SHILLONG: Shillongites on Tuesday had an evening with a difference thanks to the presence of Deepti Naval, the famed actress and poet who was here to present her creative works.
Book lovers of the city — from students to Government officials, Defence personnel to housewives had the privilege to hear famous Bollywood actor-cum-writer reading out some of the pieces from her books.
In a literary evening “Celebrating the Himalayan Stories and Folklore at Asian Confluence, Naval, who worked with Farooque Shaikh in Chashme Buddoor, read out some lines from the her book ‘The Mad Tibetan.’
The book revolves around her experience with men whom she encountered in Leh and she read that she sets out “purposefully with no purpose: just to observe nature and see what she would find”.
Eventually she comes across a Tibetan living in a make-shift house. As the suspense builds, the audience wonders what the ‘mad Tibetan’ will do to her and later she finds that the mad Tibetan is a bitter old man who is fierce and wild, but when he smiles, he is a child. Like many other stories, the ending is neither happy nor sad.
Apart from being an actress and a writer, Deepti Naval is also a painter
The Mad Tibetan (2011) features original artwork and a unique patchwork of memoir, travel writing, and pure fiction and penned in English, the book explores the complexity of the human condition and all its qualities from cruelty to kindness, love and longing.
The Mad Tibetan is an emotional read. Every story hides a story within. The narrator threw the audience into a spool of unspoken truths about her protagonists to navigate through multiple time frames to get closer to the characters and their lives.
Senior Government officials namely KN Kumar, SK Jain besides a host of dignitaries were present on the occasion.
Earlier, in the event, Kishore Thukral writer, researcher and photographer also presented an illustrated talk on the remote Himalayan valley of Spiti based on his book.
