Bookstores always bring out the worst in me. An hour spent leafing through novels and comic books well beyond my modest budget is all it takes to send my vows of austerity up in flames, leaving me in a Gollum-esque trance that I am fast growing used to. I even devise a few 'get-rich-quick’ schemes on the journey back home. Thankfully, good sense and laziness have prevailed, and my plans of robbing Nescafe haven’t seen the light of day. Yet.
Rummaging through that wonderfully haphazard dump of paperbacks that is Midland Book Store, my eyes fell on a yellowing copy of Tom Sawyer. The jaunt down memory lane it incited was, perhaps, inevitable; for Mark Twain's magnum opus was the first book I’d ever read that wasn’t illustrated by Anant Pai. I spent a good portion of the next hour in the Kids section, fondly flipping through Enid Blytons and Robert Arthurs. Beyond a point, I don’t think it is possible to look back at any book without being transported to the world we lived in when we first read it and recalling the inchoate hopes and dreams that guided our lives then. Books, movies, songs- every experience in the world is partly controlled by an imperceptible parameter of time, what I plan to call the ‘when’ factor when I eventually publish a treatise on the subject.
I saw ‘Wake Up Sid’ a fortnight ago. Much to my own surprise, I ended up liking the movie. For once, Ranbir Kapoor’s dressing sense didn’t make my eyes bleed; worse, I even liked a few of his T-shirts. Miracles, indeed, shall never cease.
13 comments:
Love the title. Gave me a reason to laugh after a long long time. Midland rocks, does it not? A modest budget goes a long way there. I miss bookstores. They are few, far in between, and egregiously overpriced here.
Keep the store in business. I will clear their stacks out when I get back for good.
I just came back from Rocket Singh and it beats Wake Up Sid silly. I do agree about the t-shirts- Atom Ant, Perils of Penelope Pitstop - they were all there. I've been searching for that collection ever since.
I was thinking of writing about how my visits to bookstores are soothing and stressful at the same time. Anyway, I hope you will update me eventually about you know what.
I love bookstores!
And the above comment does not point towards me being a nerd.
:)
Tom Sawyer was one of my firsts too, but it's Enid Blyton who brought fond memories rushing to my mind. I owe every little bit of literary aptitude I possess to her (I used to think Blyton is a he till around class 8)- I have easily read over a 100 of her books. Blyton will always remain my favourite author, a childhood fascination never coming undone, no matter how many ever classics I manage to lay my hands on.
My favourite book-store is the ageless Second Hand Books market at Puraani Dilli, one of the few nostalgic and very poignant corners of the Capital city.
Were you listening to "High Hopes" when you wrote this?
Beside books, old childhood movies can hit you hard with nostalgia. In the beautiful Christmas season it is turning out to be, I have found myself sobbing more than once on good old happy endings of the fairy tale movies. Somehow the morals are making much more sense now than they ever did.
I feel like being a kid again.
Hah- Anant Pai never illustrated anything in Tinkle ( he was and is the Ed). But, indeed ,there's nothing like a dog-eared Tinkle or a well-stocked, friendly bookshop to end up feelng all book-sy and happy.
Uncle Pai was gifted beyond our wildest dreams. I guess he was (and still is) the Chief Illustrator cum Chief Editor. Anyway, it was a metaphorical usage by Dela, just saying that the comics belonged to the prodigal Mr Pai.
Prachi stole my faltu fact of the day. By the way, I agree with Shreyas from the previous post- you're way too predictable, now. And going with your idea of "senile posts only in 4th year", pretty drab, too.
And to complete my sounding like Sheldon- hehe, nice title.
Robbing Nescafe? The same plan keeps coming back. :D
I was in a dilemma whether to empty my pockets and buy out the ACK collection at this mall I visited the other day. Yes, they do transport us into the other worlds. Well put.
Coming to dreams and Enid Blyton, I'm sure you came across the Magic Faraway Tree. I reckon I'd still love the series if I read it. And for the record, none of Pinky's holidays pass without a healthy dose of Famous Fives.
Me wonders what you think of Higginbothams, then?
@Rapu
Fret not, Midland is in safe hands. The basters left me poorer by 800 bucks last week. And that was after reluctantly returning a couple of books owing to monetary restrictions.
@Bang-bang
Call me racist but I simply can't sit through movies with Surd protagonists. RDB doesn't count.
And you know what? Leftiekins hasn't been talking, has he?
@Anunaya
Nor am I. Or so I'd like to believe.
@mGay
By 'Old Delhi', if you're referring to Daryaganj, I have half a mind to give you an earful. It is the second most over-rated place in the world, behind Moulin Rouge.
@Vikesh
Close. 'Fletcher Memorial'.
@Dang
Tell me about it. I have been on a Walt Disney spree lately, watching every animated movie I can lay my hands on. Duck Tales still remains my favourite though.
@mGay, Prachi, Murty
Yawn. Bloody geeks.
@Prachi
I wanted to spare a word of praise for Pages and that genius who runs the place. Some other time, maybe.
@Murty
As your status message goes, 'opinions are like feet....'
@PeeTeeVee
During my Futures First interview, I was asked how my life would change if I became a millionnaire. I replied that after years of renting comic books, I'd end up buying them. We geeks have small dreams, don't we?
@Kondrews
Good boy. I'm glad you brought it up. Higginbothams is the yardstick against which lesser stores are compared. It's like comparing Audrey Hepburn and Katie Holmes. Not that I don't like Ms. Cruise, but she isn't Audrey Hepburn.
You are right Dela. But Daryaganj wasn't always like this, it served my purposes well till about 3 years back, and took care of the financial constraints too. It is quite useless now, though I still go visit it once in a while for old times' sake.
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