Posts Tagged ‘Tony Lee’

Graphic novel writer Tony Lee and crime / historical fiction writer Jake Arnott meet in Kolkata during their Lit Sutra visit to India.

 

Well… I've been back a day now and I'm still playing catchup, but it hasn't been so busy that I can't post up the video diaries that I took while I was in India, especially as the Internet issues of Bangalore meant that there were no updates while I was there. They're not the best quality, having been recorded in a higher resolution that YouTube takes, and therefore lose resolution for the upload, and the camera I used (not primarily a camcorder) has an annoying click it makes as it tries to auto focus on me every now and then, but you'll get the general gist and taste of everything…

So, without further adieu, here are the YouTube links.

DAY ONE: KOLKATA

1. Arriving at Kolkata (Calcutta) Airport with Jake Arnott. (0.36 minutes)

2.The 'Hello Alastair' I prepared at Starmark, Kolkata. (0.15 minutes)

3. The End of Day One recap. (3.52 minutes)

DAY TWO: KOLKATA

4. Walking through the Tanks-filled Jadavpur University. (0.24 minutes)

DAY THREE: PUNE

5. The End of Day Three recap, the flight, the drink with friends. (4.28 minutes)

DAY FOUR: PUNE

6. The End of Day Four recap: British Library Talk. (2.26)

DAY FIVE: BANGALORE

7. In the car leaving the airport. (0.47 minutes)

DAY SIX: BANGALORE

8. The start of the day discussion and end of previous day recap. (5.40 minutes)

9. Final day recap and conclusion on visit to India. (5.03 minutes)

Tony Lee with Dr.Debanjan Chakrabarti, Head of Intercultural Dialogue, British Council East India, at Starmark bookstore, Kolkata

Read the Indian Express, DNA, Times of India, Times of India (Bangalore), Deccan Herald, Kolkata Mirror, and Calcutta Telegraph reports on Tony's events.

photo: KPN

If Kolkata was industry incarnate, old meets new in a clash of styles, then Pune is very much the French Riviera, or at least one of half a dozen Italian cities I can think of. It's not immediately by the sea, it's not even blazingly sunny, but there's an attitude that just screams 'Ciao, bella' at you as you walk down a street.

It's day four and I'm in the Taj Blue Diamond hotel in Pune. It's a nice yet slightly run-down hotel where reception is a makeshift corner of the first floor landing while essential building works occur in the main part of the hotel. And by building works, I mean the entrance looks like a meteor hit it. Which makes me realise how the average citizen in the Marvel comics New York must feel on any given day.

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There's something magical about a city at five in the morning. It's quiet. It's sleeping. You get to see the creature that the beast sometimes is. Sometimes, like Covent Garden at 7am on a summers day, this is a magical, good thing. And some times you learn more than you expected to. This latter discovery is what I've seen in Kolkata.

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And so I'm in India. Kolkata, to be exact, although many of you will know it better as Calcutta. It's in the North East of India. And I'm living it up like a millionaire. If a slightly reluctant, half embarrassed one, at that.

You see, I'm not used to opulence. God help me if I suddenly sell a multi-book or movie deal. Kolkata is very much split into the 'haves' and 'have-nots', with shanty towns next to glass and chrome buildings, with Internet whizz kids standing on buses next to people who don't even know what a PC is. India is undergoing rapid social and economic change. and it shows everywhere, like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon while the other cocoons around it are yet to open.

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Tony Lee, Jake Arnott and Woodrow Phoenix are all arriving in India this week for a series of events. Please check our Facebook page  for more details