Barodian's book picked for two international book fairs

VADODARA: Rajeshwari Chauhan was taken by surprise on Monday evening when she was informed that her debut literary work 'Daniel's Diary' was a part of India's entry in two international book fairs in August and October this year. The city-based author's book was selected by the National Book Trust (NBT) as an entry to the international fairs at Frankfurt and Beijing this year.
Chauhan learnt of her achievement when the NBT brochures for the two fairs reached her on Monday.Chauhan's book was part of 47 publications sent to Frankfurt and 46 publications sent to Beijing. Till the brochures reached her, Chauhan was unaware of the development as her publishers or the NBT had not intimated her about the selection.
The entry from India included works from literary stalwarts like Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekanand, Premchand and Ruskin Bond along with contemporary writers like Amit Shankar and Dr Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad. "It is more than just an honour. Finding my book in the same list that consist works of great writers such as Tagore, Premchand and Ruskin Bond is thrilling. I wish they had told me earlier, I could have tried to attend these fairs," Chauhan said.
Chauhan is a member of the royal family of erstwhile state of Chhota Udepur and dons many hats.
"A single form of art is never enough for me. Sometimes I find an outlet through paintings and sometimes through words. My contribution to an art ends in a creative work. This book is an example. There was a story I wanted to tell and my aim was to take it to everybody. The publishing, distributing and submitting it for fairs and exhibitions is handled by the publishing house," said Chauhan, who also teaches English as a guest lecturer.
Published in February this year, 'Daniel's Diary' has already travelled to the Ahmedabad Book Fair and Delhi Literary Festival. The book was also made a part of the syllabus of modern Asian literature at the University of Lahore in April this year.