We are a book-obsessed family - have been like that for several generations - and I have successfully passed on the relevant genes (if indeed it is a genetic trait rather than a habit acquired in childhood from parents, teachers and friends) to my daughter. I have a small but eclectic library at home, which keeps on being added to, and then there is Kindle, and it hurts me no end to see (as I have been seeing for decades) that Bengalis don't read any more, though there was a time, not very long ago, when we boasted that though we lacked in muscle and money-power and much else besides, we were by far the most padi-likhi community in India. Today the Kolkata Book Fair attracts far more lover couples who visit only to eat kaathi rolls and click selfies rather than buy or browse through books, and Delhi boasts of far better-stocked (-and informed) booksellers. My daughter has recently told me about one called The Book Shop at Jor Bag which is a delight for genuine bibliophiles, and it is going to be a must-visit for me during the next trip.
Why am I not hyper-excited that Rishi Sunak has become PM of Britain? I can give you several reasons: Britain long ago ceased to be one of the really important countries in the world; Sunak is not really Indian by any yardstick, so there is very little for us to take pride in; being an inheritor of a vast fortune via his wife, he is hardly 'one of us', his premiership may last very little longer than Liz Truss's, and he has clearly demonstrated already that, beyond photo ops (like attending a cow puja) he has very little interest in India or India's concerns. But most of all because, to folks like me (maybe a fast-dwindling minority) it is all so strongly deja vu: all through the last 48 hours Parashuram's Ulto Puraan has been playing in my mind - a fable written close to a century ago about a time when Britain has been colonized by India, and how she would then be faring. I won't be surprised if I read, a few years down the line, that the streets in many urban neighbourhoods in England are stained with betel juice and reek strongly of stale pee.
Ruchir Joshi has written an article titled 'City sans wheels' in the editorial page of The Telegraph yesterday, complaining bitterly about something that I too happen to feel strongly about: why are the taxi cab drivers in Kolkata treating customers so shabbily again, Uber included? Not available when needed, cancelling calls right and left, fleecing their customers... what is wrong with Kolkata?
Cyclone Sitrang passed us by. I was looking forward to a few more squally and rainy days, which might have ushered in an early and chilly winter. Bad luck for us...
I am reading the sequel to Janaki Lenin's My husband and other animals. Look her up on Google. She has been animal crazy all her life - a very rare Indian woman indeed - and runs all sorts of farms and shelters and foundations for them. She is also self-declaredly an ardent fan of Gerald Durrell, which is where the title of her book comes from. She is married to the noted herpetologist Rom Whitaker, and in this second book she declares unabashedly that though he is old enough to be her father and they have been married twenty five years, he can still give her butterflies in the stomach with just a look. Few things come closer to a fairy tale. I can only say God bless to the happy couple, urge people to read the books, and rue the fact that I have never met one such woman in my whole life. Thank you, Pupu, for finding me yet another good author, and thank you, young Swastik, for lending me Book Two to read.
I was fighting with my dad again last night. '... in that sleep, what dreams may come', indeed. 'The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make a heaven of hell, and a hell of heaven.' Shakespeare and Milton, thank you for finding the right words for me! Will readers share some of their weird dreams with me, especially recurrent ones? We might wonder together.
3 comments:
Dear Sir,
Let me tell you a bit about my dreams. I don't know if it happens to many, but when I am not incredibly sad, I often dream about very beautiful landscapes. Here's a funny one that I dreamed, about a year and a half ago. I saw that my friends and I are on a trip to a red-soil valley, parts of which look like a remote Bengal village. There is no electricity in the area, and we have had to hire a motorcycle ( a long, four seater) to explore the place.
As we are wheeling back to our shelter, I am mesmerized by the serpentine roads, the darkness and the absolute still punctuated only by the sound of crickets. We reach a banyan tree which skirts a big grassy ground. Under the tree is a white cow apparently chewing the cud, but in reality it's singing! This reminds us that the locals had warned us that this particular ground is infested by ghosts. The friend driving the motorcycle flies it over the ground, and I look down to see hundreds of ghosts looking up at us, with fireflies for eyes. I think my mind was shocked at the absurdity even in sleep, so it directed the body to wake me. But oh, how I wish I had kept dreaming!
Sir,
It's rather amusing, indeed, that Indians are perhaps rejoicing the most.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-25/uk-s-first-hindu-leader-is-symbol-of-both-progress-and-privilege
I hardly read the news on the internet, but I came across this article by chance.
His becoming the PM is highly unlikely to affect ordinary people in any way. And, it is highly unlikely to affect diplomatic ties either. In fact, it may not be good news for hopeful immigrants either. Time will tell. Having parents working as medical professionals, and having the opportunity to study at Winchester, Oxford, and Stanford is not exactly the story of a struggling immigrant. He could not have acquired that accent without having that kind of elite education that very few in this world can even dream of.
I have read My Husband and Other Animals at a friend's place in Tokyo. And, then Every Creature Has a Story on my Kindle. Unfortunately, that's her only book available on Kindle here, and no audiobooks yet. In any case, most Indian audiobooks are not available here. It is like DVD region codes in the past. So, I firmly believe that what one can possibly read and view and listen to, still depends on which part of the world one is in. No wonder people do not agree with each other. However, I must add that I will probably not be affluent enough to have a pet here. There's no medical insurance for pets, and a simple "haircut and shampoo" can cost more than 10,000 yen, a luxury I can ill afford. My own haircut costs less than one-fifth of that. So, frankly, I don't really feel as excited to read animal stories as I used to in the past. They are just storybooks for vicarious pleasure only.
Hope all is well on your front. Take care and best wishes.
Best regards,
Rajdeep
Sunandini,
Thank you for sharing. Let me wait a bit before commenting, just in case a few more readers do the same.
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