http://indiaenews.com/2006-10/24844-indian-journalists-novel-released-frankfurt.htm
Indian journalist's novel released at Frankfurt fair Wednesday, October 4th, 2006 Indian journalist-author Neelesh Mishra's novel 'Once Upon A Timezone', a romantic comedy about 'outsourced love', was released by Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh during the inauguration of the India Pavilion at the Frankfurt Book Fair Wednesday. Mishra, who has written two best-selling non-fiction works and also penned several hit Bollywood songs, debuts in the world of fiction with 'Once Upon A Timezone'. The novel takes 'a light, breezy look at US visas and call centres, and outsourced love,' according to its publisher HarperCollins India. 'It is a hugely entertaining romantic romp across two continents,' said HarperCollins India CEO P.M. Sukumar. When the protagonist, Neel Pandey's lifelong dream of immigrating to the US is dashed at the visa office, he settles for the next best option: working at a call centre in New Delhi where, nightly, like a Batman, he shrugs off his boring middle-class identity to become the smooth-talking Neil Patterson. All goes well until he tumbles into a faraway romance with a feisty customer -only that she doesn't know that he is Pandey, not Patterson, and is based in New Delhi, not New York. 'The life of call centre agents has fascinated me since I started writing about them as a journalist,' said Mishra. 'But much more than a call centre romance, this story is about chasing one's dreams, about overcoming prejudice, and taking that leap of faith that we are scared of taking but which often transforms our lives. 'And writing a funny novel was a great escape from my daily duties of grim journalism!' Born in 1973 in Lucknow, Mishra has worked with India Abroad News Service and Associated Press before joining Hindustan Times in New Delhi. In a career spanning 17 years, he has covered some of the biggest news stories from South Asia including the Kargil conflict, Orissa's super-cyclone, the Gujarat earthquake, the massacre of the royal family in Nepal and its transition to democracy, the Asian Tsunami and the Kashmir earthquake. He non-fiction books are '173 Hours in Captivity: The Story of the Hijacking of IC 814′ and 'End of the Line: The Story of the Killing of the Royals in Nepal'. The Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest trade fair for books, has India as 'Guest of Honour' for an unprecedented second time this year. It was opened Tuesday by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Arjun Singh and Indian writer-activist Mahasweta Devi. - Indo Asian News Service -- Members of the ZESTMedia list exchange news and views about the media in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan. Write to [email protected] If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTMedia by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ Get all ZESTMedia mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ theZESTcommunity------------------------------------------------- ZESTCurrent: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCurrent/ ZESTEconomics: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTEconomics/ ZESTGlobal: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ ZESTPoets: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/ ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ ZESTAlternative: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTAlternative/ TalkZEST: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TalkZEST/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
