S. Khushwant Singh Literary Festival, Kasauli

On 14th October I and my fellow students were taken to the Sardar Khushwant Singh Literary Fest at Kasauli. The event was graced with the presence of so many big celebrities sharing their life experiences with students and listeners. The venue could not have been more perfect than the beautiful and serene Kasauli. The event started with a classical ‘shabad’ which was so calming that we all got lost in the voice of the artist. Followed by a book reading by the eminent author, Amitav Ghosh. Mr. Ghosh got us through the style and themes of his upcoming book and even piqued our interest by reading us some pages from it. The writer was quite warm and patient enough to sign students’ books and get pictures clicked with them. Many other eminent personalities such as Mrs. Mallika Sarabhai, daughter of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the man behind ISRO, Mr. Cyrus Broacha, the famous MTV anchor and comedian were present as well. After the event, we approached Mr. Cyrus and asked for an autograph and a picture to which he kindly agreed. He was such a jolly and lively personality. I remember him asking us if any of us wanted a career in comedy, to which I replied, “Not a career Sir, but I definitely want to try it once in college”. Altogether it was a wonderful experience and I feel lucky to have experienced it all.
~Soham Kumar