Gangarams, Crossword, Landmark in Bangalore and Odyssey and Crossword in Chennai became favourite joints. There was also the invaluable word of mouth recommendations, the local library and of course, surfing at the Higginbothams bookstores at the railway station. My main source of recommended reads continued to be my group of friends and cousins with whom I exchanged books. As we grew up – along came John Grisham, Robert Cook, Michael Crichton, Jack Higgins, Sidney Sheldon, Mary Clark Higgins, Frederick Forsyth, Robert Ludlum, David Baldacci, Dan Brown. They were read, re-read and discussed among cousins and friends, each book competing to be a favourite. Archer’s ‘Shall We tell the President’, ‘The Prodigal Daughter’ quickly became a hit. The teenage years brought the first romantic story – ‘Love Story’ by Eric Segal, who quickly became a favourite author with my group of cousins. The non-detail books introduced abridged versions of Great Expectations, ‘The 3 Men in a Boat’, ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ and Shakespeare to name a few. Narayan, Ruskin Bond, Rudyard Kipling, P.G.Wodehouse, Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes.Ĭlassics and poetry made their way into our lives through our English textbooks, which introduced the short stories of O Henry, Oscar Wilde and others. Then came the Nancy Drews, Hardy Boys and the Three Investigators, which formed the first introduction to thrillers, mysteries, clues and solving cases, followed by the Perry Mason series with sprinklings of R.K. I treasured my books and one of my best childhood gifts were the Tinkle & National Geographic magazine subscription for a couple of years- something that still brings a smile and gratitude! Like many kids of my age, back then swapping books with cousins and friends, finding a Tinkle digest were amongst my favourite pastimes.Īfter these, came the Tintins, the Asterix, and the rites of passage to middle and high school that came through Enid Blyton books – The Secret Seven, The Famous Five and their endless picnics with lemonade. Most of my books were either from the limited collection at school or hand-me-downs from friends and cousins. It felt magical to be lost in the world of Suppandi, Shikari Shambu, Tantri the Mantri, Kalia the crow, the frolics of Tenali Raman and Birbal and other regular features in Tinkle or the Amar Chitra Katha: Ah! the joy of reading a good book! It also meant foregoing Frooti, sodas, snacks in favour of books and of course fighting for the top berth, where one could read and savour the books in peace. The journey would indeed be incomplete without a visit to Higginbotham’s at the train station. When bookstores were a rarity, a visit to the Higginbothams at the train stations was the highlight of an already exciting day of the journey by train. Thinking of these books always brings to my mind those nostalgic train journeys during summer vacations to my grandparents’ home. After story time with grandparents, probably our first introduction to the vast story repository of the Indian subcontinent came through these comics – be it Indian mythology, historical rulers, ‘Jataka Tales’ or the ’Hitopadesa’. Growing up in India in the early 70s and 80s meant a standard fare of ‘Chandamama’, ‘Tinkle’, ‘Amar Chitra Katha’(s). Since both of us are parents to young children, we also talked about books our kids are reading and about the books that we were part of our childhood days in India. The conversation then wound its way to books, authors, blogs, books vs kindle. It all started with a phone call with an old friend from India. The books that she read as a child and the books she introduced to her son. With this, the overall tally reached 143.What is it like growing up with books and then sharing that love with your kids? Our guest contributor Sita Sreeraman takes a trip down her books’ memory lane. ![]() Thirty new Omicron cases were recorded in India on Saturday, the highest single-day rise for the variant in the country. Omicron: Why we should not panic but follow COVID-appropriate behaviour ![]() ![]() The UK Health Security Agency has confirmed an additional 10,059 cases of the new variant on Saturday, more than three times as many as reported on Friday Goa is today among India’s most picturesque states with its beaches and its vibe attracting millions of visitorsĭaily Omicron cases surge to more than 10,000 in UK, toll from variant jumps to seven Goa Liberation Day: 60 years of freedom for the coastal state that never came easy KMC Polls 2021: 63.63% turnout amid sporadic violence BJP accuses TMC of 'foul play'Ībhishek Banerjee said that if any ruling party leader was found to be involved in violence during the polls, strict action will be taken 'within 24 hours'
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