Rush Hour

It was just like another day here in Essen, Germany, where I am based out of currently for a short period of time. Along with a colleague of mine I was walking towards the Metro train station. On the way to the platform we experienced huge crowds trying to make way to the same train that we were supposed to get into. Deepu who had been here for more than a month now remarked to me that he had never seen such a huge crowd during his time here. As the train arrived understandably not everyone could get into the train but I managed to get in somehow. As the train started off I looked around for my colleague but couldn’t find him. he had missed the train.

I realised that involuntarily I had moved my backpack with my laptop to my front while jostling my way into the train. This was deja vu, reminding me of the Rush hour in Mumbai which I had called home for the last 8 years. The train that I was travelling right now resembled the Virar Fast, one of the busiest trains in the Mumbai suburban rail system of Mumbai.A word about the Virar Local Train,this train is packed with people almost double of its capacity. It is also notorious for the fact that its passengers will never allow you to enter or exit the train on any of the intermediate stations other than its source or destination. So much so that the first advice that I got when I came to Mumbai many Monsoons back was to never board a Virar Fast unless your life depended on it. 

To my amusement I realised that as soon as I had seen such a huge crowd in the station I had gone into autopilot. Reminiscent of the countless times back home where I had jostled my way into a crowded Mumbai Local train I ended up adopting the same tactics to board a train 6000 kms away. That was precisely why even without my realisation I was inside the crowded train and my colleague was left behind. Thanks to the Mumbai Local trains I have learned the valuable life skill of getting into a crowded train anywhere in the world. Not to mention you would also have a tough time when you are going to get off at a station as well. A couple of times I couldn’t deboard a train at the designated station because of the crowd. I had to get down at the next station and catch another train back. Thankfully I didn’t have to use the skill right now because my co-passengers were considerate enough to make way for me to deboard the train.

Later it turned out that the huge crowds were making their way to a place called Messe/Gruga which was the venue of SPIEL 19, the biggest board game festival in the world. The point I am trying to make here is that regardless of the Geographical Location the rush hour remains the same.Next time when you are not able to enter a Virar Local train just console yourself by saying “It is the same goddamn story across the world” On an ending note, I would like to share a well known phrase which turned out to be a prophecy in my case “If you survive Mumbai you survive the world ” . Auf Wiedersehen

P.S : A couple of videos to understand the huge crowds in the Mumbai Local Train system that I am talking about here

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Video Courtesy: To the respective owners of the video only shared here for reference

https://www.facebook.com/drivetribe/videos/592412614472214/

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2277461955627293

  

007

The iconic number is self explanatory most people will relate to the umpteen number of movies and the iconic tune associated with the much loved movie series. Right now the latest Bond Movie is up for release which is tipped to be the swansong for the lead actor Daniel Craig. 

Watching Skyfall,a few years back brought  joy to the traditional 007 fans like me. I am a person who started reading James Bond books before watching any of his movies. Thanks to my Dad's book collection I have read a good number of books before watching my first movie of the series in celluloid viz 'Tomorrow never dies'. And that too many years after its release in Star Movies. Being a teenager I still remember that my request for seeing that movie was turned down rather vehemently. Later I realised that the reason for it was that the movie was given an Adult Rating at that time. I was surprised to see how Pierce Brosnan portrayed the action hero. It was nothing like its creator Ian Fleming had envisaged. After watching a few of his films I went back in time and watched the earlier ones featuring Sean Connery and Roger Moore. I realised that when the 007 franchise started off to a certain extent it was true to its book version somewhere down the line they lost the plot. And James Bond came to be associated with insane gadgets and hot chicks.

