Of writers and dreams - a book review

Last year, we had been to Mussoorie during the Christmas vacation, and A had looked forward to meeting one of her favourite (OK, one of my favourite too) writers Ruskin Bond. She had made a booklet of a few of her own stories. We wanted to meet him and present him with this booklet, and get our favourite books ( The Blue Umbrella for A and A Flight of Pigeons for me) signed. Unfortunately, he was out of town, and was to return only after we left Mussoorie. So we requested Mr Arora, who owns a bookstore where Ruskin Bond regularly signed books for his readers, to hand over the booklet to him to sign, and gave him our address. We were extremely disappointed on not being able to meet him in person, but there was nothing we could do about that!

Imagine our delight when, after a few weeks, an envelope arrived at our home, containing the booklet, duly signed by Mr Bond, with a few encouraging words from him. Her book, (never mind that it was an unpublished, handwritten one) signed by Ruskin Bond!

So when I read about Tulika's 'Advaita The Writer', I had to pick it up for A.

Pic courtesy tulikabooks.com

Advaita The Writer
Written by Ken Spillman
Illustrated by Soumya Menon
Published by Tulika books
Age 10+

A 13 yr old, Advaita begins school at the prestigious Dunham Girls' School, a residential school in Dehradun, far away from her home and family in New Delhi. A shy person, she finds herself struggling to fit in. Her nearest room-mate is a gadget freak hooked to her ipod, who "could only listen to something if it came through earphones."

The school library is a haven, however. An avid reader, who dreams of becoming a writer one day, Advaita feasts on the books, especially those by her favourite writer, Ruskin Bond. She has no idea that he lives at a stone's throw, just half-an-hour away, at Mussoorie.

"Ruskin Bond was a name as large in her consciousness as Gandhiji, Lutyens and Enid Blyton, and she had assumed that all such names belonged to the dead."

Well, no. He was a living legend, and moreover, someone who she could easily get to meet. So Mrs Kendall, her teacher, and Advaita plan a visit to Cambridge Book Depot, owned by Mr Arora, where Ruskin Bond sat every Saturday afternoon to sign books for his readers.

Does Advaita meet Ruskin Bond? How does she become 'Advaita the writer'?

We get a peek into Advaita's delightful, if a bit sarcastic sense of humour through her letters, in which we see her school life through her eyes. "Apparently, most of the girls here have adapted to survival without breathing - it has something to do with the number of years they spend in cold rarified air. This makes them thoroughly cold, inside and out...You will be pleased to know that I have climbed steadily up the evolutionary scale and that I am striving to reduce my dependence on air."!!

Black-and-white illustrations by Soumya Menon, who has illustrated many books by Tulika, are a treat - they stress on the fact that Advaita the writer is primarily a reader - she is never seen without a book in her hand, lost to the world, busy reading, and sometimes writing!

Ken Spillman has added an afterword in which he tells us about his inspiration for this book, a chance discussion with the awardwinning writer, Advaita Kala. He also introduces us to the delightful Ruskin Bond, a resource for those who have not encountered his work yet, who can see for themselves exactly what the pull is for Advaita and many others. There is a handy list of books for children by Mr Bond from which one may choose.

A loved this book- a fast read- and was smiling as she realised how like Advaita she is...the same avid reading of books, the same shyness with new people and places, the same urge to write, the same incomprehension of gadget-crazy friends! And the same experience, albeit with a difference, about meeting Ruskin Bond!

I picked this book up at the Bangalore book fair this year, the last copy that the stall had. A was doubly delighted, because Ken Spillman had visited her school just a few days previously, had had an open discussion about his books with all the students, and had promised to reply to any mails that the children wrote to him.

I suppose my little reader-writer is thinking seriously about doing just that!

On the love of books - and a giveaway!

First: My friend Zoe, over at Playingbythebook has a fabulous new giveaway that I would love to get my hands on. It is a children's movie, Eleanor's Secret, a must-see for those who love books, and those who would love to see a movie which promises some lovely 'un-adult-rated' fun (Zoe's word, not mine!) You may go over to her post to view details of the giveaway! I have put in my claim, too, and am keeping all fingers (and toes) crossed!



Pic courtesy flipkart.com

Talking about love for books, I recently came upon this wonderful book that I would love to share with fellow book lovers.

THE GROANING SHELF
and other instances of book love
Written by Pradeep Sebastian
Published by Hachette India

This is that ultimate fantasy for me- a book about books and about love for books- that explains a lot about my inexplicable book-lust:

Why I need to explore every book shop there is in any place.

