Deepika’s Mother was not keeping well. Deepika had been asking her mother to see a Doctor. It was the same today. “Mummy, please go to the Doctor. You are not well”. “No Deepika, I will be fine. It is just a headache. You get ready for college. Pack something for your evening. You have your…
“The rains are here at last “ said Grandmother. ‘Yes the weather forecast yesterday said there would be heavy rain for a few days’ I said setting aside all my books to look at the rain drops falling on the garden roses. It had been a very hot summer. We knew it very well. Our…
Have you seen the music room? No- not in the day When it is agog with people as the court demands its share of fun Not when the Sunlight is bright and clear When the roses in the vase are young and fresh The birds come to visit Through the open windows Not when a…
In the film Ben-Hur Judah Ben-Hur who is on a torture trip along with the other prisoners and criminals is denied water. As he pleads “Oh God” Christ comes with a pitcher of water, washes his face and gives him more water to drink. The guard notices this and says, “I said-no water for him.”…
An interruption in my explorations into the Novel occurred mainly because I delved into criticism and metafiction. As an interlude it helped me to understand the art of writing fiction. The classifications and ramifications are so vast that I started to long for a comforting novel and tumbled into 3 books that I haven’t read….
The airport is a big surprise. It is not the ram shackled, worn-out airport in which I landed 10 years ago. Then Hyderabad had no direct flight to Patna. I had to change flights in New Delhi. Now the flying experience is smooth and coordinated.
After a hiatus of nearly 7 years I travelled in an unreserved train compartment recently from Nellore to Vijayawada. Travel in a reserved air conditioned coach is a sanitised experience where order and protocol is enforced on an otherwise chaotic Indian railway carriage. Also boundaries of class because of the higher cost of the travel create barriers of access. A group of Bhavanis boarded the compartment along with me.
At India’s southern edge, sea, memory, faith and travel merge as Krishna Mohan moves through Kanniyakumari and Trivandrum, searching for what makes a place stay with us.
C.L.R. James’ Beyond a Boundary. The book is highly regarded and hailed as one of the greatest sports books ever written. Recording my impressions about this book, may result in unleashing a string of adjectives. Praise and acclaim have been bestowed upon it by thinkers, players and philosophers.
More books, more conversations, and the many ways they stay with us.