Back in 2005 when it was announced that Pierce Brosnan would no more be portraying the iconic spy. There was much anticipation as to who will be replacing him. Daniel Craig won the race piping some of the most popular actors of that time. The list included Ralph Fiennes who eventually became a part of the Bond Series as 007’s boss M. Casino Royale was a breath of fresh air with a new actor stepping into the character. It started the trend of going back to the roots of a Bond that Ian had written. It was more of brawn and good old action rather than brainless gadgets and a parade of eye candies. The opening chase of Casino Royale bears testimony to this fact. I was spellbound while watching that in a theater back home in Thiruvananthapuram .For me the soul of Bond lies in the fact that he is a man with a lot of vulnerabilities and of self doubt who goes the extra mile to be what he is, everyone can relate to that. A man who would keep himself alive by the grit of his teeth and his physical strength rather than relying on some stupid gadget to get out of trouble. I am talking from the point of view of a fan of James Bond books.I could see the same in Skyfall as well. There is a scene in the movie where Bond ditches his modern car and chooses a vintage Aston Martin to go on a wild goose chase  with his boss M.The reason was more amusing which is that all the modern cars have tracking devices.

Spectre again was more on the same lines which went on to pay tribute to the character from the books. Here, Bond was shown as aging and trying hard to keep up with the pace of his job. At many levels it reminded me of the fact that I was also ageing, so it had a personal connect as well.The opening sequence of the movie culminating with Bond eventually getting shot was also quite exhilarating  . Here M was replaced by a male character Judi Dench had portrayed the role of Bond's boss with aplomb since 1996 which was seen as going back to its roots of the book version.

Q(Quartermaster) another recurring character was replaced by Ben Whishaw starting from Skyfall. There is a scene where the young Q hands over a special purpose pen to Bond and tells him that they stopped making gadgets anymore.In another scene young Q tries to belittle Bond over his advancing age to which Bond replies with aplomb in the field experience is much more important than being a computer geek.

Money Penny the secretary of Bond's boss had been written and portrayed as a desk agent from time immemorial. The character got a 360 degree makeover and was made a field agent assisting Bond in his missions. This was totally different from the character that was written by Ian Fleming and also portrayed in the movies so far. Naomi Harris has taken this once dormant character to new heights of bravado within the few movies that she has acted in.

On an ending note a word about Daniel Craig, for me he is only second best to Sir Sean Connery when it comes to portraying the secret agent on screen. Back in 2005 when he was announced as the replacement for Pierce Brosnan there were lot of apprehensions as to weather he could essay the iconic spy. But he has put all those naysayers to sleep with his fine performance since then .

Life has come a full circle

It is the year 2007 in the month of July I guess I was in my final year of College, among many hats that I donned at that time there was one of the Lead Placement Coordinator.Our College is gearing up for the first placement drive to take place in our premises. My Engineering College was nestled in the midst of the Kerala University Campus at Kariyavattom. Needless to say the Campus was a hotbed of Student Politics and our college was no different. On the morning of the drive while doing a routine round of the College along with the Principal he points me to a Poster of a leading Student Political Organisation which is in news currently for all the wrong reasons. Within an hour one of the MNC’s, a leading Software Services company is visiting this very place. The last thing I want is to see this poster and believe that we don’t want employees in our organisation who are too much of an activist.it had the potential of leaving a bad taste in the minds of the executives of the Company and I didn’t want that to happen at any cost.

Till this day I am not able to explain what followed next. I tore off the Poster without Second thoughts because that had the potential of spoiling that day. My Principal was appalled because such an act of defiance was definitely going to attract the wrath of the Strongest Student Political body of all times in Kerala and would definitely have put me into the Hit-list(not kill list ) of the Organisation. Now for the uninitiated, the people who know me personally would vouch for the fact that I was never a person who was known for his bravado. Even today when I think of that particular incident years back, I can’t explain the guts I displayed at that time. 

Now moving on, I had arranged for a friend of mine to be stationed at the University Campus gate to guide the visiting delegation to our College as a Pilot Vehicle.With great pains I had charted out a longer route and specifically instructed him to follow it so as to avoid all signs of Political Activity in the Campus. Now for those who know the campus you would know that there is a huge banner kept in the campus which says “Welcome to the Red Fort of SSS(party)". That was the first obstacle to avoid among many other banners and flags of the said Student Political Party.

