No writing - Only reading.

My last post was on May 2nd. More than two weeks! In the normal course I should have cooked up something or the other to bug my friends. If I sit in front of the computer and urge my brain to bring up something, it usually obliges and proves that it exists. I have not been able to do that. Our computer is in a room that faces west and it gets very hot in the evenings and night. I have got an AC fitted to the other room and it is very tempting. I determine to write something and sit in front of the computer. But the determination does not last more than five minutes. Five minutes pass before I locate the brain. Forget about urging it to bring up something and wait for it. On top of it, after a long time I got some kannada books to read. So, between struggling to make up something for the blog in a hot room and relaxing in a cool place with a good book in hand, the second option always wins.

I had to go to Dharwad last month to attend a wedding and got some kannada books from Manohara grantha maala and Samaja pustakaalaya. I have no idea about the new authors and titles in kannada and it was not easy to select books. So, I just made a year’s subscription to Manohara grantha maala and got a set of their latest publishings. Three of them turned out to be to my liking. “Tukkappa mastara” a collection of short stories from Sri Chandrakanta kusnoor the language of which ( authentic north Karnataka) I liked though there wasn’t much of a story anywhere, “Shurpaliya acharyaru” a novel by Sri Katti sheshaachaarya- picturing the life of an orthodox madhwa brahmin priest, said to have been based on “Vicar of wakefield”. I liked the subject, narration and language. Incidentally “vicar of wakefield” was my text book in high school and I don’t think I got beyond the second page. I do not know how I passed in English. May be I just mugged up the question and answers dictated by out teacher. After reading “shurpaliya acharyaru” I want to read “vicar of wakefield”.

The third one is a sort of collection of anecdotes – “Saahitya lokada sutta mutta” by Sri Giraddi Govindaraja. It contained two anecdotes regarding my uncle Sri J R Lakshamana Rao, praising his courtesy and cultured behavior, and I was happy that I got that book. It feels very nice to read such things about a person on whom I have lot of respect and affection. I have one book left. “Nele” by Sri S L Bhyrappa. Though I like his earlier books like “Vamshavriksha”,“Tabbaliyu neenaademagane”, “Grihabhanga” etc very much, his recent books like “Saartha”, “Anchu”, “Tantu”, “Mandra” and others have been rather difficult to digest. I have no idea how “Nele” will be.
By the time I finish that, it will be time for me to leave for the airport. So probably - ‘Inshallah’- I will be typing my next post from the US. Bye till then.