october 2011 newsletter

JK Rowling has announcedPottermore, an online store and fanwebsite, which Anindita Senguptafeels could be the beginning of writ-ers taking marketing into theirhands.

The release of Harry Potter and theDeathly Hallows II, eighth andfinal edition of the craze-inducing

movie franchise was one of the biggestmovie news. Millions queued to watchbespectacled Harry meet hard-to-namenemesis Voldemort. Daniel Radcliffe hasmorphed into a hot, tormented man andHermione holds her own. The movie,most agreed, was the best in the series.Meanwhile, JK Rowling calmly and not-so-quietly announced Pottermore.

Pottermore is a website that promisesHarry Potter fans continued and everlast-ing excitement. It will not only offereBooks but also dish out gargantuanamounts of back story. About 20,000words of it. Details about the dreadful

Dursleys, McGonagall's early love affair-these are the tidbits hinted. Going byRowling's tone, it's going to be one gim-micky ride. She has tied up with Googlebooks for this and will be selling eBookswithout paying the dark lords of Amazonor eBay. She has also indicated that thebooks will be DRM-free (free of DigitalRights Management ) and available for alleBook devices including the Kindle andiPad.

According to the official release: "As thePottermore Shop develops, it is intended thatit should include further products designedspecifically for Harry Potter fans, offering apotential outlet for Sony products and servic-es related to Pottermore."

As Jason Kincaid at TechCrunch.compoints out, besides being the first outletfor Harry Potter eBooks, it will also be thefirst official HP fan base on the Internet.Kincaid predicts that it will be driven bythe HP video game which Sony mayrelease in the future or perhaps, a HP-themed social network. Either way,Pottermore points to a trend of writerstaking marketing into their ink-stainedhands. It seems to say that books must

work the internet just like everything elsedoes. Writers must not only be savvywith web stats, FB pages and site hits,they must also be willing to hustle.

It has not been greeted with unequivo-cal enthusiasm.

Some discomfort lies in our unwilling-ness to look at writers as professionalswho need to make a living just like any-one else.

We prefer them in the age-old role ofthe mystic, the bard, the eccentric beard-ed or long-haired person in an attic.Rowling abolishes these stereotypes. Sheis out of the tower and on our TV screens.She seems as cozy with the market as sheis with the muses.

I have mixed feelings. Some of the ...

CONNECTPotter: More or Less? Pg 10

Quiz

Pg 14JustKids

Pg 15AuthorProfile

Volume 2 Issue 8www.justbooksclc.comblog.justbooksclc.com

October 2011 For limited circulation

A JustBooks Publication

contd on pg 2...

Anindita Sengupta

2 JustBooks Connect - October 2011

From the Editor’sDesk

Harry Potter. Much andthen some, has been writ-ten about its books and

movies. And just when youthought what more can one talkabout Harry Potter, J.K. Rowlingcame up with Pottermore!

For Potter fans, this is greatnews. For those who grew upreading the series, this site mightgive a sense of continuity of theirrelationship with Harry and hisworld. The aspect we tried toexplore in this edition is how thiswhole Pottermore concept couldbe one of the ways for the writersto take up marketing and controlof their books and characters intheir own hands.

We all know well, how goodmarketing and packaging can givehigh visibility and help a bookbreak into the list of best sellers.The increasing visibility of Indianbooks and authors in different lit-erary festivals and book fairs rais-es a debatable question —HasIndian writing arrived on theworld stage? Everyone has his orher opinion on it. We talked tosome, inside and outside the writ-ing community to find out what isthe general consensus and why.

And here is some exciting newson our upcoming literary maga-zine. We are planning to bring outour first edition in the next coupleof months; its focus will be on joysof reading.

As we stated before, the maingoal of bringing out this magazineis to promote reading.

At JustBooks we believe, if wecan bring out the various facets ofour literary, publishing and print-ing industry and people involvedin them, in form of interesting sto-ries, feature articles, interviews,etc. and put them together in amagazine format; it might inspirepeople to take up a book.

Lastly do tell us what you thinkof this edition and don't forget tosend your contributions to ournewsletter.

You can avail the one monthreading-fee free offer if your con-tribution gets published here.Write to [email protected].

writers peddled their ownbooks aggressively:

Woolf set up BloomsburgPress, Dickens wrote weeklyserialised novels. They wereworking the market. But thedynamics of promotingwork have changed in ourtimes, become moredemanding.

In an earlier column, Iwrote about the interviewglut syndrome, the writer ascelebrity in an age whencelebrity comes at the click ofa button. It is not entirely innocent terri-tory. There are trigger-happy opinions,distracted responses, views aired withoutenough forethought. With marketingadded to the task list, some writers mayfeel additional pressure.

Plus what happens to writers who arenot so marketing-savvy? Will great bookssuffer for lack of their author's ability tochurn out the promo jinks? Some storieslend themselves to video games, quizzes,emoticons, merchandise and otherperipherals. Others less so. Not all greatwriting is cult material.

Are we liable to miss out on books thatgenerate less noise? Coming back to thebook at hand, there are concerns aboutHarry Potter overshadowing all otherchild heroes thanks to its persistent pro-motion machine. Pottermore is anothercog in this wheel.

It's not all bleak. We know popularmovies act as bait for people to read thebooks they were based on but what aboutgames, websites and other hoopla?

If new people read the book because ofsomething they see on Pottermore, it saysinteresting things about the reading cul-

ture of our times. The internet is often blamed for taking

people away from books and towardgames and social media. Pottermoremight prove that it can cut both ways. (Tosome extent, we're already seeing this ina niche genre like poetry where onlinejournals have connected poets every-where and created a global network. Inthe absence of publishing and distribu-tion systems, readers hunt through cyberalleys to find poems they may enjoy.Often, this leads to book-buying if theylike a poem enough and want to readmore of the same poet.)

Whatever else, Pottermore doesdemonstrate the enormous potential ofthe internet. It takes power away fromonline shops and puts its back where itbelongs-with the writer.

It also lights up the way to new andpotentially unbounded freedom for writ-ers to do whatever they want with theirbooks.

Whether this will mean pressure, profitor pleasure remains to be seen. Likemany good things in life, probably a bitof everything.

contd from pg 1...

There have been few books writ-ten in English about the warbetween Pakistan and

Bangladesh despite the intriguingpolitics and history of the country.Tahmima Anam's second book dealswith the aftermath of the war of 1974when East Bengal gained its inde-pendence and became Bangladesh.

The Good Muslim unravels thestory of war but also of interpersonalconflict as Maya, the liberal idealist,clashes with her brother Sohail who

has become a religious conservative. What emerges is an exploration of conflict, escapism and the

dodgy lines of idealistic certainty. There are many good reasons to argue with religious con-

servatism. Maya does allude to some of them but she muddlesalong the rest of the time focusing on inconsequential or irra-tional blaming.

The language is eloquent in many places and some of thedescriptions of wartime incidents both stark and affecting.There are points though that the narrator's inherent dislike-ability distracts from the story. I had to struggle past my irri-tation. Was it worth it? I suppose so.

