Tuesday, December 10, 2013

A girl who reads

                              Photo: Thank you, Anubhav, for the adorable picture and the suggestion. You're right, this IS totally me! :D

            This is just me!

            I was 8 years old when my mother first handed me a copy of Tinkle. She opened the world of Supandi, Shikari Shambu and I was fascinated with my book. I took it to school one day and was reading it when our class teacher saw me. She took my book as carrying other books was not allowed. She kept it in her cupboard. She was herself a great fan of Tinkle. She might have intended to return it to me after she finished reading but she never found time to go back to it. I was scared that she might scold me if I asked her to give it back. I was at fault after all! My first copy of tinkle continued to remain with her..

         I was discovering my talent for writing poetry and I had proclaimed that I would become a writer
( How wise we are as kids!). I was 11 that time when I decided that studies are a waste of time. My mother dinned sense into me and made me see that there was a wide world that I had not yet seen. I had to study, become wiser and then write! She started with the story of Shantanu that day. The next day she bought me a copy of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Thus started my journey..

        I got a library card when I was 13 and since then there is no looking back. 8 years of membership, book shopping, book borrowing and days and nights of living someone else's life is what I have had!

       The thrill of Sindbad's voyages
       The mystery in Nancy's life
       The amusing life of the famous five
       The bitter sweetness of the secret garden
       The wisdom of Tenali Raman and Birbal
     
       The moral dilemma of the Indian epics
       The change in Anne Frank's life
       The emotions of Chicken soup
       The social setting of To kill a mocking bird

       The dreamy notions of Mills and Boons
       The adrenaline rush with Sidney Sheldon
       The living on edge with Dan Brown
       Discovering law with John Grisham
       The wit of Jeffery Archer

       The love hate relation in Gone with the Wind
       The slow and mature drift of The Hungry Tide
       The endless tips of self help books
       The turmoil of The God of small things..

       The challenges of The Hunger Games
       The epic series of Harry Potter
       The power lust of Game of Thrones
       The life of Shantaram..
     

      There are just the transitions I have had since I started reading. I do not read much of non fiction, especially autobiographies but I have been inspired by I Dare which is about Kiran Bedi and of course Wings of Fire by Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam.


                                           
                                                                 My humble collection..

     After a series of disappointing books from Indian authors that soon followed Chetan Bhagat, I had given up reading such books. In recent years however, the scenario has changed. Here are a few books that made me change my view.

      The Rozabal Line by Ashwin Sanghi
      Chanakya's Chant by Ashwin Sanghi
      Maximum City by Suketu Mehta
      Six suspects by Vikas Swaroop
      The Shiva Triology by Amish Tripathi
      Jaya Mahabharat Devadutt Patanaik

      Do give these books a try if you have given up reading Indian Books.

      There are some books which are like old friends. You just have to open a page and you get to know them in a all new way. To kill a Mocking bird is one of those books for me. Every time I read it, I find something new!
      Another book that makes me feel that I know the characters like my family members is The Hungry Tide. I cannot explain why I like to read it again and again. There is so much to know in that book.
   
      There are a few books that remain in my mind for a long, long time and you don't want to read it again for the sheer emotions that each page carried. The painted house by John Grisham is that book for me.

      Whenever someone asks me to suggest a book for reading, the first name I take is "Prisoner of birth" by Jeffery Archer. The plot is so far the most intelligent one that I have come across!

      I m the girl who reads every day. You would find a paper back in my bag any day. I read while travelling in trains everyday and the book I m reading has often sparked conversations with my co-passengers. That's the best part about books, they not only are good friends but also introduce you to like minded people. I also believe that book readers are the best kind of people to have around because you can always gift them a good book and they will remember you for a life time besides saving you the confusion of gift purchasing!


The last thing I want to share
              Photo
      Because they live multiple lives..
   
      I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words 8th - 14th December 2013. Today's prompt is books. 

24 comments:

kalpana solsi said...

I have read Chanakya Chants and Shiva Trilogy. will read the other books. loved your verse where the characters come out alive. nice write-up.

Wings of Harmony said...

:D Such wisdom pours forth from your words, even now! And Sis, love the way you have described the affection for books - I find them to be true friends - in New and Blue! :D All the best!

Destination Infinity said...

