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CAST OF CHARACTERS: My dada (paternal grandfather) My dadi (paternal grandmother) My nana (maternal grandfather) His younger brother A bookshop owner in Assam A bookshop owner in Ferozepur I was at a wedding in February when I learned something new about my dada – that he was a voracious reader, and a lover of arts and culture. I never got to meet him, so I was moved by this tidbit. What could I have learned from him? What could we have exchanged ideas about? Thus far I'd known of him as a dental surgeon, albeit one who had made a multi-generational family tree. This was a whole new world opening up.  As I stuffed my face with food, I also learned that my dadi , whom I've also never met, was a reader too, and encouraged this habit in her children. She took them out to watch a play every month. She insisted that they read or borrow at least one book in Hindi when they visited the Dilli Public Library opposite the old Delhi railway station. No wonder, then, that my dad and his s...

Inside the shop they could dimly see the glass-topped counter that ran round three sides of it. And in a case under the glass were rows and rows of dark, dry gingerbread, each slab so studded with gilt stars that the shop itself seemed to be faintly lit by them.  – P. L. Travers, Mary Poppins , chapter 8  The earliest memory I have about Mary Poppins is of my mom and nani singing "a spoonful of sugarrr makes the medicine go down" when we were kids, but I only watched the film when I was in my late teens, and probably not its intended demographic. I remember liking parts of it, including the word "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", the carpet bag of miracles, the chimney sweeps, and Julie Andrews, of course. I wasn't a fan of the animation.  A few years later, I watched Saving Mr. Banks and realised P. L. Travers hadn't been a fan of the cartoons either. This film was interesting, apart from the long mansplaining at the end, but it was still a Disney film....

Hello? You're just going to give up now, after all this? Can't we at least order pizza? In hostage films the police always provide pizza! Free of charge! – Fredrik Backman, Anxious People, chapter 41 If I had to, I'd describe this book as a funny but profound hostage drama...sort of. But I wouldn't call it a mystery or thriller or whodunnit, at least as we know those genres. It's really a story about people. It has so many twists that I was left alternately reeling and delighted, and often both.  I really enjoyed Backman's narrative style and Scandinavian (from my limited experience) sense of humour, with short, crisp chapters and a conversational tone for the most part, but with enough lines that took my breath away. For instance: The bridge is covered with ice, sparkling beneath the last few valiant stars as dawn heaves its way over the horizon. The town is breathing deeply around it, still asleep, swaddled in eiderdowns and dreams and tiny feet belonging to h...

Nora watched Joanne bite into one of the cakes and wondered how good any plan could be if it didn't involve eating something so clearly delicious as a Brazilian honey cake. She had no idea who Harley was, but she knew she didn't like them. – Matt Haig, The Midnight Library This is a story  – or  many stories  –  about possibilities. I've long been fascinated (possibly obsessed) by the idea of parallel lives, and I even did a photo series on the theme a few years ago. I suppose it's like FOMO, but a bit more complicated, and I wonder if we all have so much potential that will never be met simply because we are limited and we can only do so much at any given time. And every time we pursue a path, all other paths diminish and become invisible. In The Midnight Library , lives are chosen, which implies some agency. However, the idea that every single choice we make affects the outcome of our lives (and those of others) feels a bit heavy, somehow, because it leaves so muc...

Wednesdays are slow. I never know what to do with them; it feels like I'm drained by Tuesday and Friday is too far away. (I've been trying to work 4-day weeks since April, but Wednesday still feels the same.)  This week, however, Wednesday was different. I had a chance to chat with Kamil Trzebiatowski about my favourite book series, Anne of Green Gables and its sequels by L.M. Montgomery. Kamil is writing a book about the influence of these books on his life and ethics, alongside a website and YouTube channel called Tenderness Lessons . I was honoured to be the first guest on his new video series, Conversations About Anne . We talked about how we first "met" Anne, the themes of the books and what we've taken away from them, Anne and Gilbert's relationship, the role of nature, and the importance of a well-rounded and balanced life. This was a great opportunity for me to expand on some of the ideas in my 2017 post Growing up with Anne Shirley , as well as one fr...

From the bag I pull two fresh buns with a layer of cheese baked into the top. We always seem to have a supply of these since Peeta found out they were my favorite. – Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire, chapter 10 This month's Food x Books post is a double digest for August and September. Though I baked the cheese buns last month, I wasn't able to complete the blog post due to personal reasons. Originally, I was only going to focus on certain aspects of this series, but then I started re-reading from the beginning – dystopia is oddly comforting during trying times because it makes you realise that things could be worse – and found so many more references to food than I remembered that it made sense to focus on several aspects. Which is perfect for a combined post, as it turns out. This trilogy made  quite an impact  on me when I read it in 2013, even though I knew quite a bit about the plots. During this re-read, I find myself appreciating Katniss' dry sense of humour and sarc...

Then it was time for the satay. Rachel bit into the succulent grilled chicken, savoring its smoky sweetness carefully. The rest of them watched her intently. "Okay, Nick, you were right. I've never had decent satay until now.  – Kevin Kwan, Crazy Rich Asians, chapter 14 I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did, perhaps because I felt rather lukewarm about the film a couple of years ago. The book's Hollywood-isation stripped it largely of its satire, turning it into a mushy, dramatic onscreen romance complete with makeovers, cringey caricatures and a grand gesture on an airplane (more original than an airport). It's such mis-adapting that has led to the wide belief that Jane Austen wrote "love stories", when what she actually exposed were the nuances of stratification and relationships through humour and irony. I bring up Austen because more than one critic compared Crazy Rich Asians  to one of her works, but probably for different reasons, the ...

From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing. – J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, chapter 4 This scene, occuring immediately after Hagrid's arrival and the Dursleys' comeuppance (which included phrases such as "yeh great lump" and "yeh great prune", hmm), marks the first nice thing that anyone has ever done for Harry's birthday since his parents died. Stunned and confused though he is, Harry is still able to see this gesture for what it is: someone made an effort especially for him, to make him happy, because they care. The feeling is so unfamiliar that it confuses him, and he isn't even able to formulate a "thank you". Well, that, and a giant just broke down the door. I started reading the Harry Potter books when I was 13, immediately after the ...