From Deepa's Desk

  The author of this book, Sanjoy Mookerjee has been the Financial Commissioner of Indian Railways. In this book, the author brings to life tales of yore centered around the Indian Railways. There is technical know-how, there is mystery, drama and lots of light-hearted humor in these tales. If you are a railway-enthusiast, particularly of the Indian Railways, you will love this book. Each chapter is a tribute to the world’s largest railway network under a single management. You can feel the author’s passion for the railways, a passion that was triggered when the author was just a child. Through his tales, we get a tantalizing glimpse into the great organization of the Indian Railway. There are so many facets to this that we never notice. Be it the train or the station, railway employees are everywhere, doing the minutest of work to ensure the smooth functioning of the network.   As the author mentions (with obvious pride), ‘Indian Railways is indeed a State within a Stat...

  Poby and Polly is a delightful series featuring a young girl named Polly, her wise old friend Poby who is a polar bear and priceless conversations between these two that impart unforgettable life-lessons to the reader. I have to mention this in the review, that this series was born out of real-life conversations that the author had with her son. Life certainly is the best teacher of all, and this book beautifully validates this fact. There are two books in this series – Essence of Life and Essence of Friendship. I have read both the books and loved them. Essence of Friendship, through innocent, simple and soulful conversations between Poby and Polly, teaches timeless lessons that will stay with the reader forever. Reading this book is like having a hot soup on a cold, rainy and dark day. The book has been written at leisure and should be read at leisure too! The power of patience, the effect of pausing before judging (which has been portrayed through a delightful chapter ti...

  One fine evening, as journalist/author Bishwanath Ghosh, while travelling in the Gorakhpur – Trivandrum Express from Kanpur to Chennai (then Madras), stepped out at Itarsi Junction to stretch his legs and relish a cup of tea, he realized that there were many such junctions, places where numerous trains halt every day, but not much is known about these junctions. Most travelers are familiar with the halts and the names of these stations, yet not many know about the history, culture and lifestyle followed at these places. This gave an idea to the author to write a book on places, specifically junctions, where trains and travelers halt briefly but whose by-lanes, cities and towns remain unsung. The book is a travel-memoir, one can say, of the author’s brief tryst with Mughal Sarai, Jhansi, Itarsi, Guntakal, Arakkonam, Jolarpettai and Shoranur. – all junctions that connect one place to another and yet most travelers stay unconnected with. The author has crafted a wonderful narrativ...

  Today, the earth is apparently spinning faster than usual and the day will be 1.45 milliseconds shorter, as per the news from the astronomical world. 1.45 milliseconds – such a tiny dot in the grand scheme of time, and yet it will make some difference, I guess. The other day I was reading Chicken Soup For The Indian Spiritual Soul, and I came across a beautiful passage – A whole day! What an unending infinity that is in childhood! Time had altogether a different dimension then, a measure that is its own. As life advances, this ‘measure’ loses its generosity, shrinks in experience, passing so rapidly. Perhaps, because by then watches and clocks begin to devour time by the micro-second, and that too insatiably. What was it about childhood that felt so leisurely and slow-paced, like we had all the time in the world to do whatever we wanted to? The weekly holiday was only on Sundays and they were all the more precious because of this. Waking up early (because there was the whol...

  I have always been fascinated with the mountains. Reading the books of Ruskin Bond only added fuel to the fire. His books are always based on mountainous regions, small towns nestled in lofty hills and forests abounding with pine trees. It was during my first visit to Shimla that I got a view of the Himalayan mountain range. To say that I was left spell-bound would be an understatement. The Himalayas aren’t just mountains. They harbor simple towns where people follow varied rituals and traditions, most of which aren’t very well-known. In her book Tales From The Himalayas, the author Priyanka Pradhan has shared some of the facets of life in the mountains through beautiful and heartwarming tales. I came to know a lot of terms unique to the mountains. Take for instance, the Masak Been, a bag-pipe native to the North of India. I came across the story of Nain Singh Rawat, the first man in the world to explore Tibet on foot. There are delightful tales of snow leopards, the beauti...

  If I could put three things from my childhood into a time capsule, they would definitely be my childhood home, my school and my friends. A Home Like None Other I lived in a 1 BHK flat in a building named Dayanand. We were a large family – my paternal grandmother, my parents, my uncle, myself and my sister. Accommodating all these people in a small flat was no mean feat. Add to it, the numerous relatives, my friends and those of my sister’s - my home was always houseful. And yet, we never felt suffocated or congested. There was always place for everyone. My uncle and my grandmother would sleep in the bedroom. My parents, myself and my sister would sleep in the hall. This room had windows that opened out to the verandah. Being the corner flat in the ground floor, our home was blessed with a large verandah. On summer nights, the windows would be open to let some air in. My favorite memory is that of looking out at the coconut tree that stood behind the wall of the verandah, wh...

  You can never go wrong with Ruskin’s books. You will never regret reading them. I have been a fan of this wonderful author since a very long time. I have read many of his books, and many are on my TBR. Nature and the spirit of humanity and not to forget, the essence of India, make Ruskin’s books a sheer delight to read. Like all his books, Rhododendrons In The Mist doesn’t disappoint. It is a collection of both short and long stories. The book is available in Kindle edition. The book is divided into two parts – part 1 being The Dark Side Of Mountains and part 2 being Himalayan Drama. As the name suggests, part 1 deals with some dark stories from mountainous regions. To be honest, I read one and skipped the entire part, not because it wasn’t good, but because I find written horror much more impactful than visual horror. I guess that when you watch a horror movie or scene, you have the horrifying element in front of you to see for yourself and it somewhat limits the impact. B...