In which we wish Harry and JKR a Happy Birthday

Before we go on to the topic of our post, let me also tell my readers that today is also the birthday of another literary great, Munshi Premchand a.k.a. Dhanpat Rai,born on 31st July 1880 in a village near Benaras.

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In my mind, there is clearly a before Potter and after Potter.

Rowling is one of those beautiful people who think of humanity beyond the me-and-mine, and for that, she is my hero. Every Potter reader knows the story of how it all happened. Not many know of the rest.

1990: The idea for the Potter books came to Joanne, a single, impoverished mother of a daughter.

1997: Seven years later, the first Potter book was published by Bloomsbury in June 1997. The consecutive books were published in June 1998, July 1999, July 2000, June 2003, July 2005, July 2007. The release of each book saw unprecedented frenzy at book-stores the world over. JK Rowling had truly wrought a miracle: reading had become cool!

2001: Rowling wrote : Quidditch Through The Ages and Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. Both purport to be curriculum books followed at Hogwarts, and contain interesting back stories about Hogwarts, the game of Quidditch, and detailed references to magical beasts, most of them from actual mythology. Both books are supposedly copies belonging to Harry, with a lot of amusing marginalia by Harry, Ron and Hermione. Worth picking up for a true aficionado.

All proceeds from these books until 2009, and a percentage of all published after that goes to Comic Relief, a UK based charity working for eradicating poverty.

2008: Tales of Beedle The Bard was published. Initially published as a limited edition of 7, six were given away to persons closely associated with the Potter books, and the seventh was auctioned to raise a whopping 1.95 million pounds for LUMOS, a UK based charity founded by Rowling herself, that works towards bettering the lives of disadvantaged and institutionalized children. The book was then published for the public by Bloomsbury in collaboration with LUMOS, and a percentage of the sales goes to the charity.

She has also set up the Volant Charitable Trust, named after her her French great-grandfather Louis Volant a decorated WW1 hero. Quoting from the objectives of this trust:
The Trust has two broad areas of funding:
1. Research into the causes, treatment and possible cures of Multiple Sclerosis.
J K Rowling is supporting major research into neuroregeneration and Multiple Sclerosis at the University of Edinburgh. The Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic is being set up in Edinburgh with the substantial donation J K Rowling made in 2010. The Trust is therefore not considering any health care applications, including other medical research, for the foreseeable future.
2. Charities and projects, whether national or community-based, at home or abroad, that alleviate social deprivation, with a particular emphasis on women’s and children’s issues.
At present the Trustees consider the funding of major disaster appeals and this is the focus of the Trust’s International support; therefore, applications for other projects overseas are not being considered for the foreseeable future.

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Over the years, JK Rowling has been the recipient of a multitude of honours and awards, notable among which are the OBE, 2001, for services to Children's Literature and Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award, 2010, which is given to a writer of enduring and rich children's literature.

Come September 2012, Rowling will be releasing her first book after the Hogwarts books, this one for adults. The Casual Vacancy, published by Little, Brown, promises to be quintessentially British.

Other than all of this, there have been the Harry Potter movies that have spread the magic of the Potter books further. I know of at least six of my daughter's friends who are not big-time into reading, but who have been inspired by the movies (and the constant nudging by A) to pick up the books and read them through. Enjoy them thoroughly too.

The spell of Potter has gone to enchant the online world, too. A and I are members at Pottermore, which gives one an insider's experience of Harry's world. This is a safe site for your children, where one joins, gets a wand, gets sorted into houses, all based on questions one answers about what one would do given a particular situation. One then goes on to discover exclusive and intriguing back stories on the various characters, places, spells, events, etc., that comprise the wizarding world. No personal information is asked, and one is even given a magical username, so that one can be anonymous.

There will be much more that happens around JK Rowling in the future. I leave you here with the Commencement Address given by her to Harvard Graduates of 2008, the full text of which can be read here: The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and The Importance of Imagination.

For those who would rather listen to it directly from JK Rowling, here is the video link..

One is struck by the honesty, humour and humanity of feeling.

"So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life."

Think not just of the books she has created and the charities she has given so generously for. Think of the worldwide phenomenon that has created so many jobs, fed so many mouths, and interested people again in the art of reading. She is truly a hero.


Have a very Happy Birthday, Joanne Kathleen Rowling! And a very Happy Birthday to Harry, too, the Boy Who Lived!

A samosa story- and a fab giveaway

Pic courtesy simzcorner

First-- do check this fabulous giveaway that Simran over at Simz Corner has for anyone who signs up for it- blogger or nonblogger. Do check it out! Two of my favourite things. A fair of book-ends (yes, that made me perk up!) and a lovely Ganesha. Courtesy The Orange Bicycle.






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My grandfather would say this. "There's many a slip...between cup and lip."

A had some after school activity at school for the past few days. Since the kids would be famished by the time they finished, they would be provided with a snack before they were picked up by parents. One day, she got a punjabi samosa, which she finds too spicy. She knows my fondness for them, so she saved it up for me.

