You are here

City Notice – The Delhi Proustians

In Search of Lost Time

A la recherche du temps perdu.

[By Mayank Austen Soofi]

According to an article in The New York Times Book Review: “When Marcel Proust was asked by a French newspaper how he would spend his last hours on earth if he knew that a great catastrophe was about to end his life, he replied that he would throw himself at the feet of Miss X, go to the Louvre and take a little excursion to India.”

The Delhi Walla brings Marcel to India. I’ve started a reading group called The Delhi Proustians. Every Sunday noon the club members will settle down on the torn sofas of the Indian Coffee House, Connaught Place, to read Proust’s 7-volume novel In Search of Lost Time. Duration: One hour. The watery black coffee will be on me.

The first meeting takes place on 18 December, 2011.

Where Indian Coffee House (it has three seating spaces; enter the enclosed area that looks to Baba Khadak Singh Marg), Mohan Singh Place, near Hanuman Mandir, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Connaught Place Time 12 noon Nearest Metro Station Rajiv Chowk

9 thoughts on “City Notice – The Delhi Proustians

    1. Arrey! aisi French toh hamari dilli mein har jagah boli jaati hai. This means we were speaking French all along without realizing it.

      We, toh, Sir are experts only at making any language’s mother-sister one.

  1. Wow, you actually said that – ‘The Delhi Walla brings Marcel to India’. Not sure who finds the idea of reading Proust in a group in a coffee house for an hour every week more idiotic – the people in India who have been reading him for years or Proust’s remains in Paris.

    1. Yesterday, I saw a man defecating near the ‘Hanuman Mandir’ subway, clearly within public gaze. It was bizarre. Incidentally, it was rather close to the Proustian-Mecca-to-be , India Coffee House. Was it an artistic soul seeking a different perspective on what is otherwise a quotidian task? Or was it a spontaneous , De-Bhasar moment? We may never know.

  2. Bhai MSA…

    I am organising the re-enactment of LAKMI CHAND KE SAANG … details below

    Venue: Desi Lassi House, Time Mid Night, Nearest Grave Yard.

    Supply of TEEL PILAYE HUE LATHH on me, to ward off any BHOOT.

    Any takers? :p

Comments are closed.

Top