May 28, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): The well known writer Pritish Nandy has come up with his new book of poems titled ‘Again’, which was launched at Crossword Kemps Corner. Crossword, India’s leading lifestyle bookstore along with Rupa and Co hosted the official launch.
At the launch, Gulzar, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Shashi Tharoor, Chetan Bhagat and Anupam Kher were seen in conversation with the author.
Acclaimed as one India’s most exciting poets in English, with a fan following to die for, Pritish Nandy suddenly stopped writing poetry one day. None of his 32 books of poems, some of them runaway bestsellers, were permitted to be reissued as he walked away from his literary pursuits and began his spectacular career in journalism and public life. This is his first book of poems since then.
Typically, Nandy plays with form, visual, typography to create a world of his own, unique and resonant with images from his past and present. The man, who once redefined Indian poetry, is back with his unique play of words and metaphors to take you back to the times when poetry ruled, when thousands of Pritish Nandy’s obsessed fans thronged to readings to hear him speak his lines and win over their hearts.
Many people know Pritish Nandy differently. Some remember him as Indian poetry’s most celebrated name whose books, record albums, readings drew an iconic following and won him the Padma Shri and the EM Forster Literary Award at an age most people begin their literary career.
Others know him as a famous, award winning journalist and Editor who changed the face of Indian journalism in one memorable decade and then quietly walked away, to become a columnist. Twenty years on, his column and blog are still among the most widely read.
Still others know him as the host of India’s first signature TV show, The Pritish Nandy Show that created history and made television chat shows so popular. It also helped him to launch Pritish Nandy Communications, a Company that has over the past 9 years, made 25 films, some of them (like Kaante, Chameli, Jhankaar Beats, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, Pyaar Ke Side Effects) now acclaimed as cult movies.
Others know him for his stint in public life, as Member of the Indian Parliament, who among his other achievements, won the UNESCO Award for restoration work in Mumbai. He is also known as the man, who brought Indian art centre stage, and as a painter who has held six critically acclaimed shows of his paintings and calligraphy, now in the best private collections. Some know him as the founder of ‘People for Animals’, India’s biggest animal rights NGO or simply, as the man who opened India’s first Cybercafé when no one had even heard of the internet.
Pritish was born in Kolkata, where he spent his young years as a poet. Pritish Nandy shifted to Mumbai in 1982 to join ‘The Times of India’ as Publishing Director and Group Managing Editor. Between 1998 and 2004, he shared his time between Mumbai and New Delhi as a Member of Parliament. He lives in Mumbai with his books, his dogs, his family. You can meet him on twitter or at the occasional art show, a corner bookstore or at a movie premiere, usually his own. Else, he celebrates his solitude.
-Sampurn Wire