The Poster tearing episode was definitely going to have repercussions and it was just a rush of adrenaline which prompted me to take such a rash step. The organisation was up in arms against me and it was only a matter of time before I got bashed up. Luckily for me, the Chairman, Vice Chairperson and Secretary of the College Union were my classmates who ensured that no such harm befell me during my final year and I continued to live happily ever after. 

Back to the day of the Campus Placement drive, you have to understand that there was a hell lot of preparations being done in the past few days for its success. Right from deciding the classrooms for the initial test to the rooms for the Interviews to the Lunch for the visiting delegation everything had to be factored in. To add to that we had also invited other Engineering Colleges as well for the drive, making arrangements for them was another overhead. I had roped in a good number of my fellow batch mates to volunteer for the day. 

I remember an incident on the day vividly, even though it was more than a decade back.  At the time when the lunch was being served a visiting Executive made a sarcastic comment on me and a friend of mine who was serving them lunch.  He was off the impression that both of us who had not appeared for their test were no-gooders. I gave him a piece of my mind at the end of the day by informing him that both of us were already having offers in our hand from the Leading Software Companies of the country and we were there only to help our friends

12 years later, my Company was getting ready for a walk in drive on a Saturday and I was one of the interviewers for the day. Though I had performed this role with aplomb many times I had never been a part of any such event in the past. Seeing the HR Team run around on the day to get the multitude of things done was reminiscent of that particular day many years back.I felt surreal to be on the other side of the table and it seems that life had come a full circle after all.My comeback to my native state of Kerala after a decade couldn't have gotten to a better start .

P.S :-For the record this was not my first act of defiance against the Student Political Organisation.Earlier in my first year of College I remember my Seniors coming to my class and asking everyone to join their protest at the Police Station nearby protesting against the 'Lathi charge' on a demonstration at the Government Secretariat the Previous day.In a bid to boost their numbers they were forcing all the first years to join the said demonstration.Being the son of an Indian Police Service (I.P.S) Officer as a matter of principle I categorically put my foot down and stated to them that I will have to excuse myself .They were rather pushy at first but later yielded in front of my resolve.

Check out a similar post of mine College Diaries #1, College Diaries #2, College Diaries #3,

College Diaries #4,

Farewell Mail

Epilogue

Below is my farewell mail that I had written on my last day in my previous organisation where I have spent 8 years of my prime. I am sharing the same here.

Hi All,

After a fantastic 8 years of my life in BT it is finally time to hang up my boots and move on. Come to think of it I have spent a quarter of my life in this Organization which increases the magnitude of the time I spent here and that too the best years of my life. I can’t help but jog up my memory to a rainy day, 8 monsoons ago when I landed up in the hallowed BT Office of Mumbai to become a part of the India Helpdesk Team. Right from day one it has been a wonderful ride all along across roles and across accounts. I had learnt the tricks of the trade here especially from the India Customers whom I was dealing as part of the India helpdesk. The time I spent here chiselled my rough edges and laid a solid foundation for the times to come.

My time as a Service Manager in AIA Shared Services Hong Kong would go down as one of the most fruitful assignments of my career. 2 months into the new role fresh out of the Helpdesk landing up in the AIA Headquarters at Stubbs Road Hong Kong in a crisp Business suit waiting in the lobby for my Senior Service Manager is one of my fondest memories which I will never forget. My time in Unilever was equally rewarding. I was fortunate enough to work with a great Team and a Wonderful Leader. This stint was again a great learning experience for me. I was given opportunities to work on areas and Technologies hitherto I had no exposure to.

All along I have met some great people, Mentors and Leaders who have given me some great insights both personally as well as professionally. I will forever remember these folks with gratitude for the person that I am today .I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my present and past managers among many others. Last but not the least I would like to thank all of my colleagues who I had the privilege of working with. I have made some great friends across the World from Brazil to Hong Kong during my time here.

