
The NetIP Austin book club was reborn on the 336th day of 2012
On Saturday December 1st, the NetIP Austin book club hosted a book reading by Kanchana Ayyar, author of "When the Lotus Blooms".
The event was organized at the Howson Library and was graced by a great turnout, owing partly to cross-marketing from various South Asian meetup groups. Kanchana adeptly chose to read several passages which touched upon the central themes of her novel, including the role of religion and the caste system, the impact of the British Raj, and the issues surrounding gender inequality and child marriage in a pre-Independence and pre-Partition India. She was eloquent, articulate and the content resonated with the attendees.
This session was particularly impactful to those who had read the book prior to the session. They shared that hearing the words in the author’s voice made the scenes, which they had only imagined while reading, come alive. Those who had not yet read the book were intrigued by the powerful passages Kanchana selected and many have since purchased and read the book.
To learn more about Kanchana and to buy her book, you can go to the following URL: http://kanchibooks.com/blog/?tag=when-the-lotus-blooms.
The date for the next session of NetIP Austin Book Club is tentatively set for Saturday, March 2nd, between 3 and 5 pm. We will be discussing Corbin Addison's "A Walk Across the Sun". See you then!
-NetIP Austin Book Club
Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting and remedying it. – Albus Dumbledore in the Deathly Hallows
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Sonia Kotecha introducing Kanchana Ayyar

Pooja and Sonia in conversation with Kanchana