Anindita Sengupta

A MercyToni MorrisonKnopf

Tony Hseih, shares his decisions,experiences and lessons while talk-ing about profits, passion and pur-

pose of his life.Written in an autobiographical style,

the book engages the readers with anec-dotes and quotes.

Delivering Happiness is not just a ref-erence book for the new hires at Zappos;it is an inspirational read for all aspiringbusiness leaders.

Discussing his knowledge and viewson the science of happiness, the author

encourages businesses to make their customers and employeeshappier.

He says happy customers and employees would help growtheir businesses.

With his engaging narration, the author takes the readersalong on the roller coaster ride he had been through in business.Entrepreneurs, Customer service executives and HumanResource professionals would find Delivering Happiness aninspiring read and the author leaves the reader with this inspir-ing note: "Work towards maximizing the happiness of yourself and thepeople you have relationships with."

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits,Passion, and PurposeTony Hsieh Business Plus

Pushpa Achanta

Love in a HeadscarfShelina Zahra JanmohammedAmaryllis

For the first time since her much-acclaimed novel Beloved (1987),Toni Morrison returns to

America's past to examine its mostlasting stain: slavery. Set in the 1680s,A Mercy goes back further than itspredecessor to a time when slavetrade was in its infancy. Jacob Vaark,an Anglo-Dutch trader, arrives at aclient's home to learn that the mancannot return the money he owesJacob. Instead, he offers him a slavefrom his retinue. Jacob has little use

for a teenage girl in too-large shoes but guided by differentkinds of mercy, he agrees and acquires Florens. When a freeAfrican blacksmith comes to the farm, she falls in love withhim. And later, when her mistress falls ill, she is sent after himbecause he knows a cure.

In the telling of Florens' story, Morrison illustrates the fragili-ty of all these lives, so helplessly flung about by forces beyondtheir control. This tight novella packs into its pages enoughlove, reality and pathos to last a while. So the next time youwant to juice a lot of wisdom from an hour or two of reading,pick up A Mercy.

Manjula Sundharam

In her delectable, intriguing and can-did first book, popular radio and tel-evision commentator, columnist and

award winning blogger Shelina ZahraJanmohammed opens up herself to theworld.

While tracing her prolonged quest for asuitable life partner, she reveals interest-ing and humorous tidbits about herself,her girlhood dreams of marrying JohnTravolta, her family, faith, interests andambitions.

As the various attempts to select a hus-band through their contacts do not bear fruit, Shelina and herfriends attempt to find them through blind dates, matchmakingwebsites et al.

And, from time to time, Janmohammed wonders if she is ask-ing for too much while her father wisely advises her to be a bitflexible. All is well when she finally meets and marries The One,half unexpectedly.

While one may sometimes question if it is necessary to try sohard to seek a mate, people would empathize with the authorand enjoy and admire her frankness. Janmohammed manages tohold the attention of her readers by interspersing her personalstories with various facts about Islam.

Anindita Sengupta

The Good MuslimTahmima AnamPenguin

JustBooks Connect - October 2011 3

For the full reviews check out justbooksclc.com


The Moment of Possibility 3 Novella’s

Anita Desai's The Artist ofDisappearance comes some 7years after her last novel The Zig

Zag Way. Desai is a leading name amongIndian writers in English and has beenreferred to as the Virginia Woolf of Indiafor her deeply psychological novels.

Her exquisite writing style and delicatesensibility are evident from her first novelCry, the Peacock to the latest The Artistof Disappearance and dozen or so inbetween. Desai has beenthrice short listed for theBooker Prize and has wonother numerous prestigiousawards. Her children's bookThe Village by the Sea(1982), won the GuardianChildren's Fiction Award.Currently Desai lives in theUnited States and teaches cre-ative writing at theMassachusetts Institute ofTechnology.

This collection of three novel-las or long short stories share thesame elegiac and regretful tone,other than that they are not linkedto each other. The first story TheMuseum of Final Journeys recounts ayoung government officer's strangeencounter on his first posting in aremote outpost. An old caretakervisits him to seek his help in main-taining an old house and familymuseum. A once wealthy land-own-ing family gradually declines as first,the father dies and, then the young sonleaves his widowed mother to run theplace. He sends her cartons of a won-derful assortment of kitsch and collec-tors' items from his journeys. Ultimatelythe widow also abandons the home tolive in Varanasi leaving the loyal caretak-er to manage the house.

The second story Translator Translatedrecounts the story of Prema, a middleaged college teacher, who teaches canoni-cal English texts to her bored students

while her real passion for Oriya writingespecially the work of Suvarna Devimoulders in the recesses of her soul.

Her chance encounter with a schoolfriend who runs a publishing houselaunches her into translating SuvarnaDevi's short stories.

The success of the translation embold-ens her to cross the fine line betweentranslation and transcreation and ends indisaster and a return to the monotony ofher previous existence. The final storyfrom whence the title — The Artist ofDisappearance is the story of Ravi who cre-ates a natural secret garden, a bower thatis an artistic expression of his onenesswith nature. A bunch of activists — envi-ronmental film makers ruin this sanctu-ary by "discovering" it and exposing it tothe public gaze.

In each of the stories in The Artistof Disappearance

it is possible totrace certain tropes or themes that

recur hauntingly and with some insis-tence in Desai's other works.

The Museum of Final Journeys forinstance vividly recalls The Clear Lightof Day. The young officer's sense of

weary despair as he walks through thevarious rooms in the Mukherjee homerecalls Tara's sense of claustrophobiawhen she revisits their crumbling, ances-tral Delhi-home, "where everything waspreserved here as if this were the storeroomof some dull, uninviting provincial muse-um." Similarly the theme of the hierar-chies of languages that was so beauti-fully delineated in In Custody (whichwas also made into a film by IsmailMerchant) is re-examined inTranslator Translated.

Translator Translated is the mostevocative, complex and poignantstory in this collection.

It can be read as a story that cap-tures a moment of possibility in theotherwise dull life of the protago-nist Prema. It plays her along andthen lets her fall back into a lifethat she describes as stretchingout before her "like an empty,unlit road."

It can also be read as an ele-gant philosophical examina-tion of the privileging ofEnglish writing and the lan-guage itself over regional orbhasa literatures. And finallyit demonstrates with empa-thy how easily a faithfultranslator can cross the line

from translation to transcre-ation.

In Anita Desai's work, as she has noted,survival is often heroism enough. Onedoes not therefore look for heroes in hernovels. But a Prema becomes a herobecause she is a survivor. However, allthree novellas leave one wondering if thiskind of survival is enough.

The Artist of Disappearence

Anita DesaiRandom House

Geetanjali Singh Chanda


Re-invention

This book is based on research con-ducted in the centenary year of theHarvard Business School. It gives

us a summary of impressions from abroader survey of opinion amongstbusiness leaders, academics and stu-dents.

Six detailed case studies of thechanges being introduced in leadingmanagement schools in the USA andEurope offer additional insights.There seems to be a decline in thepopularity of the two-year, full timeMBA programs. Recruiters seem tovalue the selectivity of MBA pro-grams more than the value added bythem. The business schools are beingforced to revamp their curricula andbroaden their concerns beyond share-holders' profits, especially after the2008 financial crisis.

