In the beginning was the word... Well, the power of the word was on display again on a soggy evening at Crosswords Bookstore during a book reading of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Words ferried those who had gathered into a world of wizardry, demons, magic and a land where the impossible is always within the realm of the possible.
Kannada actor Ramesh Arvind's reading of JK Rowling’s latest offering was just that—a reading. But a self-confessed Potter fan, Ramesh held out with sheer enthusiasm to experiment with the new and explore unknown terrains.
“Being in show business it's important to study the craze the books and subsequent films generated. Being a actor and director it inspires me and re-emphasises my belief that people love well-told, interesting stories irrespective of the genre.
“I am also happy that it has brought back the reading habit in today's teenagers,” observed Ramesh Arvind.
The evening saw hardcore Potter fans, the not so enthusiastic ones and those absolutely ignorant of the phenomenon, all gathered to make the most of the reading.
Ramesh's 14-year-old daughter Niharika Ramesh, a Potter buff who says she has read Harry Potter at least 42 times, accompanied her father. "I have felt and experienced the same things that the characters in the book have felt at some point. The book creates a movie in the mind's eye. It provokes great creativity in the young and stimulates imagination," reasons Niharika, who with great gusto volunteered to answer some of the questions posed to her father.
Niharika says the book has inculcated the habit of reading in her. She even jots down interesting points from the book.
"It's the great escape-magic, dementos, Voldermort like villains and finally the kid winning against impossible odds. It is imagination at its wildest and so very engrossing.
“Any kid would like to be armed with super powers and the book fulfills that fantasy," says Ramesh of the book.
He says that is it for the same reason everyone enjoyed Krishna versus Kamsa kind of tales as kids. In fact, Kamsa jailing parents of Krisna fearing he would be killed by the kid is so parallel to Voldermort’s thinking.
A modern twist to our own puranas would make for great reading, thinks Ramesh.
Enid Blytons, Famous Fives and Nancy Drew appears to be passe with J K Rowling's Harry Potter being anointed the king of kid lit. Brinda Rao who brought her eight-year-old son Akhil for the book reading, says her son read 180 pages of the latest Potter book in one sitting. He has vowed to read all of Rowlings other books as well.
Sugata Srikant, a Mount Carmelite, says the book is haunting. "Mention Harry Potter and I am there. The characters are more real than ever before. The characters keep the child in you alive for a long time," says Sugata.
