What We've Been Reading

In Darjeeling, we spent an evening in a bookstore.  The shelves were crowded and appeared disorganized, with many books in piles, some appearing quite worn.  But as I walked through, I began noticing titles I have loved to read, and titles on my list to read soon.  With the realization that I quite liked the buyers, the shop changed from disorganized to charmingly cluttered and the stacks called to me to dig through them.  And dig we did.

We are enjoying so many things in India, but one breath of fresh air for us has been language.  We speak no Hindi, but neither do many other Indians.  India is a nation of languages.  A quick google search showed that India has 22 official languages, and the cited number of mother tongues varies from 438 to 1,652.  Over the years, I have grown comfortable not understanding the conversations swirling around me on the street, but now I am loving having the chance to approach a stranger for help.  Likewise, I loved entering this bookshop and finding it well stocked with Indian authors.

I often judge a book by its cover, and so I picked up The Vendor of Sweets that evening and read it on the airplane journey home the next day.  It was a quick and easy read and opened up a world that I have never seen anywhere else - a simple story told from an Indian author to an Indian audience.  Reading about a country is fascinating, but reading within the country, by and for the country, was a real treat.

I won't spend any time on analysis.  It is on my shelf if you'd like to read it, but I won't suggest you seek it out.  However, I am much encouraged to begin grabbing books off of the shelves in bookstores around the country.  This new window into this culture is such a joy.