This book would be of immenseinterest to two types of audiences.MBA aspirants would get a wealth ofuseful insights from the six chaptersin Part 1 which can help them makean informed choice. Academics inbusiness schools can learn why andhow they need to periodically renewtheir curricula, pedagogy andresearch programs.

Some of the changes highlighted soundmerely as old wine in a new bottle. It is along held view that education should tar-get improvements in knowledge, skills aswell as attitudes (KSA). This book calls itknowing, doing and being. Nothingmuch seems to have changed. Studentengagement in curricular activities comesonly second, after hunting for jobs. Thegrip of those rooting for the status quo,among the faculty, continues to thwartany fundamental redesign of the MBA. A'you scratch my back, I will scratch yours'attitude dominates the old as well as therevamped curricula.

Do whatever, as long as one's owncourse or pedagogy can be kept as it is!

Another concern is about 'peer learn-ing' and 'outside class learning' beingperceived by students as more significantthan classroom learning. Worse, the cur-riculum changes being introduced seemto support this view: 'Exchange pro-grams', 'Immersion' trips to foreignshores, 'out bound ' programs outsourcedto others etc.

To be fair to the business schools, theyare more vulnerable to criticisms fromsociety. They are expected to fend forthemselves in raising resources. Unlikelong established disciplines in physicaland social sciences, academics in profes-

sional education like management are notyet seen as rock stars amongstresearchers and are still fighting for theirplace under the sun.

Some of the management schools, likeChicago Booth and Harvard, are

banking on economies of scale of largeclass sizes to fund their activities.Introducing any change in such pro-grams is a logistical nightmare.Something has to give in. In Chicago,both students and faculty enjoy a 'freemarket', with very little compulsory com-ponents in the curriculum; Harvard has aregimented first year and case pedagogy,never mind the heterogeneity amongstentrants.

Stanford offers compulsory courses atthree different levels to cater to stu-

dents with different levels of prior learn-ing and experience. This avoids studentswasting their time in their first year.

However, it raises the question whetherthe 'core' requirements of an MBA ismerely a credit quota requirement. Afterall, European Business Schools likeINSEAD have been offering equallyeffective MBA programs of just 10months! It is a well-known secret, at leastamongst Indian management schools,that the second-year is a virtual washoutas far as classroom learning is concerned.In the U.S, they call it 'networking','internships', 'interviewing for jobs','global immersions' etc.

That raises the question of the relevanceof Rethinking the MBA to the Indiancontext. The need for periodic curriculumrevisions and innovations in manage-ment education is clear. However, theregulator, All India council for Technicaleducation (AICTE), is a disaster stiflingany innovation and differentiation. Thiscame out quite clearly in a conferenceheld recently to discuss the implicationsof this book for management education inIndia. Like for politics, there is no legallyrequired education for becoming amanger. If so, why should the educationfor management be regulated? A largenumber of participating institutions inthat conference described several innova-tions they are trying out, in spite ofAICTE and not because of it.

Intentions apart, availability of suitablefaculty is essential to sustain any reforms.The authors cite this as the major chal-lenge even in significantly betterendowed management schools in theUSA and Europe, who are free from reg-ulations. A more acute faculty shortagelooms over IIMs and other well-knownmanagement schools in India. Is a lessambitious reform agenda a more reason-able immediate goal for managementeducation in India? Is an AICTE approvalbeing used as a mere official fig-leaf byfly by night educational entrepreneursmaking a fast buck?

Unlike business, it seems better if edu-cation has only one stakeholder to beserved: the student. Are the managementschools ready for it? The same questionshave become relevant for engineeringeducation too in India because of thedominance of IT recruiters.

Dr. Rajagopalan

Rethinking the MBA

Srikant Datar, David A.Garvin,and Patrick G. CullenHarvard Business Publishing

Is Management Education too important to beleft to Management Schools?

The term "Indian writing" general-ly refers to the literary work of peo-ple who trace their ethnic origins toour country or identify themselveswith it. The primary subject of theseliterary works is this land and any-thing connected with it - people,nature, traditions, politics, religionset al. It includes contemporary andancient works penned by Indians, inEnglish or any other Indian language.

With the global acceptance, recog-nition and demand for Indian writersof fiction and non-fiction especiallyin English; a flourishing local pub-lishing industry and Indian authorsexperimenting with digital releases -an interesting question arises. Notjust amongst the literati but all of us.Has Indian writing arrived on theworld stage?

It looks like it has, if you were tobelieve me and some of the avid read-ers and authors I know of.

Indian writers on the worldmap

Ayesha Aleem, a journalist and winnerof this year's Deccan Herald annual

short story contest says, "As a reader, I feelthat Indian writing in English has come of agein some sense. Becoming more comfortablewith English, Indians use it to articulate theirthoughts frankly.”

She adds, “However, I've noticed thatunless the author has lived overseas consider-ably, his or her account of Indian life is toorudimentary. Authors probably require thatexternal vantage point for a meaningful orinteresting perspective. For instance,Maximum City by Suketu Mehta, SoniaFaleiro's Beautiful Thing, Red Carpet byLavanya Sankaran and Anand Girdhardas'India Calling evince this thought. But thewriters hardly seem Indian enough in the con-ventional sense as an extended period of timeabroad can greatly affect one's sense of identi-ty. So, as a reader, I'd like more "IndianIndian" authors capture the spirit of theIndian scene in a language that rises beyondbasic."

Some believe that Indian writing in thevernacular medium came of age whenTagore won the Nobel Prize. Though

awards are not the single defining bench-mark, they certainly contribute to thepopularity of a writer.

What the Booker prize did to the likes ofArundhati Roy, Salman Rushdie, KiranDesai and Arvind Adiga is well known.Of course, Vikram Seth may not havereceived too many awards but he isamong the most "sought after" interna-tional Indian writers. And let's not forgetAmitav Ghosh, Rohiton Mistry,Ramachandra Guha and Jhumpa Lahiri.

Then there are legends such as AmritaPritam (Punjabi), Munshi Premchand(Hindi), Mahasweta Devi (Bengali),Kamala Das alias Madhavikutty(Malayalam), Sadat Hussain Manto(Urdu) and Kalki R Subramaniam (Tamil)who have lived here and wrote primarily

in their native languages, when theycould express themselves in multipletongues.

But to their credit, they are famousacross the country and the world

thanks to the rendition of their work inother languages by themselves or others.

"When one talks about Indian writing, onemust consider publications in English and thevernacular medium including translations.Many Indian languages have treasure trovesof literature", said Nandula Suseela Devi a

Telugu novelist, short storywriter and social worker.

So how did these authorsachieve so much fame and fanfollowing? It is a combination ofvarious factors such as theappeal of the story or poem, thespeciality of the theme, unique-ness of the presentation style, thedistinct characters etc. Forinstance, R. K. Narayan grewinto a popular writer due to theimaginary town of Malgudi hecreated. Many readers believedthat this town actually existed!

