Join the club | Book Shelf

ANUP PRAKASH

A big day for Bookshelf. The WAVE Book Club in partnership with the British Council (BC) is to be launched on the last Saturday of the month.

Saturday, 29 October
1.45 PM There's nobody here except the two members who registered for the WAVE Book Club. The lobby of BC is packed but we don't know if they are here for the club. Suddenly, we realise that there is no sign specifying that this is the WAVE Book Club, stupid! So the sign is put up. Now what? More waiting. The British Council, our partners, had agreed to provide the premises, refreshments and facilities for Club members. The response from the public had been overwhelming and some of the registered members had been informed. Nothing could go wrong. Except for members not showing up.

2PM Still nobody. And to top it off, the WAVE photographer, Anup Prakash, is stuck in Rangashala where the police have locked the gates refusing to let people out. Great! Our event manager, Subel, screamed at me only this morning for "clashing events".

2.15 PM Suddenly a whole group of girls sitting at the BC café get up and register for the WAVE Book Club (though they make sure that the launch will be over in ample time for them to go to the Thamel Peace Project).

2: 20 PM Eighteen members, yippee! Six are from the Reading Buds (part of the BC Reader Development Programme) and 12 from the WAVE Book Club. Ok, we can start.

John Fry, country manager of BC, addresses the meet. His talk is inspiring as he explains his own love for books, illustrating with an amusing anecdote from his life where he had wanted the forum of a book club to be able to express his views. The excitement and enthusiasm about the club is contagious. We formally introduce the WAVE Book Club and its basic aims– "to read books and talk about them"– as easy and simple as that.

Every reader interprets book differently. WAVE Book Club aims to bring these views together and encourage the reading habits of young Nepalis. Members get to share their passion with like-minded people and discuss different kinds of books. They also get to explore the many facets of one book. The Club will not only be a forum for readers to come together but will also have a virtual existence through WAVE's website where readers can follow Club activities online and read about prescribed books.

2.40 PM The members are taken on a tour of the BC library where they happily choose books. Panic! The photographer is still stuck and the launch is nearly over. I make an emergency call to a colleague and ask him to come armed with a camera ASAP.

2.45 PM The members are back. They introduce themselves, talk about the books they picked and explain why they picked them. The books range from the teen poetry book Bad Bad Cats to Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison's Songs of Solomon. It's clear that the club has a good mix of hardcore readers and beginners. This should be fun.

3PM Given up hope on the photographer making it here. We try not to stretch it out too long. People want to attend the Thamel Project Peace Festival and the X-treme Rock Show. We decide to start simple—with fairy tales—and meet next month. As refreshments are being served, the colleague with a camera shows up and a couple of pictures are taken as proof that the event did happen inspite of a rock concert and a street festival.

NOTICE

The WAVE Book Club meetings will be held twice a month. Members will be required to attend these meetings. Interested participants, who only want to join in occasionally, are also welcome. To become a member, the interested individual must register and attend at least two meetings. The next WAVE Book Club meeting will take place at the British Council, Lainchaur, at 2PM on 12 November. Discussion: Fairy Tales.

For details contact: bookclub@wavemag.com.np