Today morning as I was getting ready to come to office it felt surreal. I made sure that I felt each and every action rather than going through the motions. This had been my routine for the past so many years and I am going to miss BT ,the wonderful people I have worked with and even the City. I would like to sign off by borrowing a line from a placard seen in the gallery during the farewell Test of Sachin Tendulkar here at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. “Thanks for the Memories”.

Regards,

Angelo

‘Mitochondria’

I just asked my wife “What is a Mitochondria?” with a puzzled expression she asked me “Is something wrong with you?”. I asked the same question in my school watsapp group literally everyone in the group associated this to our Biology teacher. I wracked my brains further to try to recollect what a mitochondria is. I can recollect that it is something very important or a brain in an animal cell. Give me a break, this post is not about mitochondria if you want to know more please google it out.

What makes teachers good or great?

I was just replaying the question that I heard 22 years ago as a 12 year old in a Biology lecture in Loyola School, Kerala from the legendary Thomaskutty Sir. The fact that most of us still remember ‘Mitochondria’ after so many years is testimony of his greatness as a teacher. I am guilty of being a front bencher in school that could be the reason why I went one step ahead and recollected the definition of ‘Mitochondria’. I don’t know if it is even remotely correct but that doesn’t stop me from bragging. I rectified my mistake in school by being a back bencher in my Engineering College. In my MBA classes though since we were in a theatre kind of a setting where there was no last bench but rather 3 rows in a semicircle. Even there I made sure that I don't sit in the front row once bitten twice shy . I am thinking if I should correct that statement lest my son years later is going to  use that as an excuse in School. No, its fine I guess I am too lazy to delete what I typed.

Coming back to the topic Sir was an excellent footballer we could say that from the curving free kicks he used to take from just outside the penalty box during our Staff vs Students matches. A friendly football match which used to be played during every teachers day. Come to think of it Sir would have only been a few years older to me right now during that time. I guess he was trying to send us a message that you need to also be good in sports in addition to studies. Unfortunately for a lot number of his students including myself this message did not come across and we are paying the price.

In the last few years I have known a number of my friends from school to have sport related injuries because of the sole reason that they are not physically active and one fine day they start playing and get injured. Case in point about 5 years back we had a back to school event. Reminiscent of our School days both the divisions were having a 1 hour classroom lecture. After so many years true to our name it was my class that broke for games first before our adjacent class. One of my classmates Unni tried to taking a swing at the football lost his balance and fell.It so happened that none of my classmates who were doctors had turned up for the event. I remember running to the classroom where our other division from the batch was in session. The irony of the fact was that the Doctor whom I had gone to fetch was another ace footballer from our batch, Rakesh CA who was doing his PG at that time in Hyderabad. This guy is still very much in shape and still continues to play excellent football a true disciple of the Master. The point that I am trying to convey here is that it is very much important for us to drive into our next generation to spare them the way we are discovering this fact in a painful manner. It is another story that the friend with torn ligament turned up for the after day party in crutches.

To all the teachers of my generation including my wife I would like to ask you this question. How many of your students are going to remember what you taught today 22 years from now. I have stated this in the past as well that teaching is one of the most underrated professions. Ideally the cream of the society should be engaged in this noble profession but unfortunately we have got our priorities wrong . Do you know that teachers today and in the past have been severely underpaid,  it has to be kept in mind that if we invest on our Teachers today you are investing on the future. 

I wish and pray that my son gets to learn valuable life lessons like these from great Teachers. Thomaskutty Sir, take a bow! I would like to sign off by quoting Nikos Kazantzakis “Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own”. If any of you having reading this piece have a face coming up in your mind consider yourself blessed because you have been taught well. Take a pause pick up the phone and call the teacher right away if you can drop in person and give them a bouquet of flowers even better. Let us start giving the Profession of Teaching its due remember we would not have been what we are today if not for the selfless service of our teachers.

P.S: In case you like my writing  please check out few of my other posts with a similar topic.

