Kulpreet Yadav's The Girl Who Loved a Pirate was launched at Oxford Bookstore, Connaught Place, Delhi on August 28, 2015. This is Kulpreet's third book, second in Andy Karan series. The first book in the series is called Catching the Departed.
I reached the venue right on time when it was about to begin, and the event space in Oxford Bookstore was already packed by then. It was wonderful to see several familiar faces. From famous bloggers to founders of literary organizations, everyone was there, and so were several writers and avid readers. In fact, I have never seen such a fabulous turnout for a book launch. Kulpreet had requested people to come dressed as pirates, and some rose up to the challenge. Such as this gentleman in the audience.
Vinitia Nangia of Times of India and Sumant Batra, founder of Kumaon Literary Festival, were in conversation with the author. The discussion revolved around whether it is true that good girls have a tendency to fall for bad guys and if yes, the reasons behind it. The topic was closely related to the book as in the book, a seemingly good girl is in love with a pirate. The panelists also discussed the protagonist of the novel, Andy Karan.
After the panel discussion, the author answered some questions raised by the audience. Some interesting facts emerged from this. Such as, the fact that pirates are active even today in Indian waters. Several misconceptions about pirates were also dispelled by the author who has in past been an officer in the Indian Navy. Such as, pirates do not wear an eye-patch or do not usually have a hook instead of a hand or a wooden leg. They are in fact athletic, agile people who need to take over ships moving at a very high speed.
The event ended with the announcement of the winner of the best-dressed pirate contest. The old gentleman who had so generously posed for me earlier won the award. He totally deserved it. He had indeed made the effort. There were others in the event who wore a bandana or an eye-patch, but he was the clear winner.
A bonus prize was announced for the youngest pirate and this young man with an eye patch won it. Here he is posing with Vinita.
The event was obviously a huge success. And the copies simply flew off the rack. Every single one was sold and there was a long queue of people who wanted to get their copies signed. It was a pleasure to meet Kulpreet as always. I wish him the best for the success of his book and will soon post a review.
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