An afternoon, graphic novels and Goodreads

Posted on by sudhagee

It’s a quiet afternoon at home on one of the days of the long Dussera weekend we’ve just had. I am sorting through and rearranging my bookshelves in an attempt to make space for my ever-growing number of books. The first thing I do is to remove all the books from their shelves and separate them genre-wise. Soon, there are piles of books grouped all over the room.

It is a beautiful sight. πŸ™‚

Now comes the difficult part. I need to identify books that I can bear to part with and give away to libraries or to people who want them. Progress is slow, as I get distracted by some of my favourite books among them, often opening them to read passages and lines. It’s like meeting old friends, you know.

The afternoon passes by pleasurably as I move from book pile to book pile, genre to genre. The last pile of books are all Graphic Novels of varying sizes. As I sort and stack them by size and series, I am amazed at just how many of them there are.

“How did it get to be so much? When did it even start?” I ask myself as I stare at the now sorted books in this genre.

Graphic novels, Book collection

Continue reading “An afternoon, graphic novels and Goodreads” →

Mumbai Lens: The Junction Box Family

Posted on by sudhagee

There we were β€” a friend and I β€” walking along the Central Avenue in Chembur last Sunday animatedly discussing forthcoming travel plans when we met this family.

Street Art, MumbaiNaturally, we stopped to say hello. The Junction Box Family, that was their name, had taken up residence in Chembur earlier this year during the Chembur Festival.

“We like this place,” said Mr. Junction Box.

“Oh yes, we do,” repeated Mrs. Junction Box looking adoringly at her husband.

Continue reading “Mumbai Lens: The Junction Box Family” →

Travel Shot: The 3 travelling painters

Posted on by sudhagee

I love watching works of art being created. Be it a painting or a sculpture being made or an embroidery being done or a sweater being knitted or a pot being shaped at the wheel, I love to see creation happening. So when I saw this silhouette at the Kumbhalgarh Fort during my Rajasthan visit in winter last year, I just stopped in my tracks.Travelling Painter 1 It was a painter at work. He was seated on the steps of one of the many monuments in the Fort and painting the vista in front of him. It was mesmerising to watch him at work as he mixed colours, changed brushes and painted. His brush strokes were almost hypnotic – a dab of blue here, a swirl of green there, with some browns and yellows thrown in for good measure.

I would have loved to go and take a closer look at what he was painting and perhaps chat with him, but I sensed a “do not disturb” sign about him. I left after a while and almost stumbled upon another painter. Luckily for me, this second painter had a ‘do disturb’ vibe. πŸ™‚

Continue reading “Travel Shot: The 3 travelling painters” →

Book Review: The Museum of Literary Souls

Posted on by sudhagee

The Museum of Literary Souls, John Connolly, ebookHave you ever noticed that extraordinary things only seem to happen to ordinary people?

In real life. In films. In books. Especially in books.

Take for example, Mr. Berger of “The Museum of Literary Souls” by John Connolly (ebook, StoryFront, 2013). Mr. Berger, the protagonist of this story leads a rather dull existence of unvarying routine.

He is single, never been married, and lives alone in London. He works for the housing department of a rather minor council as an Assistant Registrar.

His position as registrar paid neither badly nor particularly well but was enough to keep him clothed and fed, and maintain a roof above his head. Most of the remainder went on books. Mr. Berger led a life of imagination, fed by stories. His flat was lined with shelves, and those shelves were filled with books that he loved…

Mr Berger might sometimes have been a little lonely, but he was never bored and never unhappy, and he counted his days by the books he read.

In all probability, Mr. Berger might have continued living his life in a similar manner for the rest of his life, if not for his mother’s death. Her bequest, though not a great fortune by any standards, was enough for him to resign from his job, move into his mother’s house in the countryside, and attempt to live out his dream of becoming a writer. A new routine developed, another unvarying one that included reading, writing, walks in the countryside and an occasional visit to the local pub.

One evening something happened. Something that shifted the equilibrium in his carefully ordered life.

Continue reading “Book Review: The Museum of Literary Souls” →

The Christian mausoleums of Agra

Posted on by sudhagee

You know that moment when you are looking for something, but end up finding something else? Something you were not expecting to find? Something you didn’t even know you wanted to find? I had one such moment about 10 days back.

I was headed to Agra the next day for a conference and hoped to squeeze in a visit to the Agra Fort. While checking the Fort timings on it’s official website, I came across a link to lesser known monuments in the city. Curious to know more, I clicked on the link and my eyes were immediately drawn to the photograph accompanying the second entry on the page β€” a red domed structure with four minarets in each corner, not unlike a Taj Mahal, but red in colour.

Roman Catholic Cemetery 2

Wondering which Mughal prince or noble was buried in this very obvious example of Islāmic architecture, I proceeded to read the description. And then read it again just to make sure that what I had read was indeed what I read the first time.

The Red Taj Mahal or John William Hessing’s Tomb was built by his wife in the memory of her husband. If Taj Mahal is known for the love of a husband for his wife, then on the other hand, the Red Taj Mahal is known for the love of a wife for her husband…

This was no mausoleum of a Mughal prince or noble or even a Muslim; this was a Christian’s tomb located in the Agra’s Roman Catholic Cemetery. Reading about this rather intriguing place, I was surprised that I had neither heard of nor come across the Cemetery and the ‘Red Taj Mahal’ before, in spite of having visited Agra in 2011! There was only one way to remedy this. Visit it.

And that’s exactly what I do when I visited Agra earlier this month. πŸ™‚

Continue reading “The Christian mausoleums of Agra” →

My “now” song: Kabhi neem neem, kabhi shahad shahad

Posted on by sudhagee

Do you ever have a song, an idea, a storyline, or an image stuck in your head? And it just refuses to go away? For some time at least? I have this with music β€” it could be a song, an instrumental piece, a jingle, etc. That particular piece of music becomes my β€œnow’” song, and the β€œnowness”  (pardon my English here) could be for any length of time.

I think that my regular readers would know by now that I love music, but few people know that I sing too. One of the reasons for not knowing this is I’m quite shy about singing in public and therefore only some very close friends and immediate family members have heard me sing.

But last week, I surprised myself. I had gone to Agra to attend a conference with two colleagues, who are also friends. Somewhere during the car journey from Delhi to Agra, one of my friends started singing and before I knew it I had joined in. We sang old Hindi film songs, some not so old ones too and had a great deal of fun. We sang in between the conference sessions, after the day’s sessions got over… get the picture?

Long after my return, one of the songs that we sang has remained with me and I have been singing it and humming it all the time. Not surprisingly, it has become my “now” song

“Kabhi neem, neem, kabhi shahad shahad“, from the film Yuva, sung by Madhushree (& A.R. Rahman) to lyrics by Mehboob and music composed A.R. Rahman is one of the most melodious, romantic and mushy songs I have heard. And unlike many beautiful Hindi songs that I can’t bear to watch on-screen due to bad picturisation, this is one song that I like to listen to, sing and watch as well.

I particularly love the portion where Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherji do a little jig (2:02 to 2:51 minutes) as the former yodels away. Kabhi neem neem… is so much on my mind that I’m singing the song even as I type out this post. πŸ™‚

So tell me, what are you listening to these days and what is your “now” song?