– A dramatic evening of words and music
‘Strangers on the Shore’ is Randhir Khare’s fifth novel. It deals with the tender, quaintly amusing and hysterical lives of ordinary people who experience the extraordinary in their everyday lives. Their paths cross and re-cross, dramatically negotiating each other and the myriad lives who touch them, weaving an intensely emotional and psychological story about people who find themselves and lose themselves in an effort to discover who they really are.
The interweaving of dramatic readings, music and song came together beautifully to create the mood and atmosphere of the novel.
Randhir Khare’s novel was brought to life with dramatic readings featuring the voices of Saurabh Dalmiya, Priyanka Menon, Neeti Pherwani and Sumedh Sarojini. The dramatic readings were from different chapters in the novel, like ‘Half and Half’ where Arnie meets his step-sister for the first time with ensuing hilarity. The reading of ‘Fire in the Belly’ also received a lot of laughter from the audience, about an Iranian refugee arguing with Arnie about ‘the gurl’. The excerpt from ‘The Blue Mermaid’ was whimsical and endearing, on Christine’s reflections at her resort in Goa and its inhabitants.
The gifted musical trio of Sandhya D’mello (vocals), Aubrey Dias (keyboards) and Sunil Rodgers (saxophone) played classics like ‘As Time Goes By’, ‘Bewitched, Bewildered and Bothered’, ‘I’ve Got You under my Skin’, ‘Angel in the Morning’ and ‘My Way’ which all perfectly complemented the mood of the passages and the characters. The audience was transported back to another era with the soulful melodies.
Mr. Khare revealed his inspiration behind the novel and the people he met all over the world which formed the basis for the characters. The author then signed copies of his book and answered questions from readers and admirers.