Vikram Seth is renowned foremploying lyricism, wit and can-dour as seen in The GoldenGate and A Suitable Boy.

In the case of Mahasweta Devi(Hazar Chaurashir Maa orMother of 1084) or KhushwantSingh (Train to Pakistan) it isthe richness of the language andthe poignancy of the subjectschosen.

Nowadays, fine marketing, anattractive book cover or out-standing design and illustrationincreases a book's saleability.

All these modern gimmicksrequire astute and experiencedliterary agents, publishers andtalented graphic artists.

"Indian writing would be won-derful if it were more sophisticated,vibrant, colourful, hearty and soul-ful while remaining simple. The lastmakes it more enjoyable and is oneof its most striking qualities." addsAleem.

Writing by Indians has alwaysbeen appreciated in places like

Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Nepal due toshared histories, culture, geography,food, wildlife, etc.

And the presence of the Indian or SouthAsian diaspora in various parts of theglobe enhanced the popularity of Indian


Has Indian writing come of age? Pushpa Achanta

In conversation


writing. Literary festivals like theones in Hay-on-Wye, Edinburghor in Jaipur and book fairs likethose of London and Frankfurtthat attract established foreignnovelists and large publishersplayed a good part in showcas-ing Indian authors and its litera-ture.

These events continue to pro-mote Indian English and vernac-ular writings onto the globalstage.

On the other hand, reviews ofIndian writings in reputed inter-national literary publicationslike the New York Review ofBooks and The Times LiterarySupplement, is providing amajor boost to the demand andcredibility of Indian writing.

Writing from India -through the ages

Mulkraj Anand, Raja Raoand R. K. Narayan are

often believed to be the initialstalwarts of Indian writing inEnglish. But before them wereKalidasa (Sanskrit), SantTukaram (Marathi), AllasaniPeddanna (Telugu),Thiruvalluvar (Tamil) — allrenowned vernacular gurus oftheir respective times.

Apart from the extraordinaryliterature of these geniuses, theirlives, contemporaries, environ-ment and influences are studiedin India and abroad even today.

In the 20th and 21st century,Indian vernacular writers whowon worldwide acclaim consist-ed of people like Ishmat Chugtai(Urdu novels, short stories andessays), Volga (Telugu essaysand novels), Meena Kandasamy(poetry, feminist and politicalwriting in Tamil), KSatchidanandan (Malayalipoems, translations and literarycriticism), Sitakant Mohapatra

(Oriya poems and translations),Rastrakavi Kuvempu, (Kannadaplays and poetry) and VijayTendulkar (Marathi plays).

Then there are internationallyestablished English authors

such as Anita Desai, Gita Mehta,A. K. Ramanujan, Ved Mehtaand V. S. Naipaul, who havealso penned novels, poems andworks of non-fiction based onthis country irrespective ofwhere they are.

It is probably difficult to find awriter with roots in India whosework is not influenced by thecountry.

In fact, the books of RuskinBond, Mark Tully and WilliamDarlymple, who have chosen tobe in India, are often about thisland.

People who believe thatIndian writing is all aboutShobhaa De, Chetan Bhagat,and the Rs. 99 per book "MetroReads" or the "chick-lits" that areflooding the market are perhapsnot aware of the depth and vari-ety of works by Indian authorsand poets.

For vernacular writers, gain-ing acceptance in other lan-guages (Indian or foreign) istough.

But that is sometimes alsotrue of English writing as itneeds to be translated into otherlanguages to increase its reach.

Sunday Herald's book review-er and regular contributor,Melanie Priya Kumar sums upaptly, "Indian writing in Englishhas certainly come of age since thethemes are local and there is nolonger any hesitation to speak ofissues that were earlier sweptunder the carpet.

The interesting thing is thatwriters from the diaspora are alsochoosing India-related subjects.

I think the country has alwayshad a strong base of regional fic-tion, which has been mature androbust -there is no question of com-ing of age here !”

For Ram Halady, it all started as ahobby. He began writing entertain-ing stories for his nephews, Reuben

and Andrew. It was a happy revelationfor him, that he could write short storiesfor children. It also provided him with awonderful escape from his business andprofessional life. Although Ram relocat-ed from India to Chicago almost 20 yearsago, he carried with him fond, childhoodmemories of visiting his uncle's farm.

In each of us, there lives a child wholongs to have adventures with unusualpets, but safe within the circleof a protective and loving fami-ly. So Ram based his stories ona real family, atan imaginaryfarm in India.He put the chil-dren in chargeof this world,assisted by ani-mals that couldcommunicate,especially withthem.

The success ofRam's firstattempt at writ-ing and pub-lishing a collec-tion of short stories for children,Reuben's Adventures on Uncle Ram'sFarm, led to a second book in the series.In these tales, Reuben and Andrew, visittheir uncle's farm in Bangalore, meet dif-ferent animals in the course of theiradventures - and learn small and bigthings along the way.

Reuben's Adventures on Uncle Ram'sFarm

When five-year-old Reuben visits hisUncle Ram's farm near Bangalore, inIndia, he has a small adventure andmeets Lakshmi, the elephant, whom he

adopts as a friend and pet. But he cannottake Lakshmi back to the USA with himon a plane, so he leaves her behind atUncle Ram's farm, promising to returnevery year. Reuben's next round ofadventures brings him two more friends- Ali, the crocodile and Moti, the dog. Healso discovers that these animals talk tochildren all the time. You only have tolisten! Reuben's older cousin Andrew,also visits the farm and together thecousins have other encounters with moreanimals. With each adventure, they gainnew friends and learn something alongthe way.

Reuben's Adventures on Uncle Ram'sFarm Book 2

Cousins Reuben andAndrew love to spendtheir long summervacations visiting theirUncle Ram's farm inIndia. This is their sec-ond visit to the farmtogether and Reubenhad loved the summerhe had spent there theyear before. There wereso many things to do atthe farm - so manyplaces to explore in thesurrounding country-

side - and so many friends likeLakshmi,the elephant, and Moti, thedog. There was also Ali, the crocodile.

And this time, Andrew had bought alonghis pet fish - Speedy. Through the hotsummer days, the cousins meet differentanimals in the course of their adventuresand learn big and small things - aboutthe animals and about themselves.


Iam a real bookworm and my momwas finding it hard to keep buyingbooks (we have so many that my

mom would say that we will need morebookshelves than wardrobes). I wasdone with most of the books at homeand was wishing for a good library.Surprisingly JustBooks opened after thefirst term holidays in the next street andmy mother, most willingly agreed tobecome a member.

She wanted to try it first so we becamea basic plan member and have been reg-ularly using it. It not only has a widecollection of fiction but also has goodquality non-fiction. It has helped me inmy school projects to read them. Thethings I like about JustBooks are:

1. People are very friendly and helpme select books. I am now allowed to goall by myself to select books.

2. We can borrow in any branch andreturn in any branch of JustBooks.

There is one near my grandparentsplace; this has really been useful duringvacations.