Why I need to visit every book sale.

Why I need to own every book that I feel A or I would love to read.

Why I have more books in my house than an average person would need in her/his life, lying around in piles.

Why I need to read and re-read many of my books.

Why I need to shuffle my books around on shelves periodically, taking them off the shelves, sorting through them, opening those that I haven't looked at in a while, losing track of time, and then putting them all back over a period of weeks, by which time it is again time to sort through them!

Why I do not consider the above described work as a chore, but enjoy it thoroughly, spinning it out.

Why I start the work with an intention to clear clutter, (shame on me for considering books clutter, but an excess of even books takes up space.) but end up putting most of the books back, as I cannot bear to give them away. Yeah, Sangi, I need the Serenity Prayer too!

Why reading a well-loved book, caressing the pages and breathing in the fragrance of paper and ink is the ultimate sensual experience.

"This pleasurable, absorbing ritual of rearranging books, even trying to downsize one's library, now seems to be really about getting to know these books all over again. To pick up one from the shelves, remember where and when you bought it, and recall the pleasure that finding the book gave you - this is why a book collector gets all her books off and on the shelves every year."

Pradeep Sebastian speaks of the collecting of books, even of first editions, and brings to our notice the difference between a bibliomaniac (...has a rage for collecting and possessing books) and a bibliophile (a book collector of refined judgement, the quality of whose library reflects his or her exacting bibliographical standards). Where do I stand? Somewhere in between.

We come to know of the different reasons we buy a book - not just for its content. The edition, the cover design, illustrations, paper quality, the font used, the whole look and feel of the book, too matter. Ask me- I often buy whole lots by a favoured author, and favour certain publications which add to the overall experience of reading.

First editions, especially if in a pristine condition with their book jackets, and if they are signed or inscribed by the author, could become valuable additions to one's collection par with rare pieces of art by masters.

We have chapters on rare books, history of books in the world, and in India.

A whole section on notable works by his favourite authors, which include works by Pico Iyer, J.D.Salinger, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ayn Rand and Ira Levin. He discusses both the life and works of these writers, giving us a peek into how their creative energies worked.

A whole section on noteworthy bookshops in India, book museums and a chapter on books in movies. Yes, 'You've got mail' is one of the movies discussed, as are '84 Charing Cross Road', 'The Name of the Rose', 'The Mystic Masseur', 'Fahrenheit 451' and 'The Jane Austen Book Club'. There is also a real story, about how a documentary about an out of print classic, the only book by that author (The Stones of Summer by Dow Mossman) resurrected that book in print.

Some of the chapters on the actual experience of reading gave me an eerie sense of 'he's reading my mind'!.

"The books we read make us part of a larger (invisible) community of readers. Could the opposite be true as well? That our reading makes us lonely. Wrapped up in a book, we shut the world out, cutting ourselves off from those who cannot share in our private world."

Maybe. But then I find that my reading can also open up a world of like-minded friends, where we can share our mutual love of, and impressions of different books, enriching us all. I think the reading-aloud of books shared by A and I is a part of this process, as is this compulsive sharing of a book I loved with all of you in my reviews. I want to convey what I loved about a book, maybe compel you to pick it up!

There is an interesting chapter on re-reading. I'll quote - "What a commited reader has with a book is a relationship. And like most relationships, it is sustaining, volatile, vulnerable...the question is - does the book remain the same book the second time around? Are we even the same readers when we revisit these books?...it seems to me that our experience alters the book even as the book alters our experience."

Very true. A book that I have loved reading could not be read just once. One reads it rapidly at first, then mulls over what one has read for a while- which could be anything from a few hours to a few years. One then HAS to return to the book and read it over and over again, finding things one has not noticed or noted at the first reading, somehow managing to internalise the book, until it becomes a part of one's self.

As J.K.Rowling said while announcing PotterMore: "the experience of reading requires that the imaginations of the author and reader work together to create the story."

There is obviously more to reading than just a pastime, just a gleaning of information or learning of something. It is a whole experience that has to be, well, experienced. Even books that one has loved and lost, or books that one has encountered in a store or library, found interesting, but not gotten around to really reading through, never to find them again, are part of this experience.

Let me end with one more quote from this wonderful book by Pradeep Sebastian. This one for non-readers, too!

"I often envy non-readers for all the wonderful books out there that they have never read. Imagine the number of books that await them and the joy of encountering these great works for the first time. A favourite literary fantasy of mine has been to turn amnesiac for a year and read all my favourite books as though for the first time." 

