An Anniversary and The Caterpillar Club

The Caterpillar Café collaboration between Afsha and Reshma turns 1 on May the 7^th. Yay for us! In the coming year we’re planning on taking it up a notch with more reviews, recommendations, rants, fiction and since you like them so much--poems.

But content isn’t the only thing on our cards. We’re also initiating The Caterpillar Club for book lovers in Mumbai. The club will read a common book, meet one day a month and share their thoughts in detail. It will also be the perfect opportunity to exchange recommendations and meet fellow readers from across the city.

First meeting: Wednesday, May 16

Book we're reading: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins because it's a seriously good read and it's still fresh on everyone's mind since it got made into a movie. Buy The Hunger Games from Flipkart.com for Rs 221

Membership: FREE (until further notice)
Venue: To be decided.

We sincerely hope you will join us becayse we're quite kicked about meeting fellow readers in the city.

Please register your email id in the comments section if you're interested and we'll put you on our mailing list (don't worry, we won't publish them). Similarly, if you have any queries, please type them down in the comments section or alternately, send us an email here.
Hope to see you soon!

Club Updates | The fantastical month ahead

Our first bottle of wine broke. Not on my carpet thankfully. In the din of traffic on a one-way street with a valet man gesturing frantically to pull out right next to a car that was simultaneously pulling in, is how I imagine Reshma getting her crocodile skin shoes stuck in the handle of her eco-friendly bag, thus setting the poor bottle on the course of it's demise.

But a quick pit stop at Nature’s Basket later, we sat down on my couch to talk books, literature, the best in reading and the most beautifully flawed authors. After we got discussing Frank Herbert's Dune, of course.

There were a lot of mixed feelings. I personally hadn't got past the first 50 pages (sorry) but I know I'll read it, when I'm in "the zone" for a sci-fi novel that isn't The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. As for the frills and finalisations, here's the general lowdown.


Book Talk/ Swap: Wherein we bought a selection of books to recommend and then as an option, allowed fellow Caterpillars to borrow for the month.
We went to town with this one. The table held titles like After Dark by Haruki Murakami, A Dance With Dragons, George R.R. Matrin’s 5th installment of The Game of Thrones series, Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa and Manga Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Buy A Game Of Thrones 5-Book Boxed Set from Flipkart.com

It went very well, and all the books except the Martin got swiped, but that’s only because the owner was still reading it. Manga’s went to a member who claimed he doesn’t read much, Murakami went to a virgin in the genre of Magic Realism and I quickly pocketed Mornings in Jenin because I haven’t read any literature from Palistine. Needless to say, I think this one ought to be part of The Club’s regular culture.

October’s Read
Theme: Fantasy
I’m quite pleased to announce that I successfully marketed The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgewick for October’s read. It’s about a boy named Boy who must help his cruel master, a sorcerer called Valerian, save his soul from a Faustian pact he made years ago. This must be done before the Dead Days, the days between Christmas and New Year’s, are over. The book is dark, mysterious and filled with adventure that makes your reading speed accelerate in anticipation of the end. The climax… it doesn’t disappoint, but leaves a lot of loose ends and unanswered questions about Boy’s origins and identity. Good thing there’s a sequel then, isn’t it? But reading that is entirely optional. The Club recommends you read The Book of Dead Days in time for the first Sunday in October, for which we have some pretty fantastical plans.

Buy The Book Of Dead Days from Flipkart.com

In conclusion:

I still have Bourdain to breeze through, but I really can’t wait to get cracking on the loot and of course, the recommendations from my fellow Caterpillar’s. But most of all, I’m looking forward to reading The Book of Dead Days, which I’ve ordered and shall review next month along with its sequel, The Dark Flight down.

Club Updates

Shruti Thacker, banished in a corner, without food and Margarita until she finishes the last 10 pages of Love in the Time of Cholera. Photo/ The Caterpillar Club

The Caterpillar Club started out in June 2011, hoping to unite  book and movie lovers for four hours on the first Sunday of every month. I imagined us eating, drinking and discussing the books we had all read before proceeding to a movie.

But the thing about clubs with members as dynamic as their interests (eg. contemporary music, experimental theatre and pop culture in the 80s), finding a bunch of people equally enthusiastic about exploring different aspects of culture overtakes any attempt to discuss the likes of Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

So before I get on to the new objectives of The Caterpillar Club, you should know the details of the meeting (dated: July 3, 2011) that inspired them.

Before: The onion for a dip that was made on a whim. Photo/ The Caterpillar Club

After: It came out a bit watery, but that's a lesson learned for next time.

Photo/ The Caterpillar Club

Before: Tomatoes for a Tomato and Cheese Salad with Fresh Oregano. Photo/ The Caterpillar Club

After: There was an excess of balsamic vinegar through no fault of the cook.  But it was louely!
Photo: The Caterpillar Club

Here's what we discussed after we got done with the book (With only a handful of members present, it didn't take too long to go around).

New recruits:

Founders of The Club have recruited ex-investment banker, now seriously cool writer, Reshma Krishnan as Treasurer (we'll find things to treasure, I'm sure), and Human Resources consultant and yummy mummy at large, Nidhi Ramachandran as, well... HR consultant.

I figure this will make my life really easy because I don't like dealing with money matters or (dis)pleasing people. So, thank you ladies and welcome aboard!

Variety:

While book lovers will always have a book to read and rip to shreds, we're going to bring in a lot more variety for members who don't have the patience or the penchant for reading. That is why we're going to hold meetings for movies on a separate Sunday. We will pick a genre after every meeting and take it from there. We did discuss other activities as well but more on that when they've been finalised.

The next watch:

The first Sunday of August, which falls on the 7th. Will come back with more clarity on the movie we'll be watching and the genre it belongs to.

The next read:

The sci-fi novel that trumps all sci-fi novels (or so I'm told) Dune by Frank Herbert. We have until August 21 to read it so hopefully it won't be killing anyone soon. (Rs. 359 if you Flipkart it)

On founding The Caterpillar Club

Photo/ Reshma. Krishnan

There are several reasons to start a club, any club that unites like-minded folk with common interests. In my case it was a book and DVD club called The Caterpillar Club.

Yes, the name of this blog inspired my venture in founding a social scene that doesn’t indulge in coffees that enhance ADD and conversations that don’t last beyond scattered titbits of gossip and distorted facts from current affairs. After all, who has the patience to prolong 40-second conversations or indulge in differentiating pseudo-intellectual banter from rants and raves?

During our first meeting a month ago, I shared this belief with a group of 10 people consisting of close friends, their close friends and those I knew would appreciate being part of something larger than the exasperation of everyday life in a city. At first I thought my reasons for starting this club were too dramatic.

But when the 10 Caterpillars raised their glasses and toasted the end of ADD… well, at least for a period of 4 hours on the first Sunday of every month, I realised that all is not lost. It’s okay to have friends with whom you have little or nothing in common because in time, when you really begin to think about it, these differences only enhance the pleasure of their company.

But in the larger scheme of things, to keep your sanity if nothing else, think of the one thing you really want to have in common with someone else because that’s the club you really want to start.

The Caterpillar Club is currently reading Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Some love it, others want to burn it. Full report after the book club meets on Sunday, July 3, 2011. Love in the Time of Cholera (Vintage International)