3. We don't have a last date for return,so I can do my reading at my own pacewithout my mom worrying about thefine.

4. I always look forward for the activi-ties that they come up with. Once I par-ticipated in a drawing competition andeven won a prize in that.

5. I can request for the books and theyget it promptly. The books here areclean and free of dog-ears.

JustBooks is an amazing library and Ihope to be its member always.

Sahana S, 13 yearsMalleshwaram

Reader’sVoice

Valli Kamath

Reader’s contribution

Valli, an avid reader, is a member ofJustBooks Frazer Town. Reading thisseries of books created a special worldwhich took her back to her childhooddays. She wanted to share her delight-ful experience with those who enjoyreading books. "Thank you, JustBooks,for the extensive collection of booksthat brings such joy to all book lovers."she says.

Adventures on Uncle Ram’s farm

"My Hindu relatives and friends keep adistance from me. They wish to turn me intoa social outcast. My sister visited me twicebut wept all the time. I cannot visit my oldmother. Otherwise life is exciting…"

Referring to her conversion toIslam, Kamala Das wrote thesewords in a letter to Merrily

Weisbord, the author of The LoveQueen of Malabar : Memoir of aFriendship with Kamala Das. Das's tor-rid encounter with organized religion isjust one of the many delicate issues thatWeisbord boldly deals with, in what cansafely be called, a biography of KamalaDas.

Provocative in content and evocative inits style, The Love Queen of Malabareffectively captures the spirit of perhaps,India's most controversial writer. Das'swords flow through this book like gentlewind passing through a hollow bamboo.Sometimes the music is bittersweet, asKamala speaks about the status of wid-ows in India.

Sometimes it's soft and lingering, asshe speaks of love and its many manifes-tations. But never is it discordant.

Merrily Weisbord is the perfect instru-ment, encapsulating in lyrical prose themany moods of this brilliant, yet much-misunderstood writer.

Using lines from Das's poems to accen-tuate her writing, this memoir is as mucha freewheeling conversation about theperils of being woman, as a tribute tosurviving the same.

Weisbord is an accomplished writer,and has won many accolades interna-tionally. Yet in the interviews that ensuebetween the two so-different-yet so-simi-lar women, Weisbord offers Das thespotlight, and Das obliges with hercharismatic presence that seeps throughthe pages of the book.

The memoir begins when Das waswidowed and continues till her deaththree years ago.

Along this eventful journey, the twowomen reexamine their own under-standing of what constitutes woman-hood.

Weisbord simultaneously encountersthe turbulent writer in Das, and the frag-ile, sensitive soul that speaks of looking

for love, like "alms looking for a beggingbowl."

Although Das's writing is now pre-scribed reading at universities in Indiaand abroad, this book is a must-read forthose seeking deeper insights into whatmade Das who she was, and mostimportantly, what made her write whatshe wrote.

Das's life, as she so candidly revealedin My Story, her autobiography from1988, provided ample fodder for the sen-sationalist tabloids when it was first pub-lished. It was they who labeled her 'TheLove Queen of Malabar.'

But, the memoir is a compassionatelook at Das, the abused woman whoserved her sick husband until his death;it is a gentle re-telling of betrayal; it isalso a candid account of sexuality, andDas's quasi-erotic verse.

All said and done, Love is the one ele-ment that holds the book together; Lovebetween man and woman, Love betweenmother and daughter, Love between twosoul sisters whose paths cross to result indeep, cathartic expression.

This is a fascinating look at whatmakes women, and writers, and womenwriters tick. Read it. For love's sake.


The life and love of Kamala Das

Arati Koppar

Reader’s contribution

The Love Queen of Malabar :Memoir of a Friendship withKamala Das

Merrily WeisbordMcGill-Queen's UniversityPress/Research Press

Arati Koppar, a JustBooks memberof Vijayanagar branch, is a GermanLanguage Trainer. Having lived in Germany, she isBangalore-based now. A qualifiedjournalist, she has also been aGerman-speaking Tour Guide.

“The memoir is a compas-sionate look at Das, theabused woman who served hersick husband until his death;it is a gentle re-telling ofbetrayal; it is also a candidaccount of sexuality, andDas's quasi-erotic verse. “

1. What is the full name ofProfessor Dumbledore?Albus Peter Wilbur BrianDumbledoreAlbus Percival Wulfric BrianDumbledoreAlbus Peter Wulfric BrendanDumbledore

2. What is the number of the Gringotts vault in which thePhilosopher's Stone was kept?713317173

3. Half horse, half eagle. Name thecreature.Blast-ended SkrewtThestralHippogriff

4. What is the spell to light the end of a wand?LumosAccioConfringo

5. Name the 3 magical schools participating in the TriwizardTournament. Hogwarts, Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts,Durmstrang Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and DurmstrangHogwarts, Beauxbatons and Wizarding Academy ofDramatic Arts

Before you go into a fit of curiosity, let us clarify that JustBooksFounder, R. Sundar Rajan was shot for an episode of CNBC'spopular television programme, 'Young Turks' at our

Marathahalli office.‘Young Turks’ puts the spotlight on young entrepreneurs poised to

be tomorrow's leaders. The show traces their journey from who theywere to who they have become.

‘Young Turks’ has been awarded the Best Business Talk ShowAward twice at the News Television Awards, has been recognisedby the Villgro foundation and also conferred the KarmaveerPuraskar for Citizen Action.

Hosted by the popular anchor, Shereen Bhan, the show has com-pleted over 350 episodes featuring over almost 800 young anddynamic entrepreneurs.


JUSTBOOKSJUSTBOOKSTOP 5TOP 5

NNEWEW AARRIVALSRRIVALS1. Aleph by Paulo Coelho2. Crescent Dawn byClive Cussler3. The Beautiful And TheDamned by SiddharthaDeb4. As I See It by LalKrishna Advani 5. Unusual People Do ThingsDifferently by T.G.C. Prasad

RRECOMMENDEDECOMMENDED1. The Girl In The Gardenby Kamala Nair2. Netherland by JosephO'Neill 3. No God In Sight by AltafTyrewala4. The Women Of The Mahabharataby Chaturvedi Badrinath 5. India Calling by AnandGiridhardas

RRENTALSENTALS1. Only Time Will Tell byJeffery Archer2. The Secret Of The Nagas byAmish Tripathi3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Book3) by Jeff Kinney4. The Kane Chronicles (Book2) by Rick Riordan5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Book 2, 4, 5)by Jeff Kinney

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, 713, Hippogriff, Lumos, Hogwarts; Beauxbatons and Durmstrang

JustBooks Founder involved in ashooting!

From JustBooks blog - http://blog.justbooksclc.com


Book Launch

Based on friendship, fun, freedom,faith, and fashion, Geetanjali Jhalaunched her debut novel titled F

Factor in Reliance TimeOut,Cunningham Road last month.

Geetanjali Jha is a member ofJustBooks, Koramangala. The young 25-year old residing in Bangalore was bornin Jharkhand. She completed her four-year course in NIFT, Kolkata. Geetanjalialways loved writing and decided towrite a college memoir in form of FFactor. She sent a couple of chapters toLeadstart publishers, who readily agreedto publish her first book.

