“Think before you speak and Read before you think.” -Frances Ann Lebowitz

The Book Reading Club of The Bhawanipur Education Society College welcomed another acclaimed author Mrs. Mansi Chaturvedi, who has to her credit the book ‘Shades of Solitude’, which she wrote during the global pandemic, as a tribute to the indoors. She is a passionate writer who connects with words globally through her blog and her YouTube channel ‘The Lesser Known’ along with her podcast ‘Live Wires’ on Spotify. She has two e-books published by Shabd.in called ‘Bonsai’ and ‘Spectrum’ and has co-authored for Exceller and Oxford Publications with active participation in many writing platforms. On the 23rd of April 2024, the event took place in the College Library for an enlightening session with students and faculty alike. With a round table meet of about 16 students & 4 faculties present in the Library, the book reading was an up-close experience with the author. The event began at 10:30 A.M. with Mrs. Chaturvedi gracing everyone with her presence, as Prof. Vasundhara Mishra introduced the guest speaker by listing several achievements and discussing her blogs. She then handed over the mike to the Rector and Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Dilip Shah, who spoke about how important writing is and the joy of composing a piece of literature. The attention then turned to the speaker Mrs. Chaturvedi, who began by reciting verses from her works; “Mind” and “Cage” from ‘Shades of Solitude’, “Kite” from ‘Bonzai’, and other significant works from the book Spectrum. Her simple words connected well with the audience as most of her work compositions revolved around the COVID pandemic times, which was a shared experience. After she spoke, the floor was open to the participants to recite their self-composed works as well as introspect on the author’s works. Adding to the presentation was Prof. Mishra’s composition, inspired and translated from Mrs. Chaturvedi’s original work. The book reading session came to an end at noon after the felicitation of the speaker by Prof. Dilip Shah and Prof. Minakshi Chaturvedi, Coordinator of the Department of Commerce (Morning). On a parting note, Ms. Samiksha Khanduri, gave a vote of thanks to Mrs. Mansi Chaturvedi and wished her the best for her upcoming book launch. As more of these book-reading sessions take place, BESC finds a growing faction of book lovers and literary readers who look forward to many more of these sessions. Reporter – Aniket Dasgupta Photographer – Suvam Ghosh