Books, books and more books.

First of all, I must thank Hip Grandma for this lovely tag. I have always had this great fascination for all books, to learn of the stories of fantasy, the thrill of crime, or mystery, the passion of romance and what not.

Now if you think I am studious, you cant be more wrong there, because it takes just one page of reading a book for the sake of studying that can take me to the deepest of slumbers. But reading for the sake of reading has always been a great pastime.
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There are lots of books that instantly come to my mind, but i`ve been given a tag here, so let me just confine myself to it.

One Book that changed your life.

I believe, my life hasn`t really changed much, since the time I started reading books. But of course we all do come across books from which we learn big lessons, lessons for our life, and so I too have learnt a number of lessons as a child which I believe has shaped my life, my thoughts and my ideas and ideals. That book for me is the Chandamama. Chandamama is not just one book, it is a monthly edition, which i brought home with care and joy, with all the excitement a child can gather, with great dreams of all the stories i would read. As fate would have it the stories were never mere stories, it was a real children`s magazine which had values as well as thought provoking figments of imagination which often taught me to look at life in a different manner. The stories of Vikram and Betal, the simple stories of a tailor, physician or saint. They never failed to inspire, they never failed to teach.

One book that you have read more than once.

Now there are a plenty of books, which I have read more than once. At times due to the mere interest, at times to try and make more meaning out of it. But there remains this one saga of a book, which keeps getting back at me somehow. The brilliant stories, a princess tells every night to her husband and king, so that she may save her own life. Each story having characters, who tell another character another new story until you are totally lost in a world of fantasy and genies. If, today I do not have any reason or desire to go to Arabia, it is because i have this been-there-seen-it-all feeling in me. I have conquered Arabia in reading 1001 Arabian Nights.

One book you would want on a desert island.

On a desert island, apart from good food, a nice thatched hut, a good amount of firewood, clothes and shoes, I would want a truck load of books. Books which can actually make me feel that i am not alone, books that make me forget the solitude. But apart from that I would also like to read a big book in Malayalam, which I have been trying to sit down and complete, but have not really been able to do, so far. I would love to have there Aithhyamala a great treasury of stories and legends from Kerala, written by Kottarathil Sankunni, a great scholar and poet. I would say, what the previous book did for Arabia is done by this book for the small state of Kerala.

One book that made you laugh.

There are a number of books, both joke books as well as normal books and novels which have had the ability to bring up a smile on my lips, some books which tickled my nerves of mirth so much that I had to burst out laughing. But in bringing across that subtle humour about life, and which talked about the suffering of people in his own way with a satirical outlook, I respect Munshi Premchand for his books. They have never failed to make us laugh and at the same time think as well. The Hindi Language owes a lot to Premchand.

I must also mention here The Rainmaker, by John Grisham, another one of my favourite authors. It never fails to evoke laughter in me.

One book that made you cry.

This credit goes to two of the greatest books i have read. Books which introduced to me some of the greatest life-inspired characters, who I devoutly followed. Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens is one of them. The struggle, a young boy faces in his life cannot be picturised more splendidly. When young oliver asks for more porridge, I myself felt the hunger and angst. I had no shame in crying when i read the book.
The other, is "Mayor of Casterbridge", by Thomas Hardy which is definitely not one of his greater works. This book was in our curriculum at school. I never really appreciated it then, but as a young man, when I read it later. I could actually sympathize with the flawed lead character, with so much more of passion. I could not fight back a tear or two. I guess these books need no introduction. Not to forget King Lear by the great William Shakespeare.

One book you wish had been written.

An autobiography by William Wordsworth. If i have even lazily strolled, on the beach looking at the ocean of poetry, it is because of this great man, whose love for nature and it`s beauty inspired millions. I would have loved to read a verion of his life written by himself, so that I could have witnessed poetic outbursts in every sphere of his life. Perhaps I yearn for too much. But a wish is a wish. There, i rest my case.

One book you wish had never been written.

I have not come across any such book which I felt should not have been written, or perhaps my idea of a good book, never allowed me to come across one. And above that, any author puts in a lot of hard work and struggle and energy to write a book. Who am i, to judge, after all, I am just a reader.

One book you are currently reading.

I just finished reading a mammoth "Autobiography of an unknown Indian", by Nirad Chaudhuri and am taking rest before I jump onto another journey, in another book. A book is after all not just a routine or a pastime alone. It is an experience. It is a mental exercise, without rest, something which you may not relish.

One book you have been meaning to read.

Now that, is a list. A wishlist. I would like to read Shantaram, by Gregory Roberts. I would like to read more books by the great Rabindranath Tagore. I would love to read "To Kill a mocking bird", by Harper Lee, as you recommended Hip Grandma, and also many more as I come across.

Thanks for tagging me. I tag... I tag all the book lovers among you blog pals... Do take up this tag if we share love for books.