Saturday evening at the Mumbai Press Club saw a private gathering of longtime friends and colleagues, gathered to celebrate the release of a book.

So what is unusual about a book release, you ask?

Oh but this book, Village Voices, is different because it debuted years ago as a blog on Rediff.com by A Ganesh Nadar, a name many readers will be familiar with, before catching the eyes of Vitasta Publishing who decided to recast it as a book.

The evening thus saw a confluence of Ganesh's friends from all walks of life - his schoolmates from Barnes School in Deolali, his former colleagues from Sunday Observer, and present colleagues from Rediff.com, plus friends like industrialist Mudit Jain who have known Ganesh over the years thanks to his writings.

The book begins with the story of how a Mumbai-born youth, who went to school and (the tony Elphinstone) college in the city (with a life-altering stint at Barnes School in between), goes back to his village, Panickanadarkudieruppu, in Tamil Nadu and his experiences of rustic living.

Among the many chapters, the book covers the state's well known bull fight, called Jallikattu, as seen by an insider; the secluded lives that Dalits lead; polling day in the village; the house of People's President APJ Abdul Kalam; 22-hour power cuts (that Tamil Nadu is famous for); the Koodankulam protests against the nuclear plant; post-Tsunami life; and many other interesting vignettes of the countryside, as seen by someone who is at once an insider as well as an outsider.

A rare perspective, if we may say so. And at just Rs 250, it is a steal too.


Pic: A Ganesh Nadar signing copies of his book Villages Voices at the Mumbai Press Club on Saturday. Photograph by Rajesh Karkera.