Hello everyone… I have been out for the last two weeks.. to read about what I did in these last teo weeks, check out my travel blog…. A Wandering Mind .
Here’s an interesting site I visited yesterday.. Not only can you imrove your vocabulary. but at the same time, donate rice to the hungry…
Here’s the latest addition to my ever-growing bookshelf – THE THREE OAK MYSTERY by EDGAR WALLACE . And therein lies a story……………….
My father was a great fan of Edgar Wallace books, and over the years had accumulated a sizeable collection of his books. However, when he passed away at the early age of 35, a victim to Cancer, we had no choice,but to donate most of his books , due to lack of storage space. I was only 5 years old at that time, and my mother kept only a few books as mementoes for me, among which were only two works of Edgar Wallace- Four Square Jane, and The Forger. As I grew up , I found that I had inherited not only his love for books, which anyway was a very strong thread running through the whole family, but also the same kind of tastes in books that he had. Till date, my mother is surprised that I am so much like him, without even a memory of him. Anyway, to get back to what this post is about– books, I found that I enjoyed the Edgar Wallace books, and tried to hunt out more of them.It was then that I found out from my mother and uncles that he was my dad’s favourite author, and also that very few of his books were available.
Over the years, I have been a member of many libraries, but unfortunately, many of them had not even heard of this talented author. I have since learnt that he was a soldier, a poet, war correspondent, and playwright also. He wrote more than170 books, which have been translated into 28 languages and sales of which have exceeded 50 million copies. Over 160 Films have been made on his books-more than any other author. He was working on the original screenplay for King Kong hen he died . In the 1920s, one of his many publishers claimed that a quarter of all books written in England were written by him.
Quite an impressive biography, isn’t it ? But I found it very difficult to get his books anywhere…
Imagine my surprise , therefore, when I walked into the Higginbotham’s store at Chennai Airport, and on the very first rack were Edgar Wallace books- 10 of them… I was sorely tempted to buy all of them, but I managed to control myself and only bought this one.
I sat up all night to finish reading it, and WoW!!! Enjoyed every page. …Typical Edgar Wallace……Good Plot, Twists and turns everywhere, well written………a book I heartily recommend to all mystery book lovers……….
Over this weekend, I got to know what it feels like, to be a regular business traveller. Samhith and I spent the weekend at Chennai with my sister-in-law, Sandhya, attending a function at her place. We went by train, leaving Bombay on friday evening, and returned by a night flight on Sunday, as Samhith had to attend school today (Monday). Whew! Were we tired!
Of course, the trip was worth it, because we had a blast ! Shankar’s family was all there, as well as friends and relatives, many of whom we didn’t remember…The function, a puja to Lord Ayyappa, went off very well.We all enjoyed it. I esecially loved the decoration (ook out for photos ..I shall upload them soon….) Samhith enjoyed the bhajan, and even sang one song !
But this post is not about the function. This is about the journey……..
As I mentioned earlier, we went by train, and were lucky to get a good group of co-passengers, mostly 25 year-olds going back home after a conference in Bombay. Samhith made friends rather too fast, and thankfully, they diidnt resent it, and played with him, all through the journey, letting him listen to music on their mobiles, and showing him videos on their laptop… but even after all that, he was really tired and fed up with travelling, and wanted to get off the train… This, in spite of going in a Third AC Coach this time ! I have always enjoyed train journeys and want him to do the same, so I take along loads of books, and play some games with him almost all the time, but somehow he stil doesnt enjoy it. God alone knows how i can make him enjoy train travel a lot more…..
While returing by air, he was quite happy……..after all, it is only a couple of hours…… and he asked me why we hadnt flown to Chennai too…. I tried to explain that we travel by air only when it is necessary, and that train travel itself is part of the holiday we are taking, but I dont think he was convinced…… Anyway, now he feels that it is perfectly possible to go to Chennai for the weekend, and asks me why we can’t do it every weekend….
Explaining financial constraints to children is never easy, but important, and a task that I have to perform some time or the other. But I still dont know how to g about it….. We shall be travelling again, by train , during our summer holiday, and am already planning out activities to do while we are sitting indoors for 12 to 24 hours at a stretch… Hope this time around, I have more luck, and actually succeed in making him look forward to a train journey……….
Incidentally, here is another thing I have noticed….. Samhith seems happier in the II Class compartment when we are travelling more than 20 hours in the train…. Maybe because he can look outside, buy things from the vendors who swarm around at every station, and in general interact with a lot more people, than he can in an AC coach.
Now, is this something I have imagined, or is is something you too face ? I ask this of all of you, as my husband doent agree… He says that the II Class is too noisy and dirty, and there is to much dirt… Samhith can’t possibly enjoy it… He says I am imagining things, and now refuses to book in II Class, unless of course, nothing else is available.. Please do get back to me with your ideas………..
Here’s another effort, at sketching this time… i did learn sketching for a time, from my husband’s uncle, who is a whiz at such things… but that was when i was pregnant…. this sketch is for my sister’s friend….
After a long time, another post from me… here is one of my artistic efforts… doesnt look great, does it ? well, probably because it has been almost 8 years since I picked up a brush and put it on paper.. Yes, 8 years is quite a long time … thats probably why my painting looks like something my son would have made… in fact, i bought the new paint set for him, intending to teach him how to paint… he doestn really have the patience, or the inclination, but , being a mother, i just keep trying…..
Well, anyway, there were the paints, and samhith was fast asleep, and it was just the two of us at home….. all the others are out of station… so i allowed myself to succumb to the temptation…. I have never learnt to paint properly… it has always been just a medium to let off steam, and usually perks me up …. and so it was this time round too….. i had just had a row with my husband and was feeling just a bit bad about it, and doing this has certainly helped me…. it helped me keep myself from shooting off my mouth when i spoke to him yesterday, and things certainly seem rosier now……..
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