I bought a Kindle and that has reintroduced me to fiction. I stopped reading fiction a few years back and started reading non-fiction vicariously. Going forward, I think I'll read both. I am sure your list will be very useful to me in the future. Can you also write a post about some excellent classics that you have read and enjoyed? I want to read some - I have read very few of them! Besides, classics are available as a free download for Kindle ;)

Destination Infinity

Shilpa Garg said...

Good to see another voracious reader! I am reading a lot of Indian authors now-a-days. A few are promising but many are just run-of-the-mill kinds! Nice collection of books you have :)

Unknown said...

Mills and boons is one series I didn't like much... maybe i read it for the first time during college... guess ny then I lost taste for that... all others in my fav list. :) And your humble collection is making me jealous! ;)

Anonymous said...

Your words convey that you are a true book aficionado. Yes. Indian authors are back with a bang. Let's hope they're here to stay. More hope for us :)

Anonymous said...

Beautiful tribute to books. I always carry a book copy in ma bag on the way to work. My love story with Indian rom-com authors is ongoing:)

CookieCrumbsInc. said...

I couldn't have put it better, this is lovely Em. Just. Lovely <3

Anita Jeyan said...

wow so you are dangerous eh? :D I used to read too...but today my reading is limited to news portals, blogs and articles. I cannot possibly read with a full time software job, home with no housemaid, a toddler and my own things going on in parallel ! There are days I dont get time to bathe :-|

Prasanna Rao said...

Books are definitely friends for life. Although I read Indian authors (some are sent for review) I am yet to pick up a copy of Amish Tripathy's Shiva Trilogy. I'm going to put "Prisoner of birth" by Jeffery Archer on to-read list. :)

maithili said...

I liked Chanakya's Chants but Rozabal line by the same author was simply amazing. I would go as far to say that it is like our Indian version of Da Vinci code. Thank you for reading and appreciating :)

maithili said...

A book is a best friend that we can have and it opens worlds beyond our reach. Even the bad books can teach us good lessons :)

maithili said...

I find myself reading non-fiction only when the author seems to influence me a great deal because I just cannot put a book unfinished and it is a real torture with some nonfiction books. I haven't read a lot of classics. In fact the ones I have mentioned are the ones I could actually lay my hands on and finish in time. However I recently gifted a friend of mine (who is into classics) a copy of Odyssey and she seemed to love it.

maithili said...

Trust me when I say that I have read the worst Indian books ever. Kiss me or kill me was a book by a doctor that I read and almost fainted. It was a sheer effort to not throw it into the bin. Ditto for Oh Shit! Not again. The few I mentioned are really worth a read. Thank you for reading me :)

maithili said...

You are right Sheethal. Mills and boons do not appeal to me anymore. I guess it was in that phase of moving out of school and waiting for college that I began reading a few from a second hand book shop ( I have bought it for as less as 5 rs!). After a couple of books it got repetitive and I moved on to better things. It definitely was a boost to my vocabulary though :)

maithili said...

More hope for us :D Some Indian writers are doing a great work

maithili said...

I m not a great fan of Indian rom-com books (specially those that are just random imaginations or fascinations of some Engineer dude following Chetan Bhagat). I m yet to find a good rom-com author. Do suggest me if anyone new is writing good stuff :)

maithili said...

Thank you PeeVee :)

maithili said...

Hahahaha I m dangerous and intimidating :D There are days when my reading is limited to the hotel menu :D I think we do a decent job of entertaining you with all that work you do! I have read many books on pdf using my smart phone so I have read stuff on the bus stop and canteen. But paper back is paper back. You cannot curl with a Kindle and find it as romantic :)

maithili said...

I read a lot of books by Indian writers that are sent for review and I find very few of them to be of quality. Do tell me when you read Prisoner of Birth :)

the little princess said...

ditto ditto ditto for everything from Tinkle..to prisoner of birth..(except Harry potter!!) I must be the only one who has never read a harry potter book!! :(

maithili said...

Go read it now now now!! You are missing out on a big chapter of books if you haven't read harry potter :)

Sreeja Praveen said...

Superb !! Any article on books is as interesting and intriguing as books themselves ! Can we ever imagine a world without books ? From Tinkle, through Champak and Chandamama to HP and Six suspects and beyond, everything is true, though I'm yet to read the Ashwin Sanghi and Amish Tripathi series ( not that I don't want to, but no time, for reasons aptly quoted by Anita Sandeep ) :). And my list includes a large number of books in Malayalam and Tamil too, apart from a few in Hindi ! :) Good write up, Maithili :)

Anonymous said...

Hope indian writers come with new classics