Hidden Agendas @The Park Chennai

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Wow... what a day I had yesterday. My professor gave a few of us the opportunity of a lifetime. We were sent to attend a prestigious book release at The Park Chennai. I haven't attended events like this before and this was quite an honour. 

At first, it was pretty awkward. The four of us were the only young people there. We didn't know anyone. We gathered the courage to introduce ourselves to our host, Mr. Prem Menon. He was very welcoming and a pleasure to talk to. He introduced us to Mrs. Ramona Zachariah, whom we spent a few minutes with. She took us under her wing and was so sweet. She was talking to me about my books and I started sneezing uncontrollably. It was so embarrassing, but she didn't think anything of it. I loved that. Then we met Mrs. Sudha Lakshmi. She introduced us to a few other people there, including her sisters - one of whom was a film director. 

After we socialized, the event began. It wasn't as long as I expected it to be. It was captivating. There was a Q&A session where one of my companions asked the question I wanted the answer to as well. "What advice would you give us young writers." After the authors, Mr. Ajit Menon and Mr. Anil Verma answered the questions, Mr. Ajit gave us his visiting card, with his contact details on it. I had the opportunity to talk to him personally. He told me to come to him if I ever needed anything related to publishing and writing. I assured him that I would. 

Yesterday I realized the privilege I have, being an MCCian. Almost everyone at the event was an alumnus. When we told them where we were from, they instantly smiled at us and included us in the conversation. It was so humbling, to realize the power that the college holds. 

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