An Inspiring Teacher, English lessons, We are the underdogs

Memories #8 - Reading-Part 2

First year in the Engineering College was very different because it was a new and colorful world with unbridled freedom. You would rather hang out with your friends and roam around the city rather than cuddle up in a corner of your room with a book in your hand. It was only during the middle of the Second year that I came back to the world of books again. This was during the semester breaks when you get a week or so off before the next semester starts. This was the time when I started reading the Bourne Series. Eric Lustbader’s Miko-Ninja series and getting a glimpse of the James Hadley Chase Series of books.  Those were the days when you remain shut in the room for the entire day reading and going out of the room to only eat. I recollect vaguely that I used to cover up to 300 pages in a day at that time. After a book I ensured that I took a break and went out with friends. In all probability they would give me a look of bewilderment when I tell them as to what I was up to for the rest of the days.

It was around this time that I got to hear about the British Council of India Library in Trivandrum. It was one of the best libraries in town fully air-conditioned and also boasted a very good ambience of the reading hall. It was quite different from the Central Public Library that we were accustomed to. I remember once we had to write a project on the poet Oscar Wilde. I had gone to the Public Library along with a couple of friends took out some reference books made notes on the author spending a day or so over there. Then wrote a fair copy and submitted for grading.  Coming back to the British Library the ambience of the reading hall was out of the world. This became another abode of me I ended up spending some quality time over there. A majority of the users who came there had come mainly to use the complimentary internet rather than reading. Here, I was introduced to the expatriate Indian writers which included Anita Desai and Jhumpa Lahiri. I still remember the first book that I borrowed and read from the Library was ‘Man-Eaters of Kumaon’ by Jim Corbett which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was a book describing the hunting expeditions of the author who was a well-known wild life enthusiast .There was a sequel to this book which I really wanted to read but couldn’t get hold of it. As I write this piece I recall this long forgotten fact and have just ordered the sequel of this book in Amazon. Going through the book I can very well recreate the thrill that I had experienced back then. It was a disappointment that The British Library in Trivandrum shut down over the years.

It would be disservice if I don’t mention about the Harry Potter series of books which turned out to be the biggest block buster of our times. You would be surprised to know that even though being a reading buff I have not read a single book of that series. For some odd reason I never felt interested in reading them. The reason could be that it became popular during the pressure cooker years (Class 10 to 12) that I described earlier. On hindsight I think it would have been the fantasy part of the book that might have put me off them .It was rather amusing to note that my cousins in Australia would camp near the book stores on the midnight of the release so that they could lay their hands on the book. Within the next 2-3 days they would complete that book and mail it to my younger brother here in India who would devour the book on a single brace. That way he would complete reading the book even before it is released in India and start bragging about it. 

Another prolific period of reading in my life was when I moved to Mumbai for work. I had plenty of time to spare and I was a regular at the footpaths that sold second hand books in and around Churchgate where my brother was based at that time. Since he was in college he himself had a good number of books which he would lend me to read.  That was when I was introduced to the likes of Paulo Coelho, Dan Brown and other contemporary writers of the time. I can very well recall the goosebumps that I experienced while reading “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Demons” primarily because I am a devout catholic. Shataram is another book that captivated my attention at that time because it had Bombay at its heart and I have been living in Bombay for a few years then.

After marriage it became difficult to read a book because both of us were working and we had very little time to spend with each other. If I settled with a book at that time it would mean my spouse would just get bored. You can take away a book from the reader but never the habit of reading from him. Sensing my predicament my wife got me “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini as a birthday gift. I was very much overjoyed to lay my hands on a book that I finished reading the book over the weekend which was reminiscent of my College days. Thankfully, it helped me hit the reset button on my favorite hobby. This was just the start which eventually led me to get immersed in books from then on. All because of the timely intervention of my wife I was back into my groove. And boy it felt so wonderful to settle down with a book amid the din and fury of Corporate life. Meanwhile, she also started reading to keep herself occupied when I was with a book. I should say I was pretty impressed with her reading speed for someone who never pursued it as a hobby.

