What 2017 brought me.

We are nearly at the end of 2017.
Looking at back at the year, several proud moments come to my mind.  One of the most recent ones being interviewed by BBC world, with an astonishing reach of over 400 million people in over 200 countries!  The interview was shot at Birmingham, and of course I wore a saree, even though it was freezing. It was a half an hour sit-down, in depth interview. Rebecca Jones interviewed me.

What I found surprising was that the interview was telecast 8 times!


My apologies for not informing my blog readers, in advance about the telecast time---but in my defence, I had announced it several times on my Twitter and  on my Facebook and on my Instagram too.
On my instagram, I keep posting pics of what I have been up to throughout the day, the books I am currently reading, quotes that I like,  interesting sights I find etc---basically anything that catches my fancy. I quite like Instagram stories . So follow me there, and see my stories for some fun stuff.

Post my BBC interview, so many people from different parts of the world connected to me, telling me how much they loved it.
To all who watched, and to all who support me-- I am  deeply grateful for your love and support.

The other highlights of the year for me, were getting invited to the Karachi Literature Festival, launching the cover of A Hundred Little Flames  at the Birmingham literature festival and launching the new book A Hundred Little Flames at Sharjah International literature festival.

 You can see me signing books at Sharjah, in the pic below.

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I was also invited to Jammu by the Sahitya Akademi to read from A Hundred Little Flames and I have blogged about it my previous post.

 Several newspapers  have carried write ups about A Hundred Little Flames and you might have seen it in the media. But the one I liked the best was the Hindu's interview. I am sharing it here.
. Please click on it to read it.




Or you can read it online here.

On the personal front too, there have been a lot of changes for me. Both my children left home, for college, and both are studying outside India, in a wonderful college of their choice. A lot of mothers talk about the 'empty nest' syndrome and how they miss their children. But I only had the 'relieved nest' syndrome :)
What is to feel sad? I think parents should feel happy if their children are doing well. It is a privilege denied to many. (As a mother I am very very close to my children. Skype and Whatsapp  and Instagram are great tools for being in constant touch)

At the start of the year, I had made a resolution to read 40 books this year. I had also made a reading wall.
I am very happy to report that I am currently on my 40th book! I hope to complete it by end of today.
The most memorable ones for me, from the ones I read, were the following:

Goat Days by Benyamin
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Some books were disappointing, but I will not mention them here. I applaud every author who has been published by a traditional publisher, as they have the courage to send a book out to the world.

I have a surprise for you guys in April 2018. I won't tell you what it is yet.  But please stay with me.

Meanwhile I have  already started working on my next book!

Leave me comments. I love to hear from you. Whatever you want to share, I am listening.

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