While I do not remember all of them three of my
biggest finds were
- Salman Rushdie
– In my 4th attempt I was mesmerized by the magic realism of Midnight’s
Children.
- Kazuo
Ishiguro’s Remains of the Day – I was in love with his beautiful prose, every
sentence was like a crafted showpiece.
- Natsuo
Kirino’s Grotesque – gave me a glimpse of Japanese society and its impact on
children’s mind, the writing style was completely unique, non – linear and told
in the form of diary
20 20 – was to be the year of graphic novels,
so I had ordered Maus, Persepolis & Jerusalem, I managed to lay my hands on
2 of them by the time Jerusalem was going to be shipped – I had left.
20 20 was also the year when the line between
work & home blurred, there was no start time & no end time. At work
expectation was you can continue as long as there is work, at home you had
duties which you did without asking. So, by the time you wanted to sleep – you just
slept.
Me being Me (what gets measured gets done +
time will not come back philosophy)– I decided I will read at least an hour
before I sleep. I also decided to write (not type) for 2 hours in a week. So,
all my virtual writing – i.e blog came to a stop (since I did not want to stare
at another screen) after my initial enthusiasm of a weekly blog.
2021 – It’s a coincidence that I am writing my
first on 21st of March 21. 21 a month will be ambitious – but I want
to give it a shot. March can be a practice month. I always wanted to capture
small thoughts which come to your mind – when you are walking down the street
and see a mother & daughter or when I walk in the park and see things. But
by the time I reach home something else takes over. Like the loose change in
the pocket which you put it in a box – these thoughts gets added to those which
you had stored somewhere in your sub conscious.
Principles of Prediction: Anushka Jasraj
Most of these are not short stories, but these
are incidents which brings out a point of view / slice of life – which is different
and cannot be typecast as a thriller / romance etc. Many readers may (on the
surface) find it incomplete if they read them in a rush because lot of it is
unsaid and it is expected that reader will grasp it – like in Drawing Lessons –
was it the sexual attraction between student & teacher (both women) or did the
student wanted someone because of her husband’s lack of interest in her. Radio
Story – is written like a story and is one of the best, Elephant Maximus is a
cute store of a child who becomes famous because she steals cats but what if
you have to steal an elephant.
I am not an avid short story reader – but in
recent days there are a spate of books which are like an extension of articles
/ blogs which you write. We grew up reading Ruskin Bond, Satyajit Ray’s Felu Da,
O henry and one of my favorites – Banaphool – a Bengali writer.
With Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & Blogs (which
I think is dead and nobody reads it) – the story telling has changed
dramatically over last 10 years. With social media in our hand everyone is a storyteller,
so you get to read all kind of stories across corners of India / World &
people you did not have access to– it’s no longer only books and known authors.
The good thing the universe has expanded, and the bad thing is over exposure /
commercialization of everything.
I liked the book for its sincerity, somehow the
stories are written in a very natural way so you empathize with the characters
and the stories. The writer is hidden like it should be.
Inquilab: A Decade of Protest
This is an anthology of essays / articles / speeches
/ letter’s written by Anna Hazare, Ramachandra Guha, Nayantra Sehgal on one
side and Kanhaiya Kumar, Mohua Moitra, Rana Ayyub & others. It has a thought
provoking forward written by Swara Bhasker and in essence it tries to capture
the various voices of dissent and civil disobedience.
Born in the MBA league the only paper I have
read in last 25 years is the pink paper. For someone who had quit social media
& skips political pages and goes straight to art and literature I wanted a
primer on what’s happening around me. Make sense of today’s India which is becoming
more & more right wing and dictatorial in squashing dissent in any form.
This book is also a gift for Joyee who will
step out of valley this summer and into the real world.
Persepolis: Marjane Satrapi.
This is the book of the month. In one of those
night when I was too tired to read a book – text or see something on OTT I decided
to go midway and picked Persepolis from my shelf. I could not put it down, it’s
so beautifully written – more importantly drawn that no doubt it became a
classic and won so many awards. Story from a child’s POV that too 14 – 18 is
always throwback time for us parent. Joyee is 18 so I am technical in the middle
of it. It’s a must read for one and all. Period.
Maya Angelou: I know why the caged bird Sings.
This is one of the books we had gifted the kids
and after they finish it comes to us (that way all of us read each other’s
books – mostly). Maya Angelou is much celebrated person, there are videos,
speeches, articles (like I mentioned above) in today. The book was first
published in 19 69 when I was born. So it’s a half a decade old book and talks
about her growing up that is 30’s and the suppression of Blacks by Whites and
gives a glimpse of the society in early 30’s – ghetto’s of South and the slow
migration of black folks up North. I liked it in parts – but we have been fed
on black vs white stories by Hollywood so much that beyond a point it becomes a
bit tiring.
The best part of the books is her relationship
with her momma (grandmother) – whom she fears (like we all did), her brother (who
was like a twin to her and only support system) and her adoration of her mom &
dad who was like a king & queen in her eyes. The way she imagines her world is beautiful
and touching and funny at time.
