World of Books and Travel

1. “A novel is an impression, not an argument; and there the matter must rest.” —Thomas Hardy 2.“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” —Oscar Wilde 3.“Begin with an individual, and before you know it you have created a type; begin with a type, and you find you have created—nothing.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald 4.“Everybody else is working to change, persuade, tempt and control them. The best readers come to fiction to be free of all that noise.” —Philip Roth 5.“If I waited for perfection… I would never write a word.” —Margaret Atwood 6.“It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer.” —Gerald Brenan 7. “Sit down to write what you have thought, and not to think about what you shall write.” —William Cobbett 8.“Love is the only energy I’ve ever used as a writer. I’ve never written out of anger, although anger has informed love.” —Athol Fugard

Happy Vishu to all my friends. Vishu is an important festival of Kerala State (India) and it is celebrated as the New Year of the State, and even considered as an auspicious day. This regional New Year is celebrated in many other states of India too, but with different names. The year 2016 Vishu is a bit different to me. I am celebrating my Vishu with my daughter and family at London. My little grandson (6 plus) is highly enthralled to see the Vishukkani, early in the morning. He unusually was up from his bed earlier than his usual time and began to call me out. He wanted me to bring him with his eyes closed, to see the Vishukkani. After seeing the Vishukkani, I gave him vishukkaineetam and he was even more thrilled. He was eager to go and talk about it with his friends in the school. Though his mother used to keep Vishukkani every year, this year it was altogether a different experience to him. More about Vishu can be read here and here.