What can
happen to a person in three days? He/She can have surgery. Or a fracture. Or a
baby. No, having a baby is a long process. But what I’m excited to tell is, suddenly,
I had my eyes opened. I see the world differently right now. Yes, I’ll tell you about
it, here. I know my non-fiction gets lesser views than my fiction, but this is
something that I can’t resist telling.
Chennai
International Book Fair happened in YMCA Ground, on the 16th, 17th,
and 18th of this month. And that is what I’m going to talk about. I volunteered for the event, for two main reasons. One is, I knew a lot
of publishers are going to be there, and I was so desperate to find a way to
bring my novel this year. The secondary reason was, I was tired of adjusting
myself and molding myself to everyone’s desire around me, so I needed to know
how people reacted to “My actual personality”. I needed a fresh audience for it,
or else, I would be defined to be an eccentric buffoon. So, yeah, I jumped right
in, with my fractured foot, pleading me not to go.
 |
| Thanks for this wonderful picture, Blessina. |
The first
day was kinda disappointing from the career POV, as the job I was assigned to,
was to take care of the special hologram there, which displayed different
monuments from different countries. It was fun to watch, but tedious to look
after, as the fan that rotates can simply snap the hand when somebody lets
their hand in. But on the other side, I got to meet this 24-year-old Akka,
Blessina Issac. She is this studious little girl. Then we both were put together
for the hologram job, so we went on to talk, and become the best Akka Thambi in
the world. It was stupid, cute, and funny, how a day is enough to find out if
someone is good enough to create a bond. She has my personal handwritten rant
with her, and I really hope she burns it.
 |
My most favourite picture with Blessy.
Oh, thanks for the cameo, GK! |
I also met
two awesome dudes, like, they literally looked awesome, Rowan and Kaethish.
Their names, tongue twisters, I know. But this duo was kind of the supervisors
we had, and I never considered them to be the superior people above us. The
best thing is, they didn’t want it too. Rowan was a funny dude with a painful
breakup story, riding Honda H’ness. See how irrelevant the sentence was
phrased, but this is the best way to explain him. He’s unpredictable, and his
subtility, these makes him the freaking good leader he wants to be.
Coming to
the part where I promised myself to be the person I’m actually, it went really
well. I don’t even know if I could put it into words. I actually had the guts
to be so outgoing, to go to a girl and start talking randomly. Deepan from 2020
would be really proud. I met a lot of people, and most of them were girls, of
course. I mean, it wasn’t like I was flirting with them and stuff, but apart
from me and the two other handsome hunks, every other volunteer was a girl. Now,
I’ll quickly get into the details about three interesting people I spoke to.
Hannah, from
WCC. Not World Cup Championship, but is a Christian College filled with
beautiful girls. I met Hannah. Or no. Technically, she met me. She came up to
me and screamed ‘outgoing’ in 700 languages. But I was surprised to see
someone that nerdy but content. She is basically a prodigy, where she is
working on her novel and currently working for the Nungambakkam Times. She was
fascinating.
 |
| Reporter Hannah reporting from YMCA. |
The next
person, is Sarah Fathima, from Stella Maris. The hardworking people filled
college. She was meticulously working for her authors, helping them sign dozens of agreements, for translation rights from Malay to Tamil, and vice-versa.
It’s a rare sight to find her free, and one fine evening, I had the chance to
go talk with her. I spoke about how terrifying and studious she looked. But,
while speaking with her, I felt she wasn’t that terrifying at all. She likes to
read and she went up to my podcast and followed my podcast in front of me. God,
there couldn’t have been a better way she made me melt. I have promised her
that I’m inviting her to my marriage when it happens. 2023 Deepan will be
disappointed if the Marriage year Deepan forgets to invite her.
The last
person on the list, ironically, was never on the list. She is Anaghaa, from WCC
again. Her name sounds like one of my unpronounceable protagonists, right. Yes,
that is how even I felt when I heard her name. There happened something and we
happened to stay longer after the last day of the fair. We stood in front of
each other, and I had to speak with her, not to make it awkward. Well, she gave me intense looks to shoo me away from reaching out to her, all three days. I even
remember talking with Sarah, and I was confused about why she was staring at me
like that. But we sorted it out in the end, and we’re good now, I guess at least. She didn't stare and all, apparently. It wasn't purposeful ahm. We didn't take a picture together, unlucky us.
All these
girls are a year older than me, so stop doing that, ‘Eyyyyyy, Deepan….'
 |
From top left: GK, handsome me, Blessina
From down left: Sarah, Karen, Sai Kripa |
Apart from
them, the sweet junior GK, the Malaysian publisher’s family who almost adopted
me into their family, Ruchi Mam, Deva Anna, The Bangladesh publisher, the Turkish publisher, and many more people, who made these three days unforgettable for me. To all
the other volunteers I borderline flirted, irritated, bored, and tortured, I’m
sorry, but that is me. All the above people smiled at me, for what I am. I take
that smile as a compliment for my personality.
Karen and
Sai Kripa are the two people who knew the old me and me me. I can say they were
flabbergasted, from day one. I had pure fun with them too, but everything
related to them goes into the personal space, and I think there will come a day
when I’ll write about them vividly.
Careerwise, I
found a way, how I could publish my novel, thanks to Hannah. And the Malaysian
family was kind enough to tell me they can translate it when I release the novel.
So, that was a happy ending too.
The
takeaway? Ummm, I just want to tell you one thing. I’m going to be what I want to
be, rather than what others expect me to be. I don’t know if I will get
another chance like this, but I am happy I used every second of these three days
to the fullest. I recommend you people to try this too.
Live your
lives to the fullest, like you desire to. You never know what life has for you.
Love from Deepan.
20.01.2023
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