Books...The background

Never considered myself a good reviewer, nevertheless, have decided to put down my opinion of the books I read.

As a child, I read a plethora of books, the likes of Champak, Gokulam, the entire series of Diamond comics, Panchtantra, Wisdom, Tinkle….also had subscribed to a Japanese fortnightly called Oshin! Somehow never got to read The Hardy Boys, Sherlock Holmes and the likes. The books kept pouring in and my mother ran out of places to keep them and we (my brother and I) never allowed her to sell them. We were a huge hit with the other kids. On any given Sunday our house used to swarm with them. It used to be quite a sight: A dozen or more kids, each with a book or two, occupying every possible corner in the house, that done, on the terrace; dad acting as the official librarian and mom making Rooh Afza for everyone.

I don’t know why, but as we grew up these books stopped coming. The Champak and the Gokulam were replaced by The Week and Outlook. I don’t remember complaining; probably I thought it was the sign of growing up; shifting from “The ghost who walks never dies” to “The week that was”. But, very soon I realized I was pulling out the old books from the dust filled attic. And then I got over them....well, only almost.

I think mom got the idea from somewhere that any book that does not have “for children” written on the cover page is not suitable for children. Guess, she thought every such book is a “Its-a-course-in-sex-education-but-is-brilliantly-named-Mills & Boons”. Then I met Beena. She is a Mills & Boons maniac. She gave me a couple of her favorite M&Bs, she claimed there is no way I will not like them. Well, I did not like them. But it did tickle the sleeping voracious reader in me. Read a couple of Beena-reccommended Judith McNaught’s romances and if I may dare say graduated to the likes of Sidney Sheldon, Robert Ludlum and John Grisham and the likes... A year later, it was graduation time again. I found myself more and more detached from fiction and getting hooked to non-fiction. Guess, this happens when you become more worldly.:) Now, in a conventional sense, I am a non-fiction reader; I do pick up a light literature once in a while for filler.

So here I am, all set to write my opinion of the books I read. Will try and cover what I have already read. Will look forward to your suggestions.

Watch this space…

Coming up “Despatches from Kargil”

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