What I’m eating: Dragonfruit (pictured)

What I’m reading: India edition of my book, prepping for readings and interviews; Hindustan Times (delivered free to my hotel room);  Poets & Writers magazine

What I’m doing next:  Going for lunch at Eatopia and taking a walk in Lodhi Gardens before tonight’s launch event

And now for a brief commercial …

LEAVING INDIA launch schedule

If you or people you know are in India and would like to come to book events, here is my tour schedule. The India edition of LEAVING INDIA: My Family’s Journey from Five Villages to Five Continents launches today from Westland/Tranquebar.  I’m excited to see how the book does in its homeland, and I am very much enjoying meeting journalists in the thriving media landscape here.  Events are now through December in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and Ahmedabad.

New Delhi: 7pm Monday, Nov 16:  In conversation with columnist and literary critic Nilanjana Roy. Drinks afterward. (Conference Room III, Annexe Building, India International Centre, 40 Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi  110003 Tel: 24619431)

Mumbai:  7pm Friday, Nov 20: In conversation with author and journalist Jerry Pinto. (Crossword Bookstore, Kemps Corner location)

Pune: 6:30pm Saturday, Nov 21: In conversation with FLAME President Dr. Indira Parikh, a women’s issue scholar. (Crossword Bookstore,  IIC Towers location)

Ahmedabad: 6pm Sunday, Nov 22: Crossword Bookstore, Ahmedabad. (Details to come, please see http://www.minalhajratwala.com/events for updated information)

Mumbai: 5:30pm Sunday, December 13: Bombay Dost Sunday High. (Details to come, please see http://www.minalhajratwala.com/events for updated information)

MEDIA CONTACT

FOR SOUTH ASIA: Renuka Chatterjee, Chief Editor, Westland/Tranquebar, +91 11 46049804 (direct), +91 11 4604 9800 (up to 4604 9810), renuka@westland-tata.com

FOR NORTH AMERICA: Alia Hanna Habib, Publicity Manager, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1-212-420-5878, alia.habib@hmhpub.com