World Poetry Day – Book Launch Event “Treasures of Life”

On 21st March, World Poetry Day was celebrated. And on that special day, I am glad to share the Book Launch Event of my Poetry Book, “Treasures of Life” At Taj Vivanta in kolkata, India; organized by Ukiyoto Publishing House. It was a prestigious moment for me, a new experience.

Literature had always been my love since childhood. Books were always beside me even when I stepped into my professional life and family life of marriage and kids. But publishing a book of my own, never even occurred in my mind. It would not be right to say, that I used to envy the authors and poets who were immensely talented for their creations and translating them into a book. And finally when it happened in my life, I was awestruck and amazed.

How it started?

Though I had been writing poems in multiple websites and have received appreciations from readers; yet I was not so courageous to convert them into a proper book. The zeal was there inside me, that never subdued even to a minute degree. One final day, I was offered a chance by my college seniour (a member of the Ukiyoto Publishing House) to publish few of my poems in their website or book. I was overwhelmed and I did sent him 20 odd poems I had written. By the grace of God, the poems were accepted well. Then after few days, he requested me to write more so that they can publish a solo poetry book of mine. I did not know what to say and how to express my feelings and emotions. Was I dreaming? But no, it was real and it was happening.

The Initial Struggle

The day when I received the request of writing more for a book; there was sad news for me in my family. Medical emergencies gripped in, leaving me in a terrible mental state. It continued for 2 weeks or more and finally God healed all up. I recollected myself and started concentrating on my writing. It was tough as there was a gap in between and I was facing the so called “writer's block”. But somehow the determination was inside my heart and slowly I gained the pace. And when I did so, I was happy with myself. Ideas and words poured in and I penned down 16 more poems. After self editing and corrections, I sent out the poems to Ukiyoto and formally signed a contract with them.

The Birth of “Treasures of Life”

At first I was hesitant to send a name to the book. It was my first experience and I know big publishing houses prefer proper names of the books for branding. But I was wrong, Ukiyoto respects the feelings of poets and writers; even I was a novice. I was asked to think over a name and send it to them. The name instantly struck into my mind, “Treasures of Life”.

Each and every poem I have written in the book, deals with different facets of life. Childhood, Romance, Parental love, Nature, Struggles, Emotions, Feelings and many more have been captured extensively in the book. I believe life is an experience. The more you explore it, the more it opens up before us. “Treasures of Life” – a name symbolizing the embellishments adorning our life.

The Proud Moment

After proofreading, editing and the corrections, the manuscript was ready for “Treasures of Life”. The next milestone was to get the book cover done. Ukiyoto did a nice job of designing the book cover apt with the title of the book. I am grateful for the design and it was appreciated too by my friends and family. And then approached the final milestone, “Publishing the Book”. The day when I received the email and confirmation, I was unable to control my emotions. My family was happy. My friends and colleagues were happy. Sharing the great news with all, was indeed a pleasure.

Book Launch Event – Preparation

I had never attended a book launch event and had no idea how exactly it looked like or what happens at such an event. Ukiyoto circulated a note about the Book Launch event on early February 2021. The event was to be held at Vivanta Taj hotel in Kolkata, India on 21st March from 2:30 PM onwards. I immediately registered for it; to be accompanied by my parents, hubby and son.

An email was sent out to me on how I should prepare myself and what I should speak of. I saw it but somehow I have never prepared a speech in my life, days before. I work currently in a sales role and a technology/ finance subject matter expert in my company. And in the course of my work, I have to meet numerous unknown prospect and suspect customers/ clients. I kind of understand the pulse of the target audience. So I thought of going for a spontaneous speech.

The D-day arrived and coincidentally I realized it was World Poetry Day as well. We reached at around 3:30 PM at the venue. The event had just started with writes and poets joining in virtually through video conference calls. Some of them were present physically at the venue. I took a seat with my family and socialized with few people over there. Since my college seniour and his wife were known faces, hence acquaintance was easier for me. Then finally I was called up the dias for my book launch and speech. I was wondering at first what to say; since before me experienced authors and poets had already shared their journeys. Before them I looked almost like a kid, not by age but by experience.

I honestly started with that aspect of “Am still a novice. Am still learning and at a nascent stage”. I think that clicked on the audience and people attentively started listening to me. So I took a pause and shared my journey, tried to keep it brief so as not to bore the listeners. I ended up by reciting one of the poems from my book.

The Happy Conclusion

After the book launches were over, surprisingly I was approached by people for autographs on my book which they have purchased. I was like embarrassed and stunned. In televisions, book fairs and book stores, I had observed writers providing autographs. Me doing the same thing, was like a dream come true. My parents were so happy, I could feel that in their eyes. And I am happy that as their daughter, I was able to make them proud. All is well that ends well. Thats exactly what happened at the conclusion, good food with tea and coffee. After a final round of photographs, hugs and byes, we left the venue with smiles in our faces and memories to cherish for long.