I recently finished reading the book ‘Annapurna: The First Conquest of an 8000 Meter Peak’ by Maurice Herzog. It was presented to me by my friend and organizer of the Annapurna Base Camp Trek that I completed in April. It is a gripping account of the first successful summit of an 8000 meter peak (and … Read more
Last year, over a few weeks, I watched this series on Netflix – Stories by Rabindranath Tagore. It is an adaptation of some of the best short stories by Tagore spread over 26 episodes and directed by Anurag Basu. It captures the ethos of Bengal during that time in its characters, settings and narration. The … Read more
Recently read a book by Ruskin Bond titled ‘The India I love’. Within that, there was a chapter called ‘Joyfully I write’. As an author, some of what he wrote resonated strongly with me. I am sure as readers and writers, you will find it equally delightful. Here are a few excerpts from that chapter … Read more
As I approach fifty, I thought it might be apt to put out an extract from a book by one of my favorite writers – Ruskin Bond. Of course, one must bear in mind that there is a difference – for many, lot of it – between turning fifty and turning seventy. And biologically, there … Read more
I recently read this collection of Bengali short stories translated from the original by Arunava Sinha. It is simply outstanding – to put it in short. Verily a collection of carefully curated masterpieces by some of the most well-known as well as not so famous writers from Bengal that provide the reader with the cultural, … Read more
Two book recommendations for the yearend. Both by Ruskin Bond. I read both of these one after the other almost a year back and was just going through my Kindle to check them out again. Unhurried Tales is a collection of the longer, well-known stories by Ruskin Bond. Time Stops at Shamli is one of … Read more
I am a big fan and reader of Ruskin Bond (who isn’t?) and have read a lot of his fiction set in the Himalayas. Recently chanced upon a small book titled “Stories Short and Sweet” which contains some of his not so well-known stories (no Room in the Roof, or Blue Umbrella, et al). This … Read more
A few months back I read a book which was an anthology of R K Narayan’s enduring stories and novellas. Titled ‘The Very Best of R. K. Narayan Timless Malgudi: Timeless Malgudi’ it turned out to be true to its name. It contains lots of stories about Swami and Malgudi, and then there was the … Read more
I recently read “A Prisoner of Birth” by Jeffrey Archer. One would think that a long book about a simple man wronged and his story of revenge against powerful adversaries would be a common story. But the way Archer writes and tells the story makes this an extremely gripping, interesting, tense one that I could … Read more