Roads to Mussoorie is a memorable evocation of a writer’s surroundings and the role they have played in his work and life.
With an endearing affection and nostalgia for his home of over forty years, Ruskin bond describes his many journeys to, from and around Mussoorie, and then delves into the daily scandals surrounding his life and friends in the (not so) sleepy hill town. The pieces in this collection are characterized by an incorrigible sense of humour and an eye for ordinary-and most often unnoticed-details that are so essential to the geographic, social and cultural fabric of a place.
During the years he spent among the Marsh Arabs of southern Iraq-long before they were almost completely wiped out by Saddam Hussein-Wilfred Thesiger came to understand, admire, and share a way of life that had endured for many centuries.
Traveling from village to village by canoe, he won acceptance by dispensing medicine and treating the sick. In this account of a nearly lost civilization, he pays tribute to the hospitality, loyalty, courage, and endurance of the people, and describes their impressive reed houses, the waterways and lakes teeming with wildlife, the herding of buffalo and hunting of wild boar, moments of tragedy, and moments of pure comedy in vivid, engaging detail.
On 6 June 2004, Frank Gardner and cameraman Simon Cumbers were in a suburb of Riyadh, filming a report on Al-Qaeda when they were confronted by Islamist gunmen. Simon was killed outright. Frank was brought down by shots in the shoulder and leg. As he lay bleeding in the street, a figure stood over him and pumped four more bullets into him at point blank range…
Against all the odds, Frank Gardner survived and this is his remarkable account of the agonizing journey he has taken – from being shot and left for dead to where he is today, partly paralysed but alive. It is a journey that really began 25 years earlier when a chance meeting with explorer Wilfred Thesiger inspired what would become a lifelong passion for the Arab world. This would take him throughout the Middle East and eventually lead to his becoming a BBC journalist. And, in the wake of the events of 9/11, this passion sent him on the journey that came to dominate – and nearly end – his life: his coverage of Al-Qaeda.
Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan – Erika Fatland
Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan became free of the Soviet Union in 1991. But though they are new to modern statehood, this is a region rich in ancient history, culture, and landscapes unlike anywhere else in the world.
Traveling alone, Erika Fatland is a true adventurer in every sense. In Sovietistan, she takes the reader on a compassionate and insightful journey to explore how their Soviet heritage has influenced these countries, with governments experimenting with both democracy and dictatorships.
In Kyrgyzstani villages, she meets victims of the tradition of bride snatching; she visits the huge and desolate Polygon in Kazakhstan where the Soviet Union tested explosions of nuclear bombs; she meets shrimp gatherers on the banks of the dried out Aral Sea; she witnesses the fall of a dictator.
She travels incognito through Turkmenistan, a country that is closed to journalists. She meets exhausted human rights activists in Kazakhstan, survivors from the massacre in Osh in 2010, and German Mennonites that found paradise on the Kyrgyzstani plains 200 years ago. We learn how ancient customs clash with gas production and witness the underlying conflicts between ethnic Russians and the majority in a country that is slowly building its future in nationalist colors.
Once the frontier of the Soviet Union, life follows another pace of time. Amidst the treasures of Samarkand and the brutalist Soviet architecture, Sovietistan is a rare and unforgettable adventure.
Tomorrow is World Book and Copyright Day, a day I enjoy and celebrate because well, books!
Celebrated on 23 April each year, the day is a celebration to promote the enjoyment of books and reading. The idea for celebrating this day originated in Catalonia where on 23 April, St George’s Day, a rose is traditionally given as a gift for each book sold. The date of 23 April is also symbolic for world literature, for on this date and in the same year, 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. In the UK and Ireland, World Book Day is celebrated earlier in the year, usually on the first Thursday in March, to ensure it falls outside of school holidays.
The pandemic and isolation we faced showed us how important books are to maintain mental balance. Books are an individual’s best friend and to those who do not like reading, I always say they haven’t found a book or genre they love yet. Books are amazingly powerful tools to combat isolation, reinforce ties between people, expand horizons and all this while stimulating our minds and creativity.
When one reads, they exercise their comprehension abilities and analytical abilities. Reading fires up the imagination and stimulates the memory centres of the mind, helps recall information as well as stabilise emotions. The importance of a reading habit is that it strengthens mental muscles. Reading is one of the best mental workouts there is and it has been found that regular mental stimulation can slow down and possibly even prevent diseases like Alzheimer’s and Dementia because reading keeps the mind agile and young.
Each year a city is designated as the World Book Capital that undertakes activities to encourage a culture of reading and diffusing its values in all ages and population groups in and out of their country’s borders and spend the year between one World Book and Copyright Day and the next to promote books and fostering a reading culture. The World Book Capital for 2022 is Guadalajara in Mexico. The city, already a UNESCO Creative City since 2017, was selected for its comprehensive plan for policies around the book to trigger social change, combat violence and build a culture of peace. Guadalajara’s proposed programme focuses on three strategic axes: regaining public spaces through reading activities in parks and other accessible places; social bonding and cohesion especially through reading and writing workshops for children; and strengthening of neighbourhood identity using intergenerational connections, story-telling and street poetry.
Tomorrow, make sure you take some time to do some reading, be it a physical book or an e-book. Reading fiction can help one be more open-minded and creative, live longer and be successful in life. So grab a book, make time for yourself and discover new worlds.
Memories and Such 