Date:15/07/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/07/15/stories/2005071505380300.htm

Kerala - Kozhikode

Harry Potter casting a spell again

Staff Reporter

CAPTIVATING READERS: Harry Potter books in a bookshop.

KOZHIKODE: Harry Potter is a passion that cuts across age-barriers. Sisters Sarada and Pooja are not the only Potter fans in their family. Their mother, Sadana Jayaram, a nursery school teacher, and their father, Jayaram, professor at the Dental College here, are avid fans of the boy wizard. "Of course, I will be the first to read the `Half Blood Prince," said Sarada, who will join her first-year classes at Kozhikode Medical College this year. The two sisters are eagerly awaiting the release of J.K. Rowling's sixth book in the Harry Potter series. The book will be released at 6.30 a.m. on Saturday.

Sheeba and Sunny Samuel residing at Koodathai village, Thamarassery, have a similar tale to tell. Earlier, only their daughters were hooked on to the series. "I made my mother go through all of them. Now she too is interested in the series," said Sneha Susan Samuel, student of Presentation School in Kozhikode. Shilpa Mary Samuel and Soumya Ann Samuel share their young sister's passion for the Potter books.

"I began reading the series with the `Prisoner of Azkaban.' The plot and the description captured my mind," said Sneha.

"I hope that more characters are not killed in the sixth one. Sirus Black was killed in the fifth, while Cedric Diggory in the fourth," she said. However, the author of the book had announced that several characters would be killed in the `Half Blood Prince.'

Excitement

Parvathy V. Nair, student of Electronics and Communication, National Institute of Technology, Calicut, did not hide her excitement over the release of the `Half Blood Prince.' Her brother, Pranab V. Nair, Class V student of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, spends his leisure time playing Harry Potter games. Both of them loved the three films based on Harry Potter.

A.R. Basma, who has secured admission at T.K.M. College of Engineering, Kollam, read the Sorcerer's Stone 10 times. Her sister, A.R. Anjala, Class XI student, said: "I loved the first book because it narrates the frustration of a teenager."

Bookshop owners too are excited about the release of the latest in the Potter series. "The books will be delivered here around 5 a.m. A medical student from Warwick University, Heida Hill, will officially release the book at a function at 10 a.m.," said N.E. Manohar of TBS publishers and distributors, who hopes to sell 150 to 200 copies on the first day.

DC English Books will open their shop on Mavoor Road at 6.30 a.m. "As of now, we have not planned any celebrations. But it is a surprise," said M. Sidharathan, manager.