A booklover’s tryst with Amitav Ghosh and all writers Indian….
I feel drenched. This is perhaps the second time after Vairamuthu’s “ Thaneer Desam ” that I read a book on troubled Indian waters. “The Hungry Tide” is penned by Amitav Ghosh, Indian by birth and going by his writings, Indian- rather Bengali- by thought. Nostalgia affects everything. Our desires, interests, pursuits…It spares nothing. I love Ilaiyaraja’s compositions. His songs from the 1980’s give me solace whenever I feel alone and restless but I cannot equal the fervor with which my appa listens to his tunes. Some songs never fail to moisten his eyes. He has lived through an era in which Ilaiyaraja ruled over people’s senses. His admiration for the Maestro therefore will always be greater than mine. And nostalgia is the same reason why the British classic “ Jane Eyre ” will remain my favourite book and I am reluctant to let any book replace it. I cannot sum up with words the kind of emotions that welled up in me when I first read it as a pre-teen. Whe...