A nation of readers

I appear to be hooked on to the iPlayer! And I have literally just finished watching this brilliant documentary called 'How reading made us modern'. Fantastic stuff about the history of reading, how an entire nation fell in love with the written word. From the time that a licence was required to publish books, to the perceived threat to women's morality from reading, from the norm of reading aloud around the fire to the cafe culture of book clubs, this film has it all. If you are a book lover you just cannot afford to miss this one. It is on the iPlayer till 18 February 2009 so hurry!

Discoveries

Some good ones have been made recently. Found a lovely shade of not-quite-pink, not-quite-purple wool, got the paperback version of Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence, and stumbled upon the BBC iPlayer. Life has definitely changed for the better!

As I surfed about the iPlayer, this is what I came across. Why reading matters, a documentary on how reading shapes the human brain, what it does to us when we engage with the written word and why it is important not to lose the skill, possibly to other interactive media such as video games. The programme focussed on the creation of empathy in the mind of the reader (Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights), the sparks of genius encountered in Shakespeare's writing and the inter-connectedness that reading, an aquired skill, builds in the human brain. Very interesting insights indeed, but there is so much more to reading that I'm afraid an hour long documentary just couldn't do justice to the activity. What about the cultural learning, the escaping into a different world, the toying with language and the sheer process of discovery? And the many other brilliantly subtle and blatantly obvious things that reading does to us. Sure reading matters, but why it does is something that each person discovers for herself, in the same way as experiences shape life. Or perhaps I just love reading too much to want it to be reduced to bullet point justifications, fighting for survival against gaming and television.

Especially for you…

Dear D! The one who is smitten by the Enchanted Wood and the Faraway Tree. The one who is charmed by tea and cakes and gentle railway journeys by the English countryside.

My dear friend settled in the sunny locales of the land down under, this chocolate truffle cake was baked especially for you, to entice you to the dreary, chilly, wet, quintessentially English weather of my country of residence!

As you said, it is rainy and cold outside, but my house is warm and smells of chocolate. And I saw a very interesting documentary this afternoon called Iran and the West while knitting pieces of the blanket. A very satisfying day indeed, I really couldn’t ask for more :-)

What does one do...

...during maternity leave? Not knowing what the done thing is, the major preoccupation at this end has been one of trying to mentally prepare self for big change. And it seems change is around everywhere.

Almost everyone I know is going through some biggish change is life, work or home related. The one that got me thinking was the big one T is getting into - marriage. For obvious reasons, chatting with her about her upcoming wedding reminds me of mine, and the changes that brought. For quite a while, I wondered if I could have better prepared myself for it. I no longer think that way. As I await yet another momumental change in life, I can't but help wonder, is it at all possible to prepare for change?

It is easy to buy baby clothes, feeding bottles, prams and cots. It takes time to develop a bond with the baby, understand her/him and treat one as an individual, not just an extension of yourself. Just as it is easy to buy new clothes, make-up, furniture and curtains before the wedding - but it is another ball game altogether to live with someone under one roof, day in and day out, understanding why they behave the way they do and arriving at a discussion pattern that might be a little less your style but much better suited to the new dynamic relationship called wife & husband. Can one ever prepare for this?

Meanwhile, women continue to be beaten for going into pubs in India, little girls continue to be harassed by policemen, Barack Obama continues to try to change the gloomy economic situation in the US and snow continues to fall over most of England, Wales and Scotland. And I have decided that before my parents arrive here (in 4 days time) I must finish knitting the baby blanket that I started making in August - there, now that I have said it, I have to finish it in time. Time to get a-knitting... Lets start with a slice of banana cake :-)

Snowed in!

Yesterday was day 1 of maternity leave. I was nervous about being alone at home, not knowing what to do with myself and all the time on my hands. I bid a rather sorrowful goodbye to A as he headed for work. Poured myself a glass of orange juice, felt guilty about sulking so, and thought I might go to the balcony and wave a bit more cheerfully to my dear hubby.

The sight that greeted me was quite spectacular. Snow covered everything from road to lamp-post and I saw my neighbour walking back home from the train station. This could only mean one thing - we had been successfully snowed in! Yahoooooooooooooo!

I ran to locate my cellphone and as I pressed the button to call A, he had already walked into the house. With a sheepish grin on his face, he said that all trains had been cancelled, all public transport had come to a freezing halt, and my long-standing dream of us getting snowed in had come true! Nobody was going to work this monday morning!

Well such beautiful opportunities don't come your way often! We had to make the best of it - and we did!

A Wednesday

What a day yesterday! It started out with the heaviest snow we have ever come across, resulting in a slow, cosy, relaxed day at home, and ended with a brilliant super-fast paced thriller. I am referring to A Wednesday, the Naseeruddin Shah/Anupam Kher treat. A crisp, tight plot, gripping story sans waffle - a very pleasant watch indeed. Naseer, of course, is out of this world - so common as a common man, the humility and everydayness coating every word that he speaks and every gesture he makes. Anupam, a fine actor, did perfect justice to the role which could very well have ended up with commercial, jingoistic tones. Jimmy Shergill and Aamir Bashir were both fantastically restrained - I have liked Bashir since his Alpaviram days and think he is capable of a lot more.

A quick word on the plot. Remarkably well executed, the minor twists and major movements matter-of-factly presented added to the charm. But why the sermon in the end? The only reason it was half acceptable was because Naseer was so good at it, so convincing and real.

Overall, the perfect recipe for a winter evening that you want to spend in the company of a great cast, a gripping plot and a very well made film.