It was 20 years after “The God of Small Things” was written by Arundhati Roy that I read it. The whole time I was wondering as to what took me so long read this fine piece of literature. I loved it so much that my wife pre ordered the latest book by the same author ”The Pursuit of Happiness” even before its release. It was a first for me where I got to read a newly released book thanks to her. At work after moving into a new team, during my first interaction with my Senior Manager who is based out of Brazil, he happened to mention that he had read the former book and loved it. I told him that I came from a place that is just about 100 km from the town Ayemenem where the Novel was set. Ms Roy had managed to paint quite a vivid picture of Kerala in the mind of someone half way across the world, a testimony of her brilliance. That was enough for him to understand very well as to why I had an anglicized name and my background without any further explanation required from my side. 

Slowly I started to read more and more books by different authors. I also got in the habit of binge reading the books of an author whose book I liked. This happened with the authors Khaled Hosseini, Jhumpa Lahiri, Paulo Coelho, Gabriel Garcia Marques among others. “A Suitable Boy” by Vikram Seth which I completed reading recently on the recommendation of a dear friend with 1350 pages is till date the biggest book that I have ever read. I got to say this reading has its own advantages. Take the case when I was doing my MBA course we used to get Case Studies to read and analyse which ran into a good number of pages. My peers always used to complain about this especially during exams saying that such big case studies would eat away most of their time.I realized that I was always cool with it because my reading  speed was quite good thanks to my habit.

Fast forward a few years into the future and  I can sense the feeling of amusement in my son’s face when he is going to read from my Personal Journal that ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ by Gabriel Garcia Marques was the book that I was reading at the time of his birth. At that time when I used to accompany my wife for regular checkups I made it a point to carry with me this book so that I could kill time while we are waiting for something or the other. I will not forget the bewildered expression in my wife’s face when I entered the labor room with the book in my hand. She is like “Are you going to read the book when I am in so much pain”. I promptly removed the book from her sight.

P.S:If you liked reading chek out a similar post in the topic by clicking the link below. 

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Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar

A suitable boy

Memories #7 - Reading part 1

Reading is one of the most underrated hobbies that one can possess. However, I need to forewarn that unfortunately it is a dying hobby as well. As someone who has been exposed to books quite early in childhood it is not a big deal that I still pursue this hobby. The earliest memory of me reading a book is as a 6 or 7 year old. My father used to get me these picture books which had more pictures and a very few words. It was a colour illustration, basically there will be a picture and then a bit of text. It traced the everyday life of a family of four, a father mother with 2 children. Right now I only remember the name of the little girl in the book, Jane. Each book was hardly 10-12 pages in length and would go on to explain different activities. One book could be about the family visiting the beach another about a park another about School and so on. It described the lives of the protagonists in a foreign country which made it all the more interesting. I was rather amused when I heard one of my elderly cousins narrating as to how I was obsessed with these books when I was a kid. It so happened that me along with my Dad and Mom used to come once in a year to Kerala to our Family home. In those days we were based out of Gwalior Madhya Pradesh where my father was posted as an Indian Police Service Officer. My cousins who were almost the same age as me would come and ask me to play with them. I would be sitting near my grandmother and reading these books, who would chase them away telling them to leave me undisturbed. I have no recollection of this incident but it is highly probable that this might have occurred.

Another initiation towards reading is the huge number of books that were there courtesy my father’s huge book collection. Long before Matt Damon made “The Bourne Trilogy” a popular movie franchisee I had read “The Bourne Identity” by Robert Ludlum as a teenager. I remember after reading the first 2 books in the Series with bated breath, I called up my cousin to check with her if she had the third and final installment of the book. Quite often if a book in a series was missing it was quite possible that the missing book might be among my father’s brothers book Collections. I wasn’t relieved to be told that she indeed had the copy but she agreed that she would lend it to me on one condition; I had to lend her the other 2 books. Ian Fleming, Eric Van Lustbader, Robert Ludlum, Fredrick Forsyth, Wilbur Smith, James Patterson were household names that I still recollect vividly.