So when she came out of school, she had the samosa wrapped in a tissue paper, which she gave me. "This is for you, Aai."

I, too, was feeling a bit peckish, but as we were pressed for time, I decide to eat it in the auto. Holding the parcel in my left hand, I ushered A into a waiting auto. As we moved away from there, I asked her if she wanted to eat something else. I always have a stash of dry-fruits/ apple/ biscuits/ juice tetrapack in my bag for such eventualities. A habit carried over from A's younger days.

Rummaging in the bag for the box of raisins I had put in earlier, I asked her about her day. It had been a busy one. As I spoke to her, I forgot all about the samosa I still held in my left hand.

The auto soon stopped at a signal. An old beggar woman approached us. Typically for A, she wanted to give her something.

Now, I feel sad for these people, but I'm often mindful of the cartels behind them, and am always hesitant to give money. So I asked A if I could give her the samosa that she had saved for me.

So the samosa was given to the old woman, who promptly sat down on the footpath and began to eat it.

Daane daane par hota hain, khanewale ka naam!

Translated--Each grain has its eater's name on it!

Of a charity, challenges, and promises to be kept!

Here is a call for charity. Zoe at playingbythebook.net has listed some of her favourite book charities, and will be donating one GB pound per comment, up to a max of 30 pounds to one of these charities, or books worth the same to her daughter's school. So do click on this link to go to her post.

Also, back home, Spastics Society of Karnataka  is holding a Christmas Carnival on the 18th of December. Please visit, and have fun while supporting the cause. You may donate in cash or kind. Items should be in a saleable condition. A friend has a differently-abled child, and regularly volunteers at this NGO. Please do donate!

It is that time of the year when we look back and introspect. I have had my good, bad and ugly moments, contributing altogether to a kaleidoscope of experiences. Here's hoping that the next year will be better than this one.

I began blogging in March this year, and this is my 67th post. It opened up a completely new world for me, one in which I made new friends. My blog gives me a platform to write about anything that interests or touches me, book-related and other talks with my daughter A, and most importantly, a space where I can share my thoughts on a book that really interested me. Along the way, I also joined my favourite kid-lit-blogging site Saffrontree as a contributor, and have learnt much there. I also joined another site, bookreviews, where one can access a whole lot of reviews of books on myriad topics, in all genres.

I took part in the International Postcard Swap for families and the
Perfect Picture Books by post hosted by my good friend Zoe, at playingbythebook.net.

Also took part in a reading challenge, the Flashback Re-reading Challenge. I joined quite late in the year, so I could manage only the basic challenge.

For next year, I would like to join two challenges. Both of which are very interesting.

One is the 2011 Global Reading Challenge. I will be joining in at the easy level. The rules for this are as follows.

Read one novel from each of these continents in the course of 2011:

Africa
Asia
Australasia
Europe
North America
South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)

The Seventh Continent (here you can either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it).

From your own continent: try to find a country, state or author that is new to you.

The second challenge is the 2011 South Asian Challenge. Read about it first at Monika's World.

The rules for this are as follows.

(1) A book must be by a South Asian author.  For these purposes, South Asia includes the following countries: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and the Maldives.  There are no limitations on what the book can be about.

(2) A book must be about South Asia.  In this case, it can be set in a South Asian country or be about South Asians living abroad.  It can also be a biography or memoir of a South Asian, or of a non-South Asian traveling or working in South Asia.  In this case, the author does not need to be South Asian, as long as the subject matter focuses on the region, peoples, or cultures in some way.

Any type book qualifies, as long as it meets one of the two guidelines above - a cookbook, short story or essay collection, travel guide.

I would be aiming for the South Asian Explorer level, which requires me to read at least 5 books under the rules.

There are also a couple of promises to myself that I would like to declare here.

One is that I need to do more of reading than I have managed in this year. I have been doing fine as far as reading with A is concerned, but need to invest more time in reading just for myself.

Two is that I need to start on an exercise regimen ASAP. I've become pretty lazy on that front. There was a time when I was quite regular, but of late I seem to have become more of a couch potato. It has begun to tell on my knees (twinges of pain now and then, problems getting up from a low seat-just won't do. I have miles to go yet- A is just 9!) and lungs (huffing after having climbed a few flights of stairs- NOT good!) The weighing scales too have their own tale to tell. So- exercise, and WATCH THAT PLATE!

Other resolutions- well, let's just say that they'll keep.

Will be taking off for the rest of the year, and will probably post only in the new year. We're travelling over the Christmas vacation. Where to? Well, all I'll say here is that we'll probably have a white Christmas, and A will be able to indulge in her wish for a snowman. She has taken to wondering if Santa will deliver away from home. Speaking of which, we have already received one gift- a book from Zoe! Thanks, Zoe. I'm sure we'll enjoy it. Will post about it after we've been through it.

So have a good vacation, and a great New Year!