Found: There's No Place Like Rome.
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I have a holiday in Rome coming up, so I'm sharing all the places I can't
wait to see, shop, and, of course, eat. My annotated map included!
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This takes Mammoth Amount of Courage and Shameless-ness to confess that it was Only A Month or So Back that I Visited and Used a Public Library for the First Time, or any Library if you don’t count in The Horror of a Library that Our School (the Honourable K.V.) Library was. Coming to think of it, My First School's Library, a Private One, fared so much Better than the Centrally Backed One.
Coming back to The Point, I Never Before had to use any Library. I always Believed that you must Own the Books you Read or which you Thought you Would have Read, which has been The Case for Me Quite a Lot of Times. The Sight of Books does Wonder to My Body that even Mallika Sherawat fails to Do. The Breathing Increases so does The Heart Beat. The Brain Rejects to Process Any Other Stimuli. The Smell, Texture and the Sound of Turning a Page reign Supreme.
The Idea to Join The Library near My Place (Truth be Told, that’s The Only One in This Goddamned Place) occurred when I read that it was being 'Revived' again. Once it was One of The Best District Libraries of The Region, until Governmental Complacency became The Reason it turned into The Perfect Bollywood styled Bhoot Bangla. An Indoor Auditorium just Next to It kept It from being Totally Neglected and It got its Regular Painting Sessions. But it Was Rotting from Inside. Literally.
The Library is within 1 Minutes Distance from where I Haunt, and Since Curiosity had already Killed The Cat, I wasn't Left Out Too. A Short Visit there Insured Me a Form and Within a Week I got My Very Own Green Leather Looking Plastic Covered Tiny Library Card.
As I entered The Library, The Middle Aged Male Librarian looked up from Gossiping with His Female Counterpart.
"Card ase?"
"Hein."
As None of My Non-English Languages Reading Skills(read: Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit and to a little extent, Assamese) are Even Passable, I asked for The English Language Section. Without a Proper Answer or even a Crude Gesture towards the site, he began Inquiring Me of Exactly what Type of Book I wanted.
He Stared Me for A Second, and Then Rushed off Behind Some Shelf. I mentally Wished He Was Suffering from Some Bad Mid-Life Crisis.
"Here."
I followed His Voice, and there He was, Guarding a Whole Lot of Books. English Books.
Old English Books.
"Here."
He pointed towards Them.
For A While, I Dreaded The Thought That He was going to Stay and Ask me now Exactly Which Book I wanted (I even had An Answer Ready; Kama Sutra, just To Piss Him), Hand That To Me and Then Throw Me Out of His Long Forgotten Abode, Whose Tranquine Desertedness I had come to Disturb. But he Left. Thank You Very Much.
The Library allows Its Members to Borrow 2 Books At A Time for 15 Days. It was Build Decades Ago, When India Was Another Western-World-Perceived-About-To-Disintegrate-Huge-Socialist-State. It Reflected The Dead Ordinariness of the 60s and 70s Indian Socialism. Basic Wooden Shelves With Moth Eaten Leather Bound Books. And as Expected, I was The Only One Browsing through Them.
My Spying Skills (the Date Label stuck Inside to be More Precise) told me that Readers were/are Scare for This Library. How To Kill A Mockingbird had it Being Issued Last during The Later 80s. Umrao Jaan Adah in 1992. Wuthering Heights in 1999. And Twilight In Delhi in 2001.
Most to All Readers of This Sleepy Town buy Their Own Books. Or to a Lesser Degree, Borrow from Someone Else. But never from a Library. That The Local Library has Masterpieces Rotting inside Escapes Everyone's Attention. The Fact that Russia was once India’s Big Bro is Quiet Apparent. A Majority of The Books has been Penned by The Russian Masters. Tolstoy, Gogol et al. Second came The Native Indians, The Curry Eating Ones (Khushwant Singh, Mukul Kesavan), then the English (The Bronte Sisters, Austen) and then the rest.
The Collection It has is Vast. I didn’t Expect The Latest of The Books, and neither didn it Deserve the Expectation too, though, it did have the odd Jhumpa Lahiri, Aravind Adiga, William Dalrymple and more. Moreover, the Collection in The Reading Room was Much Better. Though it didn’t Allow those Books to be Issued, nevertheless, I found a New Corner to burn My Time going over TheArt of Vogue Covers 1909-1940 or The one on Mughal Architecture. Bliss.
To give The Library and The ‘Reviving Committee’ its due, Yes, Things are Looking Up. Books are Categorised, and Actually kept According to Genre! I wasn't even Allowed to enter the Reading Room when I First visited The Library as it was Experiencing Its First 'Maintenance Works' in Decades. A Trust from Calcutta named after Raja Ram Mohan Roy had Donated Several Books, both New and (mostly) Old Titles, to its Kitty too. The Library was to get A New Website soon too. And Every Thing has been Computerised.
Seeing such Marvels go to Waste, I contemplated to Nick a Few Away. Atleast They would be Read and Valued, kept Properly inside Glass Shelves. As My Immoral Plans were taking Shape, I gave the Female Mid-Aged Librarian My Selected Copy of Twilight In Delhi by Ahmed Ali(sudden remembrance of another Blogger's Blog had made me pick it up).
