Though he was there to release a book on management, well-known Hindi film lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar gave in to the request of the audience and recited some of his poems here Sunday.

The crowd gathered at a bookshop here cheered on when Akhtar, who came with actress wife Shabana Azmi, was asked to recite some of his compositions. He enthralled everybody with his verse.

Commenting upon the book - Dewakar Goel's 'Performance Appraisal and Compensation Management', he said: 'Appraisal is very important and I would say that don't appraise the individual, appraise the performance.'

While Akhtar drove all the way from Gwalior, where he was auditioning for the fourth instalment of Sony TV's reality show 'Indian Idol', Shabana flew in from Mumbai to Delhi to attend the book release.

She said: 'There is something about Dewaker Goel that I have come all the way from Mumbai despite my back problem. Performance appraisal is very important, especially for the ladies who run their house. They have to keep the workers motivated all the time so that they do better.'

The book offers a comprehensive coverage of the various aspects of performance appraisal and compensation management, in a clear and crisp manner.

'I hope it brings desired results,' said the author, Goel.