I am entering this review for the 2011 Global Reading Challenge under Asia and in the 2011 South Asian Challenge at S.Krishna's books.

A library affair

This post by Pratham Books had me ruminating over libraries I had encountered in my life and the role they have played. The first ever library I remember is the one at my school. We had two libraries.One for the junior school ( for upto the 4th grade) and another for the senior school (5th to 10th grade). The junior library was very spacious with open shelves all around and colourful chairs and tables in clusters. I joined the school in the 3rd grade, but I do remember that my library card had the maximum permissible issue-outs.

The senior library was more, you know, serious looking. There were wooden cabinets with glass doors all around, filled with the most wonderful books categorised by topic and sub-categorised alphabetically by author. We had one open shelf where the latest books aquired by the library were displayed. We had a library class twice a week, when we were steered toward the books we should be reading and periodicals like the Readers' Digest and National Geographic which would broaden our minds. I read all of those, and much more. Here, again, my library card had to be re-made twice in the year. In the 70s and 80s we did not have the cards that could be swiped. We had the old fashioned ones which had columns and rows where a date-stamper would stamp the due-date, which was also stamped on the corresponding leaflet in the book issued out. The card would be kept in a card-folder in the library. Needless to say, the card was never taken home by me except during the vacations.

Mrs K, the librarian, was a favourite teacher. We had a tradition in school. On Teachers' Day, students from the 10th grade would be assigned roles of teachers. We would dress as the teachers and actually take one class as that teacher. No prizes for guessing whose role I had been assigned!

We had a book festival every year in February in school. It was always a massive affair. It would be advertised in the local newspapers, and went on for a whole week, just after the school closed for the vacations. Prizes in school were given in the form of gift vouchers that could be used at this book festival. There were all kinds of books for all kinds of minds. We chose our books and submitted them to Mrs K, and they would be given to us on re-opening day with our names and the prize details inscribed inside under the school logo. Real keepsakes.

As though the books I took home from school were not enough, I had joined a library outside too. Nowadays it is a common thing to do. But 30 years ago, not many people did that, not here in India. Correspondingly, there were no public libraries suitable for children. This library that I frequented was actually a used-book shop, which would take back the book after it was read, and deduct 50paisa (a large amount in those days) as reading fee. Soon, the bookshop owner knew us very well, and stopped charging the entire price of the book, but would just charge a monthly fee from us.

The libraries we had in college do not count here, as all they had were the study books, and could not be used for reading pleasure. I also stayed at a hostel for a lot of this time, so could not use the bookshop-library. It was at this relatively book-starved period of my life that I began to put aside some of my pocket money toward buying books. The continuation of a home library begun in my school days with the books received as prizes.

It was around the time I graduated that I became a member of the British Library. At that time, we needed a student ID or a work ID to become a member. I remember being awe-struck by the library in Mumbai. The opulence and the hushed premises were very unlike anything I had known in my middle-class life till then. Unless one counted the atmosphere in my school library during a class in session, each head bent over a book.

I have been a member at the British Library for many years now, off-and-on, whenever I was in a place that had one of their branches. In between we were in the US for a few years and in the UK for a few months. Public libraries here are wonderful. Free for residents of the town/village, with accessibility over all libraries around the county. These libraries demolished my impression of libraries as sombre places, where reigns a pin-drop silence. They do come under the heading of 'quiet places', but are also fun places where there are story-telling sessions, activities, both for children and grown-ups, and a parent with one or more children reading aloud and giggling over a book, lost to the rest. This was a new avatar of the library for me. One I fell in love with.

Back home in India, I was delighted to find that the British Library branch where I went for membership had undergone a metamorphosis of sorts, and was no longer the kind where one would expect members in a black-tie-dress-code. It had loosened up, if that is the right term to use, and although not quite the place full of delights I had encountered on my travels, was a pleasant enough place. One that A and I enjoyed going to.

Last month, however, we decided to shift loyalties and became members at Hippocampus, a library in Koramangala which has come closest to my dream library.

Library experience has come a long way from the days in which I frequented the bookshop where we paid 50paisa as reading fee for every book and I had to shift aside piles of books I didn't find interesting to find that one book I wanted to read. Now we are spoilt for choice. We have the online library, where one can browse in virtual shelves, where you place an order online and the books are delivered to your doorstep. A boon for the time-starved working bibliophile. Then we have libraries which combine the experience of browsing at real shelves with the facility of ordering online, as also buying select books available in the 'own your copy' section.

In the meantime, our home library is slowly growing. As the husband also reads a lot, we both had our individual collections which were put together when we married. The library kept growing slowly, and now most of the additions are books for A. We have more books than anything else at home, and on an average day lying all over the place. I have become the person you come to for a book recommendation, or even for a book itself among my friends and neighbours. On my part, there's nothing I love to see as much as another person/child being converted over to the readers' side.

According to the post by Pratham books,  ''putting libraries in malls is one of many efforts by public libraries to become more convenient." Maybe it is the call of the times, when going to a mall is considered one of those things that come high on the 'to do' list of an average person. Putting a library in their path may be one of the ways we can grow readership.

Hippocampus, Holidays and Younguncle

Had a busy day yesterday. I have been a member of British Library since the past few years. It has been a long and fruitful association. But most things come with an expiry date. I have discovered a wonderful new library for children in Koramangala. Hippocampus comes highly recommended, and I just had to check it out. A and I had gone there a few weeks back and we loved it. It is in a residential area in an old style bungalow. The main room is large with shelves all around full of the most wonderful books. There are beanbags for all ages and childsized sturdy wooden tables and chairs placed strategically. We made up our minds to become members ASAP. We decided to wait till the middle of June as my British Library membership would expire by then. And here we are. We went and returned all BL items and got our Hippocampus membership yesterday. The books we have brought home as our first issue out?

All five images of these books: Courtesy Amazon.

The New Girl. Written by Lois Gladys Leppard.  Ages 7-10 yrs. Chosen by A. I do not know this writer, but the blurb is interesting. At least to a 9 yr old. It says: "Someone has moved into the old cabin on the hill--Faith, a girl the same age as Mandie! Mandie can't wait to have a new friend to share things with. But Faith doesn't seem to want any friends, and Mandie can't understand why.

What is Faith hiding? Mandie's determined to take the first steps toward friendship--and find out!
Includes a craft project for young readers!"

A Chest of Stories for nine year olds. Collected by Pat Thomson.  Again chosen by A. There are stories here by the likes of Phillippa Pierce, Joan Aiken, Naomi Lewis, Richmal Crompton, Arthur Ransome and more. "...You won't want to stop reading until you get right to the bottom of the chest! A good mix of stories and styles...there is something here for everybody."

Top Ten Classic Stories. Written by Valerie Wilding. Illustrated by Michael Tickner. Ages 9-15 yrs. Chosen by A. "Classic stories as you've never seen before." True. The book is in the format of the Murderous Maths, Horrible Histories and similar series. So you can imagine how wonderful it would be to read these. And the classic stories featured? Around the World in Eighty Days, The story of the Treasure Seekers, Swiss Family Robinson, Little Women, King Solomon's mines, The Wizard of Oz, Black Beauty, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Treasure Island. A veritable treasure, and a wonderful way of getting an introduction to the classics.

Singing for Mrs Pettigrew. Written by Michael Morpurgo. Chosen by me. This is a different kind of book. It is a collection of 11 of his stories in full, with a write-up by the author himself about the making of those stories. Includes stories like Meeting Cezanne, The Giant's necklace, The Mozart Question, Singing for Mrs Pettigrew and more. "From the first sentence of a Michael Morpurgo book, you know you are in the hands of a natural storyteller." The Guardian. This is a book I would like to review in detail after I have read it.

Harriet the Spy.  Written by Louise Fitzhugh. Ages 9-15. What can I say about this but that it has long been on our wishlist? It has not been available in any bookstore, except at Flipkart. Another one that I would like to review after I have read it.

We also read a very funny book over the past week. Or rather, A devoured it in under 2 hrs, and I read it in fits and spurts as I got time. Time, that precious commodity, is going to be in short supply over the next two months. A has her vacations, and is at home, so we will be doing many more things. The first thing we have already taken care of-- obtained a library membership at Hippocampus. So we shall have new books coming in every two weeks. I am not sure they will suffice, considering the rate at which they are being read, but will have to be supplemented by other things. I have promised A that we will take her best friend AM along every time we go to the library. So that they can have a day out together. That is if her family is in town at that time.

Then we have quite a few DVDs that A plans to re-watch. This is something we do not get to do much of during term time. A is not allowed TV on weekdays. Over the week-ends, we have sometimes watched something. That is something we plan to do a lot of.

A has plans of mastering cycling in these holidays. We never got that right. We still fall off frequently. Something we will have to rectify.

A also plans to do more of swimming if it does not rain and the water is not too cold. She is a natural in the pool and loves it. This is something we have to do.

We also plan to call over friends who also are on vacation at this time. We also hope to go to their houses sometimes. This will have to be decided ad-hoc.

AM, her best friend from school, has a birthday coming up. They have a farmhouse where AM's mother plans to have her birthday party. This is a beautiful place that I have visited before. Promises to be fun!

We also have a lot of art-and-craft activities lined up. Will be taking inspiration from Shruti  and Zoe.

A and I plan to get some gardening done. This is something I usually do alone. This time A wants to help me, and we shall enjoy doing it.

We also have some holiday homework from school, which needs to be done. Some extra work needs to be put into Math, and doing things within a certain time. Practice, practice!

And the book we read last week? Here it is.

YOUNGUNCLE COMES TO TOWN.
Written by Vandana Singh.
Illustrated by Manjunath Kamath.
Published by Young Zubaan & Puffin books.
Ages 6+ read aloud, 9+ read alone.

Image: Courtesy Penguin books India.

We were city dwellers as children, and would visit our native town during summer vacations. Those were carefree days, when all we did was eat, sleep and play. Although trucks, cars, two-wheelers, and cattle are seen all-together on our city roads too, the mix is more eclectic even today in small towns and villages. Travelling to this place was an adventure in itself. Roads in the 70s and 80s were terrible and travelling on these by a bus always a very bumpy affair.

My memories of the town itself is of a bustling place, very dusty, noisy and crowded. At least the bus-station and market place was. There were shops selling every variety of stuff, vegetables, steel shops, sweet-meat sellers, shops of clothes. Cows chewing cud chose to stand right in the middle of busy streets, and no amount of honking at them disturbed their placidity. Where there are trees, there are plenty of birds and monkeys creating a racket. Sometimes a lone monkey or a group of them tried to steal food from some unattended stall, leading to a chase with whatever the stall owner found at hand to throw at the monkeys to scare them away. There is a market like that back home in Mumbai in the suburbs in which my parents stay, and there is often occasion to go there. One does come across such towns many times during one's travels around India. These towns are quintessentially the same with minor variations of language or the dressing style particular to the region.

Vandana Singh's book is placed in one such un-named town in North India. The flavour of the town has been brought forth with her effortless story-telling. It is an unobtrusive but unmistakable character in the book.

Younguncle is everyone's dream uncle, with the somewhat unusual name. Legend has it that he had been kidnapped by monkeys in his childhood, tossed around by them, but returned unharmed. Everyone loves him, and when he comes to our town to stay with Sarita (age 9), Ravi (age 7) and the baby, things begin to happen. He in enterprising, intrepid and a wonderful story-teller. There never is a dull moment with him around.

Whether it is when he tries to hold down a job and cannot because he "took his jobs too seriously."

Whether it was when he got a former-pickpocket-now-in-a-honest-trade to help him outwit the real pickpocketeers from troubling the people at the railway station.

Whether it was when he helped his unmarried sister get out of a boring matrimonial alliance without actually seeming to do anything about it.

Whether it was when he helped the local milkman Ramu get his beloved cow Janaki back from the clutches of the henchmen of the dreaded landlord Gobarmal by using the unwitting help of the monkeys on the trees.

Whether it was helping his Ancient Uncle get his prize horse Hira back from the clutches of the same Gobarmal, freeing the local bus-driver's beloved Renu from slavery at Gobarmal's place at the same time and playing Cupid.

Whether it was helping the ghost in the tree, Bakvaasnath, get back at the landlord Gobarmal, whose forefather had swindled him of his money.

And the most unbelievable escapade of all, one which requires a bit of suspension of disbelief from us--when he overpowers the old tiger in the sanctuary by gaining its trust by feeding it...hold your breath...palak paneer, rice pilaf, chicken curry, mutton curry and parathas, and gets its tail-hair for the baby who has asked for it as a present.

The characters also have wonderful names. Gobarmal is the dreaded landlord. "Gobar" in Hindi means cowdung. Bakvaasnath is the ghost on the tree who keeps wailing "Giiiive me myyy money!" "Bakvaas" in Hindi means nonsense. We also have a monkey who wears Younguncle's shirt and tries to read his book upside down, the baby whose mission it is in life to eat Younguncle's shirt, a busful of people who try to set up Younguncle's matrimonial alliance with a fellow-traveller's marriageable daughter, and Ancient Aunty who tries to bully Ancient Uncle. A lovable bunch.

You will have to read how all this comes about in Vandana Singh's delightful book. A read it with complete concentration, and was laughing, giggling throughout.

The book has this said by none other than Ursula K Le Guin, "Enchanting." That should say it all!