(since then, The Blogger has Nicked one.)
She took My Card away and gave Me the Ownership of The Book for The Next Half Month. As I left The Library, I opened The Book and The Smell, hinting it being Opened Again in A Long Time, hit My Olfactory Glands. My Eyes fell on A Random Verse in The Book( it's Filled with Them):
I’m the light of no one’s eye,
The rest of no one’s heart am I.
That which can be of use to none
-Just a handful of dust am I.
Bahadur Shah Zafar
The Library Seemed to Say The Same.
***
One of My Wishes listed in My Previously Posted Bucket List came Partially True. The Delhi High Court, after Some Nudges from The Supreme Court, has Finally given Its Verdict that rules Homosexual Acts Between Two Consenting Adults in Private as Being Completely Legal. It’s just Not An Act of Giving A Repressed Minority Community its Basic Human Rights, but It also Denotes That Our Country Is Changing. And This Time for The Better.
It Proves that Our Judiciary is Not a Weak, Corrupted, Outdated Institution. Its One of The Few Times in The Very Recent Times, when I felt Obsessively Proud to be An Indian, and The Only Time when It regarded Withholding Human Rights.
The Claims of The Religious Groups that it is Against God, Nature and 'Indian Culture' are Extremely Funny at Their Best and Extremely Gut Pukingly Disgusting at Their Worst. A Baba Ramdev Admiring Friend of Mine recently Lost Her Admiration after The Baba made His 17thCentury Era Comments on Homosexuality. And No, She was Fully Straight.
How come Sex between Two Consenting Adults Harm God? Hey! If God weren’t So Imaginative in That Department, then Gays wouldn't have Existed in The First Place. They Really didn't Come Along with Jadoo, We All Know That.
And Nature is Still Largely Unexplored that Making Claims like XYZ is Against Nature is Not Only Whole-ly Wrong, but Expresses The Person's Pea-Sized Understanding about The Very Nature They seem To be are Guarding.
And those Godsend Protectors of Indian Culture should First take a Crash Course in Ancient Indian Culture, Starting with a Field Trip to Khajuraho and then a Quick Look through Kama Sutra. When Ancient Temples, Scriptures and Mythology are Filled with LGBT References, then Which 'Indian Culture' are They Defending?
Do We even have a Composite 'Indian Culture' to Begin with? Such Questions Always remain Unanswered by the Moral Police in This Nation, and People Continue to Oppress and Be Oppressed.
-:Finite:-
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Or if not that, then they have to face Accusations of them being of 'Loose Character'. When would people learn that Manipur is not a City("yaar, it has a 'pur' naa, as in Nagpur and Kanpur
(photo taken from here.)
Ignorance is Bliss. That has been one of My Many Mantras that I use when needed. Life is a Little Too Complicated to be Governed by a Singular Thought. But this particular Mantra need not apply regarding Your Knowledge about Your Own Nation. It really is Dis-Heartening to know that People of Our Country know Peanuts about other areas in The Same Republic. When a Huge Uproar is being made about Indians being Attacked in Aussieland, it would also do Well to do a bit of Introspect, regarding the Prejudices people have about Both Foreigners and their Own Countrymen. Its Bitter, its Un-Pleasant, but its An Hard Truth that Decades of Dirty Politics and Prejudices have Succeeded in making Absolute Strangers out of Indians .
A south Indian is Perennially a Madrasi(though after Lola Kutty, one M has been Almost replaced by another, Malayali) and Santa and Banta are supposed to be the Official Representatives of Sardars. Worst is the case of North Easterns . They are outrightly ruled as Non-Indians("are unki ankhien dekhi hai naa"). So much so that a Khasi or Nishi(and I expect you know Who Exactly they are) would be made to feel like An Alien in the Capital of his Own Country, his Own Land
I am from the North East. Ethically I belong to the Mainland, but This has been my family, my community's land for Generations. I am supposedly 'Lucky' that I have 'Normal Features’. That I look 'More Indian'. That I don’t have to be mistaken as a Chinese or a Japanese everytime I visit New Delhi
And until That Day arrives, my NE Friends would continue to be called 'Chowmein Walley Chinkies' and would remain a Foreign Bunch of Peoples in their Own Country and among their Own Country(wo)men.
***
It is always a Social Service towards The Greater Good of the World when you Recruit some one New into the Ever Growing Club of Book Worms. Recently, I have done the same. My pal, Mr.XYZ, always wanted to be 'In'.
Time was when Harry Potter was THE Rage. Few Read the Books and Most Saw the Movies. The 'Readers' were Termed The Coolest Ones Ever. We had Our Own O.W.L.s Tests. Our Own fan Fics, with us Gliding and 'Magicing' in them. We knew All the Spells and Potions, and even Invented a Few of Our Own. And All were Awed.
So Mr. XYZ was (and still is) in Our Group, and incidentally All except Him had read the Books. It was Such a Shame, and Mr. XYZ felt Booed. So he asked for My Copy of ‘Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone’, and he was Determined to finish it. A Week Later, I found that he was still on Page 2. I felt Vexed, and Instantly took My Beloved Book away, while his Pleas echoed in the School Corridors left far behind My Back. I had Saved a Great Book from Disgrace. I was The Last Lost Templar Knight, and the Book was my Sangreal.
