Travelling without moving your feet

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When we were children, we had a godrej cupboard full of books - a real treasure trove filled with children's books, classics, travelogues, recipe books, books on architecture, ecology, sustainable living, history, politics, autobiographies, comics  - 'eclectic' is the word. We even had clippings of Tintin and Phantom, painstakingly cut out from newspapers by my father, classified according to date and bound into a book! Sadly, by the time we began to read through them, the termites had already chomped their way through, creating what they must have thought aesthetic shapes and patterns, much to our irritation.

Browsing through all these books was a favourite past time. I enjoyed it thoroughly though I cannot say that I understood what they were all about ! The kinds of books that I liked most were those with paintings or photographs in them, of exotic places, people, animals, food, strange customs and traditions. So, I suppose that's when I really learned to travel. I pored over them over and over, the Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu, Kyoto....I was a globetrotter by the age of 12 :-) ( Do you think this would qualify me for a world record?)

Readers' digest sent these delightful books which were designed beautifully and meticulously compiled. We still have them. I think they had a class to them that I don't really see in today's books.

I know most people are upset about not getting a chance to travel because of the Covid-19. Why not turn to books? Sure, there are videos and I suppose they have a charm of their own,since you get to see places in real time. But books and the words they contain, leave so much for the mind to wander and make its own assumptions and create a world - like a jigsaw puzzle that you piece together in your unique way. Let's read to travel?

Kavayyi lake, Payannur


Recommendation - I am reading this excellent book ' Inside Goa' written by Manohar Malgonkar and illustrated by Mario De Miranda. It is a beautifully written history of Goa worth reading. 

Comments

  1. Radhika Prabul11 July 2020 at 22:41

    Short and sweet, takes you back through a memory lane, filled with childhood treasures

    ReplyDelete
  2. Radhika Prabul11 July 2020 at 22:41

    Short and sweet, takes you back through a memory lane, filled with childhood treasures

    ReplyDelete

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