The Kathika Cultural Centre played host to an evening steeped in literary charm as author Satyartha Mishra unveiled his latest work, The Hapless Voyager. The event drew an eclectic gathering of writers, thinkers and admirers of storytelling, with celebrated filmmaker Imtiaz Ali gracing the occasion as chief guest.
Much like its title, is an odyssey in fragments, assembled with wit, candour and an uncommon lightness of spirit. It is neither autobiography nor travelogue, but a curious blending of memory and narrative, where episodes from Patna’s bylanes entwine with encounters in Malaysia and moments of reflection in Australia.
Each chapter unfolds as a self-contained vignette, yet together they form a mosaic of one man’s unlikely wanderings through the joys, missteps and chance encounters that shape a life. What sets the book apart is its deliberate abandonment of chronology. A reader might find themselves in Melbourne in 2001, before being swept back to the Patna plane crash of 2000, or further still to a theatre in 1998. The book moves with a rhythm that balances humour with poignancy, lacing childhood friendships — including an enduring one with Imtiaz Ali - alongside reflections on sport, cultural divides, kindness in adversity, and the unbidden spectre of racism.
While asking Imtiaz Ali about his foreword to the book, he told me that, “when a writer writes they first think about the reaction to their writings and there is when the essence of the writing is lost. But in the book Satyartha Mishra has penned down his real and everyday life which makes it an interesting read.”
At its essence, The Hapless Voyager is a reminder that life, with all its detours, is best travelled with resilience, laughter and grace.
