Ali Sethi reads

To be so young and so confident; one wonders what particular confluence of genes permits that.
I was at a reading by Ali Sethi from his book, The Wishmaker, moderated by his former teacher, Amitav Ghosh.
As is often the case at book launches, the audience seemed to expect more of the author than his writing. In this case, they demanded that this young man, who can write and sing and not hesitate to voice his opinion, be a political prophet on the future of India and Pakistan. He handled it well. But although he spoke with intelligence and emotion, he seemed to me so young and certain that the evening acquired the flatness of a Hollywood film.