Apart from writing and reading,Geetanjali loves cooking,photography and travel-ling and is currentlyworking on her secondbook titled Trajectory -Path To Oneself. She isa Visual Merchandiserby profession.

F Factor aims to con-nect to all the college-goers, graduates andthose who are yet to goto college.

The fun-frolic move-ment is based on friend-ship of the protagonistOjal with her fab fourfriends - Max, a straightforward, practical, any-thing-for-friends type ofguy; Karan, a kool,kalkulative, no-nonsensetype of guy; Stuti, a girlwho is NIFTian in everysense and Ojal's first loveSam.

Along with them arethe faculties, fest, fashionshows, family, futuredreams, campus, fights,and their journey in overcoming every-thing to achieve their dreams and dis-cover themselves.

Reliance TimeOut organised an exclu-sive launch of F Factor. The event start-ed with Geetanjali's friend and colleagueSneha introducing the author, and show-ing of a video on story of F Factor.

The book was then unwrapped by herNIFT teacher Mrs. Shubholaxmi Krope,who was all praise for the young author

and rememberedher as a studious,dedicated and funloving student.

Geetanjali readher favorite para-graph from thebook and answereda variety of ques-tions from theaudience pertain-ing to her book.She wrapped theevent by signingthe books for theaudience.

Addressing theaudience GeetanjaliJha, said, "The bookmakes for an interest-

ing read for all those who believe in livingeach and every moment to the fullest. I amsure many of the readers will be able to relateto Ojal, the main protagonist in the book."

"This is one of the proudest moments ofmy life and thanks to everyone who has beena part of this beautiful journey," she con-cluded.

F Factor is available across all RelianceTimeOut stores and priced at Rs. 250.

For more information on book andauthor: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ffactordbuk/163190093694051

Sapana Rawat

If you follow all the rules, you will miss all the fun

Geetanjali Jha with her NIFT teacher Mrs. Shubholaxmi Krope

Book Excerpt:

“If you follow all the rules, youwill miss all the fun. This wasthe first thing which caught my

eyes when I entered room numbertwenty four, which was my addressfor next four years. I tried to have abetter look. A computer with speakers every-where was kept on table. Posters ofArchies and a mood board withgraphics, designs and silhouettes, andone picture board covered the walls. There were pictures of five schoolgirls in white shirts and coffee col-ored skirts, one picture of mother anddaughter in Darjeeling, one picture ofa smart girl with smarter AditiGovitrikar, one picture of NIFTentrance with logo prominently shin-ing in back drop. I noticed that there was no picture ofDaddy and daughter. This was thestart of my journey to be a NIFTianand belong to that place. Will a simple, small town girl adaptherself to the big, bad, glamorous andglittering world of Fashion? Will thisstudious girl successfully match up tothe limelight of the Fashion industry?Haunting questions, but only was tobe answered by future. ”


Your own home library

Having a home library full ofone's favourite titles is indeed aboon for many. There is this lux-

ury of picking up any book from the col-lection as and when the mood strikesand reading that book at leisure.

The joy of owning books of one'sfavourite authors and on topics that areclose to one's heart is indescribable.Given these benefits, it is only natural toask: How does one start his or her ownhome library?

To start with, oneneeds to have a fairidea of what books onewants in the library.

This is easier saidthan done as the mind-boggling array of titlesand the sheer variety oftopics that are availablein the market meansthat one needs to pickand choose.

Given the fact thatpublishing all over theworld has taken off in abig way in recent years,there is no dearth oftitles.

So better to first pre-pare a list of topics andauthors whose booksone would like to havein the library.

Rushing to pick upall the available titlesby a single author is not advisable, asmany bibliophiles will vouch that oncedone with a book by a particular author,the subsequent books of the same authormight not really appeal to our tastes theway the first or the second book by thatauthor did.

Hence once gotten used to a par-ticular writing style, having morebooks by the same author would berepetitive and trite. Of course, thiscaveat does not extend to those"paperback kings and queens" whonever fail to excite us even if one isreading the nth title published bythem.

The next step would be to devise astrategy for procuring the books.Visiting the famous book shops ofthe area, or ordering through

Flipkart and Infibeam type online bookstores will help.

Acquiring rare titles and out of printbooks for the collection requires patienceand effort.

Since many out of print books areavailable in the nooks and corners ofbookstores that specialise in these kindsof books, a visit to such stores is a mustas well as spending enough time there tobrowse their collections.

In Bangalore, there are dedicatedbookstores like Select, Bookworm,Blossoms and English Edition cateringout of print and used books, these canbe the treasure trove of books for a

home library. In other metros, one can consider

going to: Luz (Chennai), Park Street(Kolkata), RK Puram (Delhi), Dadar(Mumbai) and Abids ( Hyderabad).

The art of collecting books and build-ing a home library is something that

does not happen overnight or even inweeks.

Instead, one needs to start slow, gatherthe titles patiently and then continue theprocess at length.

It would be advisable to keep lookingout for books to buy whenever one isout either shopping, relaxing or travel-ling.

Bibliophiles would attest to the questfor collecting books that is almost aningrained and subconscious trait forthem.

One of the most important points tonote when one is building a homelibrary is to keep track of the books

bought and have aninventory.

Building a library isone thing and main-taining is another.

So, even if one hassucceeded in collect-ing a large number oftitles, care has to betaken to not lose thebooks.

Have a safe storageplace for the bookswhich will ensure thatthe books will not fallprey to termites orbecome damp anddog-eared.

Considering thatmany of the collec-tions would be com-posed of used books,which have changedhands, it is necessaryto take steps to pre-

vent their decay. Finally, building a home library is a

time consuming yet fulfilling process.The reward of seeing the books neatlylined up on one's bookshelf and the joyof reading them whenever one desires issomething to be savoured.

The feel of leafing through coverto cover is something that needs tobe experienced.

Whether it's a novice starting outor a seasoned book collector, everynew addition to a home library is apleasure and hence, to all thoseaspiring bibliophiles who want tobuild their home library, the adviceis that do not get bogged down bythe numbers and just collect booksfor books sake.

Musings

Ram Mohan Susarla

“Building a home library is atime consuming yet fulfillingprocess. The reward of seeing thebooks neatly lined up on one'sbookshelf and the joy of readingthem whenever one desires issomething to be savoured. “


Venturing out

This time we met and talked to Mr.Subhash Bhushan, head of the tech-nology department of Strata Retailand franchise owner of JustBooksIndiranagar. Subhash is also a regu-lar contributor to JustBooks Connect.

Tell us a little bit about yourself .I am a member, a franchisee and an

employee of JustBooks. Born, brought up,studied and now working inBangalore. I have spent a goodpart of my childhood loafingaround areas close to myhome and school, searchingfor libraries. No sooner wouldI find one, when it would betime to move on as I wouldhave read all the books inthere!

I can be called a bookaholicand given a chance, I wouldlove to laze around at home ona couch, with a book. I am alsoa techie for whom music is anintegral part of his life and sois travelling.