Cut to 2009. A few days back, while One of My Most Annoying And Closest Friends was browsing My Tiny Collection of Books (I had Borrowed his Borrowed 'Mein Kamf', which was in Very Plain Terms, Very Plain), Mr. XYZ felt an Urge again. He borrowed My Only Copy of 'The Adventures Of Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys' and read it All. And I was Scandalised. That was the First Book he completed in My Knowing. Next went 'Dracula', which wasnt similarily Admired. Blood Suckers out, Hormonal Detectives in.
After that he Read and Lost an entire collection of Drew and the Hardys. And then Another. When I was going to suggest 'White Fang', My Inner All Knowing Self warned against it, and I Heeded. And later I knew Why.
Weeks later, he came and asked for Chetan Bhagat's 'The Three Mistakes Of My Life'. Then 'A Night @ The Call Center', and last mein 'Five Point Someone'. Now I dont have Anything Against Bhagat. I like His Books, albeit on a Different Level than others. He Writes, well Okayish and I Do own All of his Works. His words are first analysed for their Commercial Value, and then Inked on the Paper. At Rs. 100, his books are like those Mass Produced Chinese Products. No High Performance, just Temporary Entertainment.
So Mr. XYZ fell in Love with Bhagat, and then He let Me know that I read Boring, Thick Books (hello, 'The Godfather' is NOT boring. The only Boring Books that I ever read were My Textbooks and Jerome K. Jerome's 'Three Men In A Boat'). But that’s what happens to Obsessive Bhagat Lovers, they begin to Lick those Chinese Goods-Like Books only.
Khair chodo, the Good Thing is that he finally began to read Literature other than those Dry, Un-Refreshing Refreshers. Any thing Other than that is Welcome.
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My Bucket List. And not Balti List.
No, I am not Diagnosed with Cancer, nor am I planning on Suicide in the Very Near Future, but keeping the List ready is called Liberal Use of Practicality, though ‘ The Others’ would like Us to Believe Otherwise. Who would let Them know that in the Time of Need, no Time will be Wasted in Writing up a List? (Wow, that actually Rhymed.)
(in random order)
- Go on a road trip from Majuli(Assam) to Tawang(Arunachal Pradesh) to Kohima(Nagaland) to Imphal(Manipur) to Aizawl(Mizoram) to Silchar(Assam) to Shillong(Meghalaya) to Guwahati(Assam) to Darjeeling(W.B.) to Gangtok(Sikkim) to Lhasa(Tibet and not China) to Ladakh(J&K) to Srinagar(J&K) to Amritsar(Punjab) to Lahore(Pakistani Punjab) to Karachi(Sindh) to Peshawar(NWFP/ Pakhtoonkhwa). But I have to earn my License first, after Learning to Drive. Then I have to get my Passport made, and clear all the Foreign Office Complications. Whoever said Technology made things Easier? Eh?
- Learn to speak French. I seriously do wish to see Paris Je T’aime and Amelie without the subtitles on! Also to tour
- Learn to do the Tango! And Salsa! And Waltz! And Rumba! Seriously, they look so Sexy/Classy and you stay in Shape too. Plus again, your Social Standing increases like increasing Potato Prices. Or more like the recent biggest Single Day Gain in Two Decades for our Stock Market Prices (17.34% to be more exact, but Tango results in a Double Rate Gain for your Social Status).
- Go and give one Tight Slap on Modi/Advani’s face. And No Sorry, BJP-Wallos. Or I can try the more in vogue way of Throwing Shoes. Mom sure will lend me her Shoes for this use, and the Heels will Hurt A Lot Too. Yay!
- Visit my Ancestral Land in
- Open a Restaurant, either a) on the Beaches of Goa, or b) in
- Scrap the Section 377 of the Indian Constitution. To legalize Same-Sex Marriage every where and Improve people’s views about Homosexuals, Sex-Workers and AIDS Patients. To formally legalize Conversion, Abortion and Inter-Caste/Religion Marriage, and to provide State Punishment to those who like to irritate people on these basis. To abolish Religious Political Groups and have friendly relations with all our Neighbouring Countries. Ah, oh so politically/socially vibrant mind of mine! Thee surprise mine consciousness!
- Complete a Story and get it Published by a Reputed Publishing House. Seriously, one of my zillion Un-Finished Stories may fetch
- Get invited to The Cannes Festival, and rub my In-significant, Non-Designer Clothes laden shoulders with the Rich and the Famous, and see ‘Quality, Meaningful, Serious’ Films and try act like a High Class, High Taste babu.
- Have a Big Library containing all My Favourite Books and a separate one for all My Favourite Movies and Music, which, upon My Death, would be Donated to My Dearest Friends and a Few Select Relatives and to the Local Red Cross Organisation.
And thus ends my Humble Bucket List, though it will be very much subjected to Change in the Coming Future. Not a very Ideal Thing to post as your First Blog, but then, Who is trying to be Ideal in the First Place?
