life journey

our life’s journey
is a forward move
never we retrace our steps
never we visit
the same place twice.

though the path may wind
even to loops
within view of where we’ve been
we don’t set foot again
where we did before.

we move on, move on
not pausing, not relenting,
towards
eternity.

Ah, books!

I belong to the generation that grew up before TVs were quite accessible in our country. Those days, we got most of our info-tainment from reading. There were occasional excursions to the cinema hall too, but these were very rare treats. So the great rage was comic books and novels, circulated widely among friends and strangers.

Nothing could compare to the pleasure of reading ‘School girl’, ‘Western’ and ‘Classic’ comics on the way back from school. Parents frowned upon reading anything other than school lessons, so it had to be done when they couldn’t see you. Novels had to be hidden under pillows and read on the sly. Oh, the half guilty thrill one got out of Ivanhoe and The Black Arrow at age 14! Such magical experiences!

When my daughter was six and in class one, she asked, “After finishing school, do we have to go to college?”

“What else do you want to do?” i counter questioned.

“Stay home and read stories,” she replied.

I do connect with the sentiment.

Once you enter adulthood with all its responsibilities, finding time to read becomes harder than ever. Several weeks ago, after dithering a long time, i picked up Shantaram. I’ve reached only half of it till now.

When it takes so long to read it, how much time and energy it would take to write! No wonder the author spent thirteen long years at it.

My little book has come out at last. It has only 189 pages with the photos and all. But it took me nearly a year to finish. It often felt like hard work as i tapped on the keyboard at midnight, bleary eyed, after a full day at office. And i’m glad, so glad, that it’s ready for reading now.

It’s published by GLS Publishing, Udyog Bhavan, 250-D, Worli Colony, Mumbai 400 030, india. They can be contacted by e-mail: glsindia@vsnl.com or by phone: 022 2493 0116/6662 7243.
Here’s it’s cover picture.