Day 19: Bookmarks

There is something personal and sexy about bookmarks. Colorful and artfully designed, cut to perfection or scale-shaped gives a comfort and homely feeling to flipping book pages, snuggling on the sofa with coffee makes the reading experience a journey worth taking. Reading books feel like a road trip, emotional or romantic roller coaster ride coated with philosophic musing or whichever way you call them.

Books are very personal to me and at best a journey, pretty much like the memories carved and cherished over time pretty much like starters or deserts to make the trip merry. It’s similar to crushes, friends made and a harmless fling. Just got this amazing and yellow coated bookmark bearing the imprint of Jojo Moyes’s Still me with a cool print of this creature pasted in white and black that sits beautifully on the yellow. I am yet to read the former’s books and visited the bookshop to buy Shashi Tharoor’s Why I am a Hindu when out of the blue asked for bookmarks at the counter. It was a random ask since the counter person always gives me bookmarks for free.

Turning into an accidental hoarder of stuff first landed on my lap as a gift. The favorite one was gifted to me by a friend and colleague Shruti a couple of years back on the birthday and was an amazing one flapping in shape of pages embedded with quotes. I don’t even know where the bookmark has been misplaced and hope that it didn’t slip in a public space since got this habit of reading in buses or coffee shops. She doesn’t know about the disappearance, though. Another favorite is the hand-carved one that an author and blogger friend Chissy sent me all the way from Montreal, Canada as a token of appreciation for reviewing the amazing, sensual and scintillating poetry book that she penned.

Speaking of books, a sense of relief expressed after wrapping all pending book reviews on the blog.  Over the years, I’ve cut down on reviews since couldn’t handle the overbearing pressure of reading a book, taking notes and putting the review in time. Reading is an enjoyable exercise and didn’t want to do reviews out of compulsions, to give favorable stars or putting them online like junk food. I am becoming very selective when it comes to reviews and time to make the most of reading, removing that intense pressure on the head. It’s too much to take.  Honesty is one reader and reviewing trait that shall define all the critical appreciations that I shall do from now.

I just wrapped George Orwell’s 1984 that came as a gift from Delhi and it’s a book that everyone must read. The author speaks about the ‘truth’ that is often manufactured and takes readers on a trip that is relevant in the modern times with political powers colliding in brainwashing people by using emotions as a shield. It’s so easy to fuck people’s brains.  From Brexit to the Trump era and Modi years, the world is becoming more misogynistic as one wonders on the world or nations claiming to be a beacon of democracy. The issues are addressed in a thought-provoking manner and the syndrome of ideological loyalty we are afflicted or an education system that prevents the questioning of values or ideologies must push us to discuss issues in a healthy manner. Often, unilateral thinking is doing a moral disservice to scholars who often wage war in dissecting hypothesis for a better and fair society, increasingly lost in translation.

Quite a busy week it’s been work-wise and so many things roiling in the head, right from this super-duper crazy deadline for one of our clients, an additional work assignment which calls for some street smartness and the usual regular writing on blog or promised guest post for a friend. We need a de-clutter sometimes and on Saturday, stormed to the coffee shop to remove crap from the head.

Sitting in peace, waving to the cute girl at the coffee shop and jotting stuff in the agenda diary helped me relax and breathe free. We all need this ME time to figure things in life be it battling personal issues or giving priority to the most pressing matters. It worked wonders for the soul and a constant reminder to push oneself to the edge to make miracles. I mean, till we don’t address the demons or force the challenges down the throat, we will be content in the routine, unaware of our strengths as humans.

At times, can’t help the feeling of wanting the past life back that was pure bliss and the mind often verges to those carefree days minus loads of life. The same old place or the people who moved on, laughter and setting the self-free can be defining and empowering at the same time. Biggest challenge is to kick the butt which is not happening so far but bet today been better in cutting the fag and chatting with an old chum on whom I wrote the latest Pune Memoirs post.

Love

V