yet again ... getting lost ... then enjoying self-discovery ...

Some Books  Some books have you email or talk with friends - as you read them or for days after you have read them. This possibly is as you have fallen in love with the world they have brought into your lives. And love brings with it – sharing. Some books come to you at just the correct time – the phase of life you are in, what you love doing at the time, what all you want to me amidst and more. It is as if the entire world conspires to bring you and the book together then ( with due respects to Paulo Coelho )! Some books make it clear, in black and white, that being busy is all about priorities. Minutes turn into hours as you move from one page to another, from one chapter to another. Like the coffee and chocolate, you love and are ever eager to have more! And, when you see the end approaching you have that unique feeling of being content yet empty – an emotion which perhaps only books bring out. These are books you do not want to give away after reading....

Jibhi: Walks, Coffee and Conversations “ It will augur better, for both of us, if you visit me instead of my coming to your house; you stay in a Thakur village and my wife belongs to a lower caste. ” I heard one European tell another. Both of them had married and settled in the villages nearby. I was in Jibhi ( Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh ); at the cafe of the Doli Guest House.  Cafes and Guest Houses like these have become melting point for conversations, silences and – of course – surprises.  Image:  https://kshatra.com/ During my stay I bumped into 2 people, also travelling alone. We shared of our time amidst mountains and smiles. When alone, I sat with coffee, paper and pencil as the river and birds added to the ‘micro-climate’ the Guest House has successfully created. These places – amidst the Himalayas - possible destinations in themselves, one would want to visit and revisit to put in time with self and yet to be friends. Mr. R...

Why Talking Matters This finds place at Hindu EDGE . Thanks are due to the team there. Will we be better off discussing with children, listening to their views, and trying to put forth issues in as neutral a manner as possible? Schools avoid bringing up topics ranging from gambling to pornography for discussion with students. It is not that we have very open environments at home either. Talking of periods, for example, is a taboo. A couple of months ago, at a workshop on children’s literature, we discussed why hardly any book, primarily catering to children, talked of death. The list is lengthy. There are, of course, no explanations offered by us adults. Enough has been written on sex education in this context. Let us try to look at caste and religion. Few schools discuss these topics. Many prefer silence or ignorance. Reports of caste-based discrimination in schools are common. These include students refusing to eat food cooked by a lower caste cook, or...

My friends the trees This piece on Round Glass here Thanks are due to the team there, to colleagues on campus for talking of trees and friends for sharing their knowledge of trees. I’ve always liked being amidst trees, touching them, luxuriating in the shade they offer. But they were in a way “distant”, and my awareness of them meagre. A few years ago, I moved to work with a school located within a sprawling 300+ acre campus on the outskirts of Varanasi (Banaras). This campus, on the banks of Ganga, is home to numerous trees, many old and large. I fell in love with the campus after the first couple of evenings of strolling around it. I wondered about the coexistence of such a space alongside one of the most densely populated towns in India. Over time, I have walked the campus on many evenings, learnt more about the trees, and grown closer to them. Pakhad in a forest! Image: Dharmendra Khandal During my initial weeks on campus I got to know of a  barhar ...

A Saree for Ammi Story: Mamta Nainy Pictures: Sandhya Prabhat Tulika Publishers 2019     As a society we have a dislike, a disdain, for questions. More so for difficult questions, questions which make us uncomfortable. Not only do we refrain from asking such questions but we also look down upon those asking them. Beginning with homes, moving on to schools and further on this continues during our lives. A Saree for Ammi raises the issue of the economic divide. A daughter of weaver parents’ wonders “ Ammi makes so many sarees, but she doesn’t wear any of them ”. For a book that primarily caters to children ( 5+ says the cover ) this is welcome indeed. We perhaps are beginning to treat children as individuals. Children, who possibly are better equipped to deal with the situation! Not just for children. Many a time, books such as these enable adults to think with their hearts in a manner than data driven voluminous reports do not. Some of us associ...

Title: ZAKIR and his tabla Text: Sandhya Rao Illustration: Priya Kurian Publisher: Tulika ISBN: 978-93-89203-70-7 Published in: English (275/-) + Hindi (165/-) First Published: 2020 An image of Zakir Hussain and Allahrakha sits on one of the walls at home. The focus is on Allahrakha with Zakir Hussain in the foreground. I have many a time looked at it and each time felt that there was a special feel to the image. And, perhaps, to their relationship as well. This book brings it out. The musical bonding of the father and son. Watch them perform together here . The book begins with an incident Zakir Hussain has narrated in one of his earlier interviews. That of the one and half day young Zakir Hussain getting to hear music (“ bols”, “magical rythms” ) from his father instead of prayers. It also talks of how, during childhood years, he used to wake up around 3 am each day to learn music from his father. Of this he has mentioned in a recent interview as we...