This does not mean that she didn’t enjoy it at all. “It’s good to know that your work is recognised. It’s a good thing to have,” she said, but at the same time sounded disturbed at the socio-political situation that the country is faced with. She hoped that the time to come would be less troublesome and prove better for children so that they didn’t live in fear.

Responding to the query as to what attracted her to the festival most, the young writer, who has been a columnist, a teacher, an actor, a screenwriter and a playwright, instantly replied that “it’s delightful to see and meet word nerds”. Of course, being a writer herself, it is a given that she includes herself in that category with a fair degree of contentment.

Survival Tips for Lunatics is her second novel. Minhas’ first book Tunnel Vision (2007) was nominated for the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book.

Asked if she intended to write another novel, she said: “Yes, I’m working on my third novel.” Her immediate response somewhat suggested that she’s about to give it the final touches. There was a buzz around the hotel so keeping the conversation going with the writer was no mean feat. Volumes had to be cranked up. “What’s the title of your next book?” the follow-up question was. “The Patriarch’s Dream,” she answered. Or so it sounded. The hubbub in the hotel lobby was too distracting to bother the writer with more queries.