There's the book and then there's the Bookbook

-

Sometimes I start writing posts and get side-tracked. This is one of those that should have seen the light of day two months ago. As they say better late than never. More importantly, I started 2015 with some radical changes to improve my life-work balance. Ahem, you may notice that with my new-found wisdom I have swapped the term 'work-life' around. Live to work or work to live? Or love to live to work?

Anyhow I have finally found time to start reading through my stack of half-finished and yet-to-start books that were beginning to form a tall-ish rectangular pillar by my bedside table.  Do I hear the sniggers of Kindle-owners? Alas this safe, digital book filled life is not for me, for each evening I face the heart-racing task of balancing a glass of water, a phone-cum-alarm, a hair clip and other random objects on an ever-growing stack of 'real' books. Not to mention the 'living-on-the-edge' feeling of groggily switching the phone-cum-alarm off each morning without spilling/ toppling the aforementioned items. 

Worryingly though, if my life-work balance plan works, I will be leading a risk-free, staid life as my stack of books drops lower with each book I finish. I could buy some more books if they are still printing them before the year is over. You may laugh but it's true, bookshops around London are disappearing faster than you can pop an M and S mini strawberry scone in your mouth. 

In the worst case I could replace them with my 'Wimbledon Time and Leisure' magazines. Or indeed the BookBook in the video below (!)



High-five to all those who are flying the flag for paperbacks.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bangkok Chronicles: Walking with the Buddha

-
Image
It is a strange feeling indeed to be an Indian (of sorts) in Southeast Asia. Years ago, in smoke-filled pubs of London, it felt perfectly logical to have the Goodness Gracious Me -inspired argument that only one outcome was acceptable: ‘We did it first in India’. Fortunately, the pubs became smoke-free, and I could spend an evening without needing an instant dry-clean for my coat or a deep-cleansing hair wash after each visit. I digress, as usual. This time, as I traverse around Bangkok, I have been filled a growing realisation that indeed, many ideas, beliefs and practices did emerge first in India. Equal is the wonder at how delicately they got assimilated in the local culture and acquired a uniqueness that can only be described in this trite but useful phrase- same same but different . Lest you await the hackneyed confession ‘I truly found myself’ (and there are many ways of finding oneself in Bangkok!), let me assure you there has been no such miraculous moment of discovery for me....
Read more

Bangkok Chronicles: The river

-
Image
On a cold January morning, by the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India, I ushered in 2024 with my family. Back in Delhi, the smog showed little sign of receding. Through the smoky and dust-hued sky, we occasionally witnessed shards of sunlight, a reminder that our planet's bright star has not abandoned us just yet. Fortunately for me, a new adventure awaited. Before the month was over, I had landed about 3000 km east of India in Thailand. Upon alighting from the plane, my jacket was promptly stuffed at the bottom of the suitcase. Within 24 hours I was hitting the shops to buy t-shirts. Because, as everyone knows, you can never have enough t-shirts in a hot and humid country. Over the last few months I have been serenading my social circle with a Whats App-based photo journal. It is finally time to do the proper thing, which is to pen down my experiences for immortality (or till robots take over the earth). I had been to Bangkok several times before as a tourist. H...
Read more

Bangkok Chronicles: 'Veggie Delight' gets a new meaning

-
Image
In the early days, just like the fruits, the vegetable section of supermarkets continued to fill me with more questions than answers. The translation software on my phone was of little use, as many of these were labelled 'native vegetable'.  Eventually, I decided to chuck a new veggie in my basket each week and work out later what it was, and how best to cook it. Here is a small selection of the more unusual and the interesting ones. There are several I had seen before but never tried. Others, as I discovered in my online searches, were well-known in parts of India. I just hadn't come across them while growing up in Delhi, or my family had not experimented enough - an oversight they are now addressing as they regularly share their own funky recipes. Winged beans This is undoubtedly one of my favourite finds. I first tasted these in a delectable salad at an upmarket hotel in Bangkok. It was absolutely scrumptious and I confess, I have never been able to replicate that exact ...
Read more