JustBooks also helped mefind my true love! My wifeSumedha, used to handleIndiranagar franchise when we started in2009. She will don the role of a franchiseesoon, and she has been gearing up excit-edly for it.

What were you doing before joiningJustBooks as an employee?

I joined Strata (or just JustBooks then)in July 2009 after doing stints at i-flex(now known as Oracle Financial Services)and Logica CMG. Sundar Rajan, my col-league and founder at JustBooks, used tobe my boss at i-flex.

How has your experience been on work-ing full time and taking care of the fran-chise?

JustBooks Indiranagar has 2400 mem-bers and its still growing. Handling thiskind of scale is difficult, especially whileworking full time. When the branch wasbeing setup, I had to do a lot of runningaround and we faced many challengingmoments. Some capable staff members atthe branch helped it grow steadily in itsearlier days and managed everyday oper-

ations and issues and ofcourse our mem-bers have been very understanding.

Why and how did this franchise optionhappen?

Sundar had ingrained this thought inme that people who believe in a concept,should show their commitment byinvesting in it. It so happened thatIndiranagar area was available at thetime I came in, and as luck would have it,I found a real good property. I must alsosay, deep down inside, my love for booksprobably inspired me to take the risk.

Indiranagar started its operations on 16thSep, 2009.

How has been the customer response toJustBooks as a concept & your library, inparticular?

In general, customers love the conceptof JustBooks. And my branch was the oneof the initial ones, 4th to be precise, somost of the customers who came in hadnot experienced anything like this. Theywere delighted to see a nice modernlibrary in their neighborhood. Many ofthem were just glad they did not have tobuy books anymore etc. But many morehad felt the need for a community placewhere readers could just chill. Children

simply loved the new collection in thebranch and got their friends to join too. Iguess everybody was happy to see aclean, airy, big space filled with books tothe brim, contrary to the "garage"libraries they have been to earlier. Mostwere also thrilled to see the technologyenablement in library space that enabledthem to quickly issue and return bookswithout the hassle of waiting in longqueues.

What do you think will be a great addi-tion in terms of value to your existing

members?We have a huge collection of12,000 books, which gets replen-ished every month with latestreleases and newer copies. Whilethat happens, we need to bring inmore clarity in our classificationand search mechanisms. I amalso looking out at options of set-ting up a coffee shop or juice barclose to the library.

How much of your timedo you spend at theJustBooks outlet per-sonally? How reward-ing is the experience ofinteracting with yourmembers?

Initially I used tooperate out ofIndiranagar branch. Butnow handlingTechnology depart-ment at Strata makes itvery difficult for me tospend time with myown franchise. A capa-ble team goes far in

maintaining a branch in good conditionand I have always aimed at getting theright people in. I still keep in touch withour first members, but my interactionswith new members have reduced drasti-cally. Though I make sure they are heardwhen they have any issue.

What is your advice to book lovers whowould like to turn entrepreneurs throughJustBooks?

If you love reading and you havegrown up reading, you already knowhow deeply knowledge influences peo-ple. If you want to play a role in shapingpeople's lives and influence a generation,JustBooks is one solid avenue.

Sapana Rawat

Finding his true love

Long ago, in medieval India therewas a great Rajah who had in hispossession a ruby of incalculable

value. It was said to have destroyedmore lives than any other preciousstone, even the Kohinoor.

The Rajah, however guarded thestone well and it stayed safe for years,until a fateful event —the 1857 seopymunity — led to the his murder andthe stone's disappearance.

This story is about sixteen year oldSally Lockhart. It begins with the newsof her father's death in a shipwreck.Sally suspects that there is more to herfather's death after she receives a mys-terious note, talking about the 'SevenBlessings'.

These 'Seven Blessings' turn out to befatal - leading to the death of one ofher father's friends after it was men-tioned. Soon after, Sally finds herselfentwined in a much greater mystery ofdeeper proportions than she had expect-ed, involving several people of all walksof life.

It brings to light the state of things inthe Victorian era - the complex criminalsystem there, betrayals made readily formoney, and the dangerous opium trade.

The Rajah's ruby naturally is the centreof attention though only to Sally andsomeone else.

In one of the most desolate areas ofLondon, this someone else in the form ofan incredibly sinister old woman wantsthe ruby so badly that she is prepared todo anything, even things beyond mur-der to lay her hands on it. Will Sallymanage to survive the encounter?

Read on to find out what actually hap-pens!

This book was first published in

September 2002 and later re-publishedin June 2004.

The author, Philip Pullman is a highlyexperienced, versatile author who haswritten stories of all types throughouthis career, ranging from magical fan-

tasies like His Dark Materials to quaintChinese tales like The Firework Maker'sDaughter. He used to be an Englishteacher, but is also a notable sciencebuff, which can be seen in His DarkMaterials trilogy.

It is quite commendable that PhilipPullman managed to script this story ina way which closely resembles the writ-ing style of the 1850s. Conventional sto-ries these days rely on astral charactersand improbable events.

But this novel, typical of the 1850 styleof writing makes simple things lookmeaningful like Sally's ability to use agun is seen as remarkable. Romance isalso simplified without many complica-tions.

The flaws in this story are relativelyminor, the only thing of concern is theviolence involved. The opium tradeplot of the story is not exploited to itsfullest potential. But these flaws pale insignificance, seeing the way Pullmanportrayed the main villain, the oldwoman, Mrs. Holland. She has a pow-erful sinister aura about her, whichmakes even the most courageous readerfear her.

Overall this book is an incredibleread, filled with tense situations involv-ing conflicts between the main charac-ters. The reader feels a constant sense ofapprehension; as the story is told fromboth Mrs. Holland and Sally's point ofview and these two central charactersappear to draw closer with every pass-

ing page towards a final conflict. Theauthor successfully manages to bringabout an ending which the reader could-n't have professed beforehand. That iswhat makes the story all the more cred-itable.

Just Kids14 JustBooks Connect - October 2011

The Ruby in the Smoke

Philip PullmanAge group: 16+ yearsPages: 230Laurel leaf books

JustBooks Picks for Young ReadersRangoli by Anuradha Ananth

A Twist In The Tale by Aditi De

Room On The Broom by Julia Donaldson& Axel Scheffler

Monkey Magic by Grant S. Clark

Lord Ganesha's Feast Of Laughter byMeera Uberoi

The Yellow Bird by Lila Majumdar,Trans. by Kamala Chatterjee

How The Whale Became by TedHughes

Jatayu by Anu Kumar

The Keys To The Kingdom: LordSunday by Garth Nix

Jayanthi Harsha

Multiple cultural influences,mythology and legends fromeverywhere, collude and collide

in Agha Shahid Ali's poems, adding upto luscious, surprising visions. There is asense of inhabiting a magical place, aplace that can exist only in somebody'sutterly beautiful imagination. For exam-ple, the effect of calling up modernManhattan, Aladdin and the phoenix ina single poem like 'Of Light' makes thepoem seem otherworldly, illusory, tran-scendental. A world without borders.Perhaps, this is what Ali always aimedfor consciously or unconsciously-to cre-ate a place that would make up for theplaces he lost.

