband runs off, trying to start a new life. His wife gets into hysterics and goes to her brother’s house only to see it in shambles…you would think it is all pretty engrossing!

Sadly, it all does not work out. In fact, The Gropes, while having its moments, never really takes off. Yes, there will almost always be an incident or phrase on every page that will make you smile but in terms of continuity, the plot is weak and seems to be a mish-mash of previous Sharpe books. The Grope family seems to owe a lot to  Ancestral Vices, the bank manager seems right out of Wilt and his wife’s fights with the police under the impression that her boy has been murdered are very similar to Eva’s predicament in The Wilt Alternative, while the wife’s brother owning a slaughterhouse is again reminiscent of Wilt in which a sausage manufacturing plant plays a major role.

And it is all held together very flimsily. Yes, it is funny, but this is not even close to the Tom Sharpe we know, who gave us watertight plots with lots of sarcasm and amazing wit. We would advise you to keep away. This is not Tom Sharpe at his best. Not even close.

The Gropes, By Tom Sharpe, Hutchinson, Rs 474

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The world knows him as an intrepid adventurer, who last month became the oldest Briton to stand atop Mount Everest. But the 65-year-old Sir Ranulph Fiennes is also a fine author with a dry sense of humour and a narrative skill that matches his flair for adventure. So even as Sir Ranulph works his way down Mount Everest, here is a list of what we think are his seven best books. Of course, we are sure that the book he writes on his Everest ascent (his third attempt incidentally, after one was cut short by a heart attack), will be a bestseller too. But in the meantime, we think that every person who loves adventure would do well to invest in any or all of the following:

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Race to the Pole: The story of the historic and tragic race to the South Pole between Roald Amundsen and Captain Scott.

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know: The autobiography of the man himself, in his own words. We bet it will be updated, but while we are waiting, this one is definitely worth a read.

Hell on Ice: In 1976-77, a party attempted to reach the North Polar ice cap in freakish winter conditions. The books title says it all really.

Living Dangerously: Fiennes’ first autobiography, published in 1987, going all the way back to his childhood in South Africa. We are sure he did not know he would be writing another autobiography twenty years later!

To the Ends of the Earth: An account of the famous Transglobe expedition, all the way from Antarctica, via Africa to the Arctic. It reads almost as amazing as the expedition itself.

Mind Over Matter: The story of the longest unsupported crossing of the Antartic on foot by Fiennes and Stroud. A terrific book, not just for the journey but also about the changing relationships between the two men.

Beyond the Limits: A four to five month journey from Canada to the North Pole, alone, on foot, towing a sledge, in which Fiennes lost a third of his body weight. Insane? Determined? Ah, read all about it!

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His effort on Everest in 1924 might have cost him his life, but it made George Mallory a legend. Speculation is rife as to whether he actually made it to the top or failed while doing so, and almost every year an author tries to unravel the mystery of what has now become known as Mallory’s Last Climb.  Jeffrey Archer has been the latest to try his hand at solving the Mallory mystery with his “fiction-inspired-by-history” Paths of Glory. But as with all fictional books that revolve around history, we would recommend you do a spot of background reading on the historical event before reading Archer’s speculative account of it. Well, we would recommend you try one of these four books to get a better idea of what Archer is writing about.

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The Second Death of George Mallory by Reinhold Messner: One mountaineering legend writing about another. It seldom gets better than this. Mind you, if you are not a mountaineering fanatic, you might struggle with some of the passages and with Messner’s near-crazed devotion to mountains.

Last Climb: The legendary Everest Expeditions of George Mallory by David Breashears and Audrey Salkeld: Not as poetic and sensitive as Messner’s work but scores on detail and some amazing photography. Well, it is from National Geographic, after all.

Ghosts of Everest: The search for Mallory and Irvine by Jochen Hemmleb, Larry A. Johnson, Eric R. Simonson and William E. Nothdurft:  As the name indicates, this is a book about the search for the bodies for Mallory and Irvine in 1999, seventy five years after they disappeared. Contains some stunning photographs as well as speculation about what might have happened on the mountain in 1924

The Wildest Dream by Peter and Leni Gillman: The standard biography, using material found in the letters on Mallory’s body in 1999. The perfect book for those looking for a detailed explanation of Mallory’s obsession with Everest. Some might get put off a bit by the excessive psychoanalysis at times, but the book remains very readable.

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Solving unresolved mysteries with a dash of fiction has been a formula followed by many bestselling authors. The results can vary from the ludicrous to the brilliant. Fortunately, Jeffrey Archer’s “semi-fictional or semi-historical” narrative of mountaineer George Mallory, Paths of Glory, falls squarely into the latter category.

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For those not familiar with Mallory, well, he was a very famous mountaineer who was last seen nearing the peak of Everest in 1924 and then disappeared. His body was found a full 75 years later and to this day, people debate as to whether he died ascending the peak or while coming down. Archer attempts to resolve the mystery and also to profile the man who was said to be more obsessed with Everest than with anything in the world.

The result is a fascinating tale. Paths of Glory begins with the discovery of Mallory’s body in 1999, and then switches into rewind mode. Archer traces Mallory’s childhood, his college days and his service in the First World War, even though he could have avoided the conflict altogether (school teachers were exempt from military service). One does not really know how much of Archer’s book is based on fact but it seems authentic enough at places to make one believe that this indeed is how things must have happened. For instance, Mallory’s letters from the war front to his wife Ruth seem very authentic, complete with army censor marks. The narration is vintage Archer, with wit and humour flowing throughout and occasionally even intermingling with drama – for instance, an Aussie climber lying injured in the snow and singing “Waltzing Matilda” (rather badly) even while waiting to be rescued!

If Archer comes up short somewhere, it is in his narration of the actual mountain climbing. Those expecting to get an experience on the lines of Into Thin Air are going to be a bit disappointed as Archer describes the expeditions in a strangely dispassionate way. But that apart, this is a terrific for all those who want to delve into the Mallory mystique, and is infinitely more readable than all the biographies about the man. Lovers of classical mountaineering literature might frown at its over dramatic passages and the total absence of photographs, but heck, we think it is a wonderful read.

Oh, and if you are expecting me to tell you whether Archer tells you about what happened on Everest that day when Mallory disappeared, forget it! Buy the book and read it is what we would advise. It is more than worth it. Especially if you are fascinated by Everest.

Just like Mallory was.

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