I was always jealous of Atal, the poet: Advani

He was speaking at a book release function of the Hindi version of two books — Five Point Someone and One Night @ Call Centre– of best selling author Chetan Bhagat.

BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate said he wished he had the imagination of fiction writers. “Fiction writers do a great service to society. I have written serious, matter-of-fact books. I wish I had the imagination of fiction writers as then my books would sell more,” he said.

Advani, whose speech was made in a lighter vein and had the audience in splits, said he was envious of Chetan Bhagat for the sheer volume of sales his books managed.

The senior leader had released his autobiography, “My Country My Life”, earlier this year. The book was in the news for months due to the controversies surrounding it.

Advani said he was impressed by authors like G D Khosla and K M Munshi who wrote matter-of-fact books with the finesse of fiction writers.

Emphasising the role of books in moulding a better society, Advani said, “reading is good for the society and for the reader”. He expressed regret that the habit of reading was on the wane.

Advani said he had become a vociferous reader of fiction as a student in 1942 – when the Quit India” Movement was on– as classes were irregular and there was nothing much to do.

The saffron party leader, who was imprisoned in Bangalore for 19 months during emergency, said those days the dearest words were “release” and since then he has never said no to any request for the release of a book.