 

James Hadley Chase and Nick Carter series also captivated my imagination. By now you must have rightly guessed that all these books were of the Thriller, Crime and Action genre. It has to be also mentioned that all these books did have a bit of explicit content as well .I had read 3 Ian Fleming books Casino Royale, Dr No and The Moonraker before watching my first James Bond movie “Tomorrow never dies” starring Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh.

 

I developed this habit of reading the book first and then watching the movie then. Needless to say I have been disappointed many a times to see the adaptation of a book on screen. Most often than not the soul of the story is lost when it is made into a movie. The only exception being “The Godfather” by Mario Puzo which I found the book and the movie to be equally engaging. Marlon Brando playing the ageing don and Al Pacino playing his son are legends on their own right. I have still not watched the movie “Life of Pie” because I want to read the book first. This was the story at our home

 

Now moving onto the School I was fortunate enough to study in Loyola School, Trivandrum which greatly encouraged reading. Every week we could borrow upto 2 books. At the age of 10 I was introduced the Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven and Famous Five series. Oh boy it was such a delight to follow a group of children out there solving mysteries which was enough to captivate any child’s imagination. The team meetings of the Secret Seven were closed door and the door would be opened only if a specific password was said. Every meeting used to decide what would be the next meetings password.  Mind you this was much before a computer or a smartphone made an entry into our lives which used the same Principle. The Famous Five was also having a very similar setting with a dog as its member. How much ever I try to recollect I can’t remember a single name of any of the characters. I remember I used to maintain a list of the Famous Five and Secret Seven books that I had read at that time.

 Within a couple of years I outgrew them and slowly graduated to the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series. The brothers Frank and Joe Hardy on one end and Nancy Drew on her own were out to solve mysteries. It was also a sneak peek into the world of teenagers in the Western world which was lapped up by the adolescents in India. The concept of boyfriend-girlfriend was introduced to us during this time. At this age we were hooked to books. It so happened that I used to commute in the School Bus. It was a 45 minute ride for me it was not an uncommon sight to see boys busy ready books during the entire course of the journey or so for that matter reading their books even when they were waiting at the bus stop. I was also no different as you could always find a book on my hand. I guess more or less the habit has stuck with me to the say the least. When I am travelling by flight or by train I always make it a point to carry a book with me all the time. Train journeys are the best if you ask me because it gives you ample time to read and settle into a rhythm. Take for instance my journey from Mumbai (where I live currently) to Thiruvananthapuram (my hometown) takes around 30 hours. With a book you are fully engaged during the waking hours and time passes more quickly. Whenever, you want to take a beak you just need to look at the scenic beauty of the Konkan or just hop out at any station and stretch your legs maybe get a hot chai or some snacks to recharge yourself. The problem with flight journeys though you get a few hours it doesn’t let you settle into a rhythm. Living in a city notorious for traffic it is a norm than an exception to reach the airport well ahead of time. That gives you a lot of time after check in to read.
 

Moving on by the time I was 14 I got tired of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series it was time to take it to the next level. I remember that was the first time I read Sherlock Holmes I remember that I had to re-read the deductions of Sherlock Holmes mostly towards the end of each story where Mr Holmes explains to his side kick Dr Watson as to how he had arrived to his conclusions. It was a bit taxing but still fun. Years later when I watched the BBC series of Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch as the protagonist it evoked a deep sense of nostalgia and I was easily able to follow the plotlines. However, no such extra effort was required to read Agatha Christie’s series with Hercule Poirot as its protagonist. It is at this time that I slowly started reading the Nick Carter and James Bond Series of books from my Dad’s collection. The next 3 years with your tenth and twelfth boards along with the quintessential Engineering/Medical Entrance exams ensured that I didn’t touch a single book other than my study books during that period.

To be continued...

Click here for Part 2

Book reviews

Men and Dreams in the Dhauladhar

A suitable boy