At The Hindu Lit Fest, Chennai I met senior journalist Ziya Us Salam who hosted the panel of nominees. He said some very nice things to me personally and publicly. At the Delhi edition of The Hindu Lit Fest I was taken aback when he asked me to catch up with him. A few days later I got a text message on my mobile phone: Cafe UNO, Shanglri-la, Janpath, 2.00 pm.

I am the kind who is happy just anywhere talking about things that matter – like Ziya’s family migrating to Delhi from Lahore during Partition and he growing up as part of the only minority community family in a pre-dominantly refugee neighbourhood in Delhi. These are the kind of stories that challenge the divisive, parochial configurations of our society. Respect! I wanted to know more about him. My listening, empathizing appetite was on a surge so I did not realize I needed to order food. That evening, a friend told me I was supposed to order food, this is a food-cum-writer talk column. I wondered how budhoo I am and how I had spoilt the hotel’s chance of getting featured.

Yet, to my surprise, the article has come and the senior journalist shows us how he can turn a no frills intense interview into a worthy piece. Here is the article on how a book is received, lost, nominated, read, talked about, and more. Please read.

Tags: Cafe UNO, Roll of Honour, Shangri-la Eros, The Hindu, Ziya Us Salam