As a Kashmiri who grew up in Delhi,Ali was keenly aware of the nature ofsuch loss and in some state of perpetual

longing for it. In his poetry,

this longingdoes not trans-late into some-thing fixed orbackward-gaz-ing. It perme-ates into the fab-ric of each

poem, subtle and perva-sive. We are haunted bythe worlds he hasknown and are filledwith a strange andunnameable nostalgia.

Ali's poetry is not self-consciously nostalgic.Rather, wistfulness is astate they have settledinto and they compel usto settle into it too, tomake of loss and memo-ry something that isexquisite. They are fullof vulnerability in away that rejects thepost-modern tone of

irony. There is madness and bravery. Itseems self-destructive to keep woundsso raw that they never harden into bitter-ness but always glisten like fresh-pouredblood. Ali manages it.

The resultant poems are stunning intheir power.

It is a power that fuels up on sadness.Something of this sadness comesthrough in Ali's use of the words 'even'and 'all' in many places. "A djinn hasdeprived even Alladin of light", he says in'Of Light'.

Then, the delicately rhythmic 'RafaelCampo: Ghazal in a Time of War' hinges

on the use of 'all'. Please, save it all,I think I prayed, above the distant bombs'

shrilldescent; please, please, remember that

we're allone people, one body, one chance not to kill. And again in 'Snow on the Desert':

to recollectevery shadow, everything the earth was

losing,a time to think of everything the earth

and I had lost, of allthat I would lose,

of all that I was losing.There is a largeness of scope in these

poems. All of this has been affected, Aliseems to be saying, gesturing at entireuniverses. This and this and this. Eventhis. War and exile, travel and time arethe eroding hordes. Ali's poems remain

humble in their attitude towards these,supplicating, admitting our smallnessin the face of forces. This tone alsolends an intimacy to these poems. It isimpossible to read Ali's poetry at aremove. The poet pulls us in close. "Ifonly somehow you could have been mine,what would not have been possible in theworld?" he says in 'Farewell' and it is aline that resonates despite its overt

emotionality, its exaggeration. In thehands of other poets, such lines can seemsentimental but Ali's craft is too disci-plined, his grip on the reader too strongto allow this. It is impossible to retreatinto jaded irony. His poetry is as muchan exercise in vulnerability for the readeras it is for the poet.

Writing Ali's obituary, Amitabh Ghoshsaid: "His voice was like none I had everheard before, at once lyrical and fiercely dis-ciplined, engaged and yet deeply inward. Notfor him, the mock-casual almost-prose of somuch contemporary poetry: his was a voicethat was not ashamed to speak in a bardicregister" (Outlook, 29 June 2002).

But beneath the intimacies of tone andthe softness of manner is the frame ofcraft, steely and meticulous. Ali's ghazalsare renowned and they sprang from anabiding love for Hindustani classicalsinger Begum Akhtar. Adapting theancient Persian form to English is intri-cate and tricky but Ali inspired futuregenerations to try it. He was also deeplyinfluenced by poet James Merill andattributed his love of form to him. Evenin his least formal poems; rhymes, in-rhymes and sonic effects create musicali-ty.


Agha Shahid Ali

Anindita Sengupta

IN A NUTSHELL

Born On: February 4, 1949

Born In: New Delhi, India, toKashmiri parents.

Educated At: University of Kashmirand University of Delhi; Ph.D. inEnglish from Pensylvania StateUniversity and MFA from Universityof Arizona.

Major Collections: The CountryWithout a Post Office (1997), RoomsAre Never Finished (2001), Call MeIshmael Tonight (2003) and TheVeiled Suite (2009).

Day Job: Teaching positions at nineuniversities and colleges in India andthe United States; Director of the MFAprogram in creative writing atUniversity of Massachusetts atAmherst.Also a translator of Faiz Ahmed Faizand the editor for the Middle East andCentral Asia segment of JefferyPaine's Poetry of Our World.

Reading fires theimagination of achild. As

opposed to the visualmedia, it allows thereader the pleasure ofimagination, encour-ages curiosity, expandshorizon and providesinformation about dif-ferent peoples and dif-ferent places.

The risk of childrenmoving from oral com-munication and visualmedia to digital com-munication has neverbeen as high as it isnow.

So the onus is on usas teachers and par-ents to introduce ourchildren to the won-derful world of books.Reading is a cultivatedskill and must be nur-tured to a full potentialto ensure that eachchild becomes anenthusiastic reader.

At Mount Litera ZeeSchool,Vidyaranyapur-a as as well as HSRextension, we believe

in holistic develop-ment of the child,which means provid-ing the children withan enriching experi-ence that goes beyondtext books.

Story telling, puppetshow and dramaticsadd an element of funto learning; howeverthe world of books is aself-learning process.

So, it is our con-scious decision toexpose the children tobooks whenever andwherever possible.

Hence we decided toshowcase a slice of thelibrary to the parentsand children atschool itself.

This was madepossible with thehelp of JustBooks,Vidyaranyapurawhose staff enthusi-astically came for-ward to exhibitbooks and talk toparents on the occa-sion of a parentteacher meet.

We choseJustBooks as weshared the same ide-ology and they

made exposure to thelibrary meaningful.

I would also like toadd that JustBooks isthe 'happening' placetoday as they have a360 degree perspectiveon books, reading,character building andvalue education.

The multiple valueadded age appropriateprograms like Yoga forkids, Creative Scienceworkshop and similarprograms are carefullycrafted and designedto entice the youngreader to an enrichingreading experience.


AECS Layout65470141

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Banashankari 41637052, 9535854732

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Electronic City 41076882

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HSR Layout22587430, 7259974251

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JP Nagar-Dollar'sColony

42228168

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Kalyan Nagar42084394, 9986072204

Koramangala40982460

Koramangala 8th Block25702799

Langford Road9845171670

Malleshwaram41280649

Rajarajeshwari Nagar28607751, 9535854732

RMV II Stage23410800

Sahakar Nagar 41713941

Sarjapur Road42129279

Vidyaranyapura23644501, 8095854950

Vijaya Bank Layout41645690

Vijaynagar42117539

Whitefield42053027, 32999406

Yelahanka42138080

Hyderabad04030560660

Mysore9742264738

Mumbai - Powai02240158408,08971512111

Mumbai - Nerul 02227729788, 09004819059

Mumbai - Dombivli025 16505544

Pune - Aundh02025896016,7385022201

Pune-Magarpatta City9561550003

Pune-Viman Nagar9561550002

Pune - Wanowarie02030116811,7385022202

For franchise inquiries contact: [email protected]

The Charm of ReadingJustBooks Events

Latha Shivkumar

Ms. Latha Shivkumaris a very motivatedPrincipal of ML ZeeSchool. She has expe-rience in school envi-ronment which spansover 25 yrs dealingwith children of allthe age groups. She isa post graduate fromBangalore Universityand has worked inearnest to understandeducational needs ofchildren.

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october 2011 newsletter

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