Of work, books and Harry Potter

So what have I been upto?

My house-help was on leave for many days due to seasonal illnesses in her house- first her daughter, then herself. I have just this one lady who comes to clean- washing vessels, sweeping and mopping. I have never had a full-time maid or cook- I do all the rest myself as a matter of course. But it is a real drag when I have to do the washing vessels and sweeping-mopping. Not really complaining, as it is my house, but one wishes it didn't have to be for so many days at a stretch. I did all of that when we were out of the India, of course, but then there were things like dish-washers and vacuum cleaners that made life easier, leaving one with enough time to pursue one's interests, and of course one was younger and nimbler!

Anyway, as a consequence I wasn't really upto blogging by the time all the chores were done. Reading- yes, I've been reading, of course. It was my way of unwinding.

I have been reading 3 books in parallel. One is In Search of Sita - Revisiting Mythology, edited by Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal. An anthology of essays on and discussions about Sita, that much misunderstood and iconic figure from our epics.

Another is Looking for Enid - The mysterious and inventive life of Enid Blyton, by Duncan Mclaren. Biographical, but not your everyday biography. More a discussion on the incidents and influences in her life that made Enid, Enid, and the association of what was going on in her life with what she wrote then. An interesting read, one that was a must-read for a Blyton fan like me.

And the third is When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, by Judith Kerr. Autobiographical fiction, based on the real-life incidents during the childhood of the author, when her family fled from pre-Hitler Germany.

I would like to review all three books at length, in later posts, if I may.

What has A been reading? On her own, three books lent to her by Choxbox's FB. (I must read them before we return them, they seem to be delicious!) And more.
1. Play Time by Julia Donaldson.
2. Return of the Hundred Mile An Hour Dog, by Jeremy Strong.  Which made her want to get the prequel, The Hundred Mile An Hour Dog, which we did, and she read- with lots of giggles.
3. The Perfect Hamburger, by Alexander McCall Smith.
4. St Clare's series by Enid Blyton. And identifying with a lot of it- the friendships, the fights, the bickering, the feeling left-out, the dynamics in class with the teachers- she's in middle grade now, so she can really get under the skin of the characters and is really enjoying it. Although I do try to bring to her notice some of the politically incorrect things Enid Blyton writes, and how they may be wrong if imbibed!

Reading together- of course Harry Potter. We finished Half-Blood Prince around the end of the holidays, and are on the verge of finishing the last book, Deathly Hallows, - nicely in time for the last movie, which she wants to watch on the big screen. She wants to watch it with her friend, Choxbox's FB. Let us see how that works out.

Which brings us to the movie itself. We are so looking forward to it. I don't know when we will get to watch it, as this weekend is booked for something else already, but maybe next weekend? With A, and hopefully with Choxbox and her FB. I probably will watch it one more time, as I can't just watch it once. The trailor promises a great experience. How different it will be from the book, has to be seen.

Other than all this, A has been back at school for about 6 weeks now, and we have settled down to our routine more-or-less. Remember the homework monster? Well, we have been trying out charting, a time-table, and it has been working- somewhat. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for the pointers, Starry!

A also had a music examination. She did OK according to her, and came out a bit bemused, as the examiner had been a little intimidating. She has been learning Hindustani Classical vocal music for a few years now. Much as I would like her to learn it purely for the love of music we all have, for the sake of the pleasure a knowledge of music can bring in her life, and the discipline such a training instills, her teacher would like to measure it by exams. So be it.

My househelp turned up for work since yesterday, and I immediately took the opportunity to make a visit to the ongoing Strand books sale at the Institute of Engineers on upto the 17th of July. It wasn't as great as it normally is. There was a lot of stuff for the preschool and early readers, plenty of Dr Seuss, Martin Waddell, Magic Tree House and such. Not much for A's age, not unless you count the Harry Potter books, Ruskin Bond, and Enid Blytons. We have a lot of those. There was also a whole load of Tulika books, but we have or have read most of that which were on display. So after spending some time in the children's section, I turned to the rest.

What did I pick up? These.