Back to books

 Since we moved to this house, which is far away from the library, I have been trying to restart the habit of reading. Multiple times. Unsuccessfully. 

The apple devices have an inbuilt app called books where you can download many of the classics and read them. The UI is really beautiful - feels as if you are turning the pages of the book. So I downloaded many books and tried reading them. Could not go beyond first 50 pages. Then I went to Project gutenberg and pdfworld and downloaded books from them to this app. Still unable to read. Not for the lack of time obviously. 

Then one fine day I joined this redit group called 52 books. The idea is to read 52 books in an year, which is reading a book per week. And decided I will take up my physical book collection to start with. And took Doris Lessing's The four gated city as the first book.

I may need a month or two. I will need two months time to finish the book as it is enormous 650+ pages. But still I got hooked. 

The hero of the book is Martha. Martha has left her home in African country and has been living in war ravaged London. She is living as a nomad almost. Working in cafes and staying in poor neighbourhoods and literally living in the moment. She keeps thinking that this lifestyle will have to stop, she has to take up a serious job. She walks on the road observing how the city has changed due to war, how people are unwilling to live the life and how the class struggle is being portrayed as a much larger ill. 

When there is a change - some kind of a calamity, the populace find it very hard to accept the fact and adjust to new life. No, I am not equating the after effects of world war to covid situation. But I can see the similarities. 

On an unrelated note, the evening sound shrills of news channels have made me realise something which we ought to share with you. The media persons - AG and his clones, do not realise that they are not working in journalism but in defence. They have been relentlessly, passionately, and very loudly been defending the rulers. Hey, guys, ask for what is due to you. Does this comment put me in a no-fly list for a few months? Any ways, I don't plan to fly any time soon. Vazan kuch badh gaya hai!