Book Launch of Murder On A Side Street

The store was full of literary banter. The people on the dias were discussing about books, new trends in publishing, and how crime stories are truly entertaining. All this and much more happened at the book launch of Salil Desai’s second literary offering, Murder on A Side Street, at Crossword Store, Senapati Bapat Road on a balmy Friday evening.



Dharmendra Jai Narain popularly called D. J. Narain, director of FTII, and Abhay Vaidya, Resident Editor, Daily News & Analysis, Pune were the guests of honour at the event. The two of them freely mingled with people around and shared what they felt about young Indian Writers in English.



Lead singer-composer of one of India's well-known pop-rock bands, The Aryans, of the Aankhon Main Tera Hi Chehra fame mentioned that he took immense pride in being at the launch of Salil Desai’s latest book as he is an FTII alumnus. He jokingly mentioned that once a person is in FTII, the person’s genetic code changes. If the person does not make films he may pursue another creative profession like bakery or sculpting. “FTII students choose to be their own wall, rather than being a hole in the wall,” stated D. J. Narain, who has also been the defence spokesperson for the Southern Command in Pune.



Abhay Vaidya, with all his years of experience and reading behind him, stated that Murder on Side Street has all the elements of a successful novel. “I found the plot convincing, enjoyed the humour and found the situations entertaining. Also, the ending did take me by surprise and that is what I loved about the book,” said Vaidya.



Salil Desai, when asked about churning out another murder mystery after The Body in the Back Seat, stated: “I write murder mystery for three reasons. First-and-for-most it is so much fun; secondly I cannot commit crime in real life so can get a kick out of it through writing, and crime specifically murder, serves as a good platform to reflect the vices occurring in society.” This film maker, author and creative writing trainer stressed that his second was a younger novel, with younger characters. Salil has contributed over 300 articles, features and short stories in various magazines and newspapers like The Times of India, Indian Express, DNA, Sahara Time, ME, Dignity Dialogue, Alive and Citadel. 



So what are you waiting for? Go grab your copy today!