Tag: reading

Authors, Book Reviews

“To Kill A Mockingbird”by Harper Lee

To start with, I owe a debt of gratitude to the late Ms Harper Lee for two things. The first is for her outstanding book, ” To Kill A Mockingbird” originally published in 1960. This has since become a classic in American literature. I am truly astonished that I had never read this before.

The second (and more meaningful for me personally) is that “Mockingbird” is the first book I have read in months! Not having posted here since March 2026 indicates reading or writing about bookshow age, lethargy, a lack of interest or other factors combined to keep me away from reading books or writing about them. And to think I always was a voracious reader all my life!!

I guess you can put it down to one’s taste, but I have always had a particular liking for books written in the first person. The story in “To Kill A Mockingbird” is spelt out by young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch , a girl growing up in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. Here she lives with her father Atticus Finch ( a lawyer and a member of the state legislature) and her elder brother, Jeremy “Jem” Finch. Since her mother had passed away when she was just two, Scout has been looked after by Calpurnia, their black cook and housekeeper. Remember this book was published in 1960- before the Civil Rights laws came into being. Terms like blacks, Negroes and worse were freely used then. It’s only in more recent times that it has become politically correct to refer to them as African-Americans. You will know that Alabama was a hard core Southern state where slavery flourished. The book is set in the 1930s. Slavery had long been abolished but there was a major racial divide between the whites and the blacks in these parts of the United States.

The racial divide is brought out in the courtroom when a white girl Mayella Ewell accuses Tom Robinson, a black, of having assaulted and raped her in her house. Atticus Finch defends Robinson to the best of his ability in the court of Judge Taylor. The author weaves a gripping plot moving from the past to the present – recounted often by “Scout” Finch who describes what she sees and hears. She is an exceptionally intelligent young girl, full of questions and eager to find out answers- which are not forthcoming. The book dwells on the different perspectives of both the whites and blacks that feature in the story. The underlying racial prejudices and tensions are written about with great sensitivity. There is a certain charm about the book as events are seen through the eyes of a young girl.

Ms Lee was born and lived in Alabama herself. Much of what she writes about is based on her own experience and observations of life around her. This enabled her to write such graphic descriptions of the characters in the book, such as Calpurnia, Atticus’s sister Alexandra, Mayella Ewell, or their neighbor Miss Maudie Atkinson!

“To Kill A Mockingbird” was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961. It was made into a highly successful movie in 1962 with Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch and Mary Badham as Jean Louise Finch. It won many awards as well the following year.

I am happy that I read “To Kill A Mockingbird” while I could!! If you have not read it yet, I would urge you to read it as an example of excellent story telling.

In The News, My Take

Towards A Healthy Life

It was a little difficult to digest at first but I had to accept my friend was right. She pointed out that we were now in the eighth decade of our lives!! When you get to my age, you tend to be more philosophical about things around you. One thing is certain- your health is key to your overall success in life. I know of many cases of very wealthy people not being able to enjoy what they have earned. Not because they don’t want to spend, but because their health just does not allow them to live the life they would like to. Indeed, health is wealth!

Paying attention to health is not just for older people as was the popular opinion in my youth! If anything, it applies more to younger people than ever before. I was astonished to read that in Bengaluru doctors have found a 30 % increase in people in their 30s having bypass surgery!

Stress levels too are growing alarmingly as seen by that startling statistic in the previous paragraph! In my experience, reading has been a good habit to cultivate and pursue across all ages. Read from your device or from a physical book – but do read! I know that many young people don’t read as much as we used to at their age. “Where’s the time, uncle?” is a plaintive cry! The answer is simple. You have to make time for what you consider important. Check out this article by Jim Kwik. Investing just 30 minutes a day to reading- whatever you like- can do your health a world of good.

And for us older folk? Critical is the need to keep our brain engaged and active! Most of the points mentioned in this article from the Harvard Medical School on keeping your brain young appear to be just common sense! But as the old gag goes, common sense is sadly often uncommon!

Abraham Lincoln put it so well when he said, ” “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

On Writing: Resources for Writers

Enjoy Your Writing

Writers often speak of Writer’s Block and allied obstacles to the entire process of writing. May be you aren’t able to make time for writing, may be you are not satisfied with your output, or may be you are not motivated to write as you once were. I decided to share my thoughts and those of others to budding and seasoned writers alike.

Sadly we are in the midst of the gloom of the Covid 19 Pandemic which is hitting us so badly all over the world. What can we do to write and make ourselves -and hopefully others around us who read our work- more happy?

I keep harping on the need for writers to never stop reading! You can read whatever interests you but do read. In the process, you pick up many tips, consciously or otherwise on what successful writers do in presenting their stories. There is so much to read out there that techniques of speed reading also help us in this world of information overkill. This article in Buffer.com tells you how to read more to write better.

If, like me, you enjoy reading short stories and would like to try writing one, please check out this article by Jerry Jenkins on How To Write A Short Story That Captivates Your Reader. I particularly liked the description of how Ernest Hemingway accepted the challenge to write a story in less than 10 words! He wrote: ” For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.“. How impactful and gut wrenching! But then Hemingway was a genius, wasn’t he?

Kurt Vonnegut has shared his tips to write a great short story. My favourite in his list: “Every sentence must do one of two things–reveal character or advance the action”. If it does neither, don’t use it. As simple as that!

For a more technical and comprehensive approach, do read: “Short Story Writing For Beginners: A Guide” by Writer and Freelancer, N A Turner. This is a good article which details the different elements involved in writing a short story. It highlights that writing is not only about sitting someplace and waiting for That