Kalpana Mohan (photo by Raghu Vedant).

“Was this a birthday or a sendoff?”

Celebrating his 90th year, Kalpana Mohan’s ailing father asked her this question—and to a beloved parent whose vivacity has spanned eras of history, how could any daughter answer? The slow goodbye that happens between a parent and an adult child has to be both:

A grand celebration.

An ongoing realization of grief.

Bittersweet, funny, heartwarming and vividly realized across a powerful span of India’s history, Mohan’s Daddykins answers the call of both celebration and farewell in a stunning tribute to her late father, for whom she cared during his last two ailing years in Chennai. Deftly interwoven with the history of Daddykins from his birth in the 1920s, through poverty and partition and beyond, Mohan captures a universal feeling in this intimate story of a bold, wonderful parent, deeply loved. A tribute to her father, perhaps even a tribute to grief, unfolds across the panoramic sweep of a century.

A Story Is the Thing favorite and local talent, we are honored to host Mohan’s United States launch.

Joining Kalpana in conversation is Vandana Kumar of India Currents magazine. After founding that award-winning print publication in 1987 as a new immigrant, Kumar has stewarded India Currents to flourishing readership over decades, winning multiple awards for her cultural and business leadership.

Together, these friends in discussion will bring a gorgeously written memoir to life for its hometown debut. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind evening.