Book Box | The little library garden at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival

At the David Sassoon Library, a sculpture of cascading books opens out into a little garden. People are discussing Naked, a murder mystery set in Mumbai, co-written by Aditi Mediratta and Michaela Talwar. Despite the provocative title and the swear words inside, the book has not offended anybody, the authors say. At least not yet. But times are changing.

Today, a book like Kiran Nagarkar’s Cuckold, which humanises Mirabai, would never be published. Or Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous by Manu Joseph, which features encounter killings and a bearded man based on real life, says publisher Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri. Just look at the film Annapoorani, withdrawn from a streaming platform. For an artist and a society, censorship is a slippery slope. Objectionable as it is, for instance, a film like Animal should have space to exist, the panellists agree.

Aditi Mediratta recently re-read Summer Term at St Clare’s, her favourite Enid Blyton book. “I kept waiting for Carlotta to be slapped, but she was simply scolded and scolded and scolded. I realised the book had been sanitised”, she says regretfully. She’d rather the original remained sacrosanct, and that the book was read as a product of its times, a conversation starter around the ethics of hitting children.

Read us a poem, says Asad Lalljee, the Madison Avenue moderator. Lalljee, who returned to this city as cultural curator of all things south of the Sea Link, has a rapid-fire round today, complete with a prize hamper we hear, in Karan Johar style. The conversation veers to Marathi mutton bhakri and it stays there, with restaurant recipes and recommendations.

The evening turns into night. The lanterns strung over the garden, and the fairy lights draped over the palm trees shine bright as the talented trio of Pheroza Godrej, Ranjit Hoskote and Sudhir Patwardhan enter. When they start to talk about their friend, the poet-painter Gieve Patel, there is so much love, admiration and camaraderie that you feel lucky to be there, in that charmed circle. They talk of art, of curating exhibitions, of poets and art critic Ranjit Hoskote as a young writer and art critic for The Times of India, writing in a style never seen before. Decades after he first met Gieve Patel, Ranjit reads aloud from To Break and to Branch, his essays on the poet’s painting and sculpture.

More such stories to come your way soon, as I head to Jaipur this weekend, to drink in the words of literary prize winners, historians, architects, scientists and scholars in what is the largest literary show in the world.

Until next week, happy reading!

Sonya Dutta Choudhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and the founder of Sonya’s Book Box, a bespoke book service. Each week, she brings you specially curated books to give you an immersive understanding of people and places. If you have any reading recommendations or suggestions, write to her at [email protected]

Books referred to in this edition of Book Box

Naked co-written by Aditi Mediratta and Michaela Talwar

Cuckold by Kiran Nagarkar

Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous by Manu Joseph

Restless Lives by Harish Bhat

Tata Stories by Harish Bhat

Office Secrets by Harish Bhat

To Break and to Branch by Ranjit Hoskote

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Dear Reader,

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At the David Sassoon Library, a sculpture of cascading books opens out into a little garden. People are discussing Naked, a murder mystery set in Mumbai, co-written by Aditi Mediratta and Michaela Talwar. Despite the provocative title and the swear words inside, the book has not offended anybody, the authors say. At least not yet. But times are changing.

Today, a book like Kiran Nagarkar’s Cuckold, which humanises Mirabai, would never be published. Or Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous by Manu Joseph, which features encounter killings and a bearded man based on real life, says publisher Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri. Just look at the film Annapoorani, withdrawn from a streaming platform. For an artist and a society, censorship is a slippery slope. Objectionable as it is, for instance, a film like Animal should have space to exist, the panellists agree.

Aditi Mediratta recently re-read Summer Term at St Clare’s, her favourite Enid Blyton book. “I kept waiting for Carlotta to be slapped, but she was simply scolded and scolded and scolded. I realised the book had been sanitised”, she says regretfully. She’d rather the original remained sacrosanct, and that the book was read as a product of its times, a conversation starter around the ethics of hitting children.

Read us a poem, says Asad Lalljee, the Madison Avenue moderator. Lalljee, who returned to this city as cultural curator of all things south of the Sea Link, has a rapid-fire round today, complete with a prize hamper we hear, in Karan Johar style. The conversation veers to Marathi mutton bhakri and it stays there, with restaurant recipes and recommendations.

The evening turns into night. The lanterns strung over the garden, and the fairy lights draped over the palm trees shine bright as the talented trio of Pheroza Godrej, Ranjit Hoskote and Sudhir Patwardhan enter. When they start to talk about their friend, the poet-painter Gieve Patel, there is so much love, admiration and camaraderie that you feel lucky to be there, in that charmed circle. They talk of art, of curating exhibitions, of poets and art critic Ranjit Hoskote as a young writer and art critic for The Times of India, writing in a style never seen before. Decades after he first met Gieve Patel, Ranjit reads aloud from To Break and to Branch, his essays on the poet’s painting and sculpture.

More such stories to come your way soon, as I head to Jaipur this weekend, to drink in the words of literary prize winners, historians, architects, scientists and scholars in what is the largest literary show in the world.

Until next week, happy reading!

Sonya Dutta Choudhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and the founder of Sonya’s Book Box, a bespoke book service. Each week, she brings you specially curated books to give you an immersive understanding of people and places. If you have any reading recommendations or suggestions, write to her at [email protected]

Books referred to in this edition of Book Box

Naked co-written by Aditi Mediratta and Michaela Talwar

Cuckold by Kiran Nagarkar

Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous by Manu Joseph

Restless Lives by Harish Bhat

Tata Stories by Harish Bhat

Office Secrets by Harish Bhat

To Break and to Branch by Ranjit Hoskote

Continue reading with HT Premium Subscription

Daily E Paper I Premium Articles I Brunch E Magazine I Daily Infographics