American students meet eminent authors

Mussoorie, December 31
Around 14 undergraduate English literature students from Framingham State University, Massachusetts, 32 km from Boston in the United States, were in the town to meet and celebrate their new year with authors, namely Ruskin Bond and Sudhir Thapliyal, from Mussoorie.

They were accompanied by the Professor, Dr Lisa Eck, who teaches World Literature and Anglophone Traditions, along with Barbara Gardener, member of the legislative council, Massachusetts.

The students exchanged New Year greetings with eminent author Ruskin Bond and interacted with him at Cambridge Book Store in Kulri Bazaar. The students also purchased latest books duly autographed by him.

Later in evening, the students visited author Sudhir Thapliyal at his residence where he read out a passage from his novel- War at Lambhidar.

The Tour Manager for the students, Anuradha, who is also a social activist, speaking to the Tribune said the objective of the tour was to introduce American students to real India, which was much different than the prevailing perceptions in the west. She said as most of western students carried an image of India under poverty, so it was important to show them the multicultural and dynamic facet of the country that was on the path to progress. Anuradha said they would also be meeting author Ganesh Saili, who would be reading out an excerpt from his latest book.

The students of English literature, Paula and Katie, excited to be in Mussoorie among the authors, said they has read Ruskin Bond’s story in past and were really impressed with his poignant style of writing. “The experience of meeting him in person was exhilarating,” said Paula.

Professor Eck said the students were in India for six weeks to learn the global perspective in literature and the students were eager to be here and meet authors.

She said Indian Literature was becoming very popular as a lot of experimental literature was coming from India.

Gardener said such inter-literary tours should be held more often so that students get enough insight about other regions, their traditions and practices closely.

The students would also be visiting NGO “NAAZ”, working for AIDS patients in Rishikesh, and “Salaam Balak Trust” later in the month at New Delhi.