2020

Call me by Your Name

It felt like a friend walked away today… Someone witty and intelligent, someone who had a way with words and wizardry to turn sentences into little works of art that I was tempted to underline, read again and note in my journal for safe-keeping, maybe, frame them at some point 😊.

I will remember this book. I will remember it for the story, for the places it took me to, for the languid mornings and unhurried afternoons, for sunlight strewn gardens, wine and the conversations… And Rome and roaming.

I will also remember it for the thrill that first love brings along with the excitement and the ache. I will remember it for the poignant intimacy that the author managed to generate between his protagonists, Elio and Oliver.

‘Call Me By Your Name’ intrigued me as a book title. I mulled over it and thought about it, it was just so beautiful… In what sort of a relationship does one demand this from someone, I wondered? After reading the book I understood it.

I didn’t want this book to end and yet I couldn’t wait to turn the pages…

Hanging On – Kanwal Singh

Enjoyed reading ‘Hanging On’.

It’s a slim, yet intriguing book.

While it deals with a specialized subject of demystifying the definition of inclusive education for children with disabilities, it does so with clarity, vision, respect and wit. It also does so in a language that is simple enough for everyone to understand.

Kanwal provides alternative answers to every question she raises. That, I feel, is the most important takeaway from reading it, and is where the strength of this book lies.

Here is an author who knows what she is talking about and isn’t afraid to put her thoughts down succinctly for all to read.

The realization that there are different and novel ways to deal with the same situations, is emancipating.

This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand a little more about the specialized field of Inclusive Education.

How We Disappeared – Jing Jing Lee

Sometimes one comes across a book that leads to sleepless nights… A book that grips and gnaws. You want to put it down and almost instantly, you pick it up again.

‘How We Disappeared’ by Jing-Jing Lee is one such book.

Set in Singapore of 1942, during World War II, the story unfolds through the voices of Wang Di, who was seventeen at the time of the Japanese invasion, and young Kevin, born two generations later.

Both carry the immense burden of secrets. Wang Di, of what she suffered at the hands of the Japanese and Kevin, who shares his room with his grandmother and is party to her disassociated nocturnal mumblings which he feels compelled to piece together. And we, the readers, want desperately to know how it all pans out.

While the subject of the book is dark, traumatic and heartbreaking, it is written with compassion. The story is meticulously researched and carries a kernel of hope in its dark and sordid centre.

Read it, because some voices need to be heard.

Silent Words

In the stillness of the early morning hours, the empty page stares at me. My pen is poised, ready to chart the course of the flight of my thoughts. The pristine whiteness of the page soothes my mind. Even before I have written anything, I am calm. With the process of writing I get in touch with that part of my soul which is nurtured by silence and blossoms with the light of attention.
I write about a beautiful bird observed, something that touched the heart, a book read, a movie seen, an exhibition visited, a memory recovered… The mere act of writing becomes cathartic
My pages accompany me up to the calm mountains and down to the solitude of the beaches. Like the rings in the trunk of a tree, these diaries have been a true witness to the unfolding of my life. Day by day they have helped me to uncover the truth about myself. By guiding me gently, they have shown me the road down which I should travel in order to be happy.
Reading about an entry made years earlier I shake my head in amazement, was I just longing for a corner in my home to paint and sketch in? I surveyed my studio today, after my home this is my favourite place in the world. My diary knew about my deepest desire much before I acknowledged it and by showing me the path regularly, it made sure that I didn’t steer away from it… what is it that’s said? When you truly desire something, all of eternity conspires to give it to you..
I think the catch lies in finding out what we ā€˜truly desire’!

Making memories

All the buds and flowers that I pick up
get crammed into one space occasionally
Each day some new elements
Are pickedĀ 
and
The old,
Discarded
Together they formĀ 
An assorted album
Of beautiful memories

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