Geek Nation launches in Delhi

Last night saw the big launch of Geek Nation in India, hosted by the British Council in New Delhi and my wonderful publishers here, Hachette India. Spirits were high because the book has been on the bestseller charts for two weeks already, based on pre-orders, and is the book of the month at Crossword stores. And spirits were even higher because I was in conversation with the wonderfully sharp yet sometimes controversial journalist and onetime maths geek, Hartosh Singh Bal (fortunately for me, he really did enjoy the book). If you're curious for more details, there was a write-up of the event in The Sunday Indian.

It has been amazing to return to Delhi after the Commonwealth Games. The city looks beautifully clean, the roads wide open again and Connaught Place is polished up like a groom on his wedding day. I've spent the last week doing interviews with the press, visiting bookstores (I bumped into Lord Meghnad Desai at Bahrisons in Khan Market, who told me he had already bought my book... see the photo above!) and being weirded out by cardboard cutouts of myself which have been strategically placed in bookish locations all over the city. I was also very lucky to give a talk to the brilliant students of the British School in Chanakyapuri, who donned masks in the shape of the spectacle machine on the Geek Nation cover. To see pictures of this and all the other happenings so far, you'll have to join the Facebook group, where they will go up tomorrow.

I have to sleep now because I'm up bright and early in the morning to catch a flight to the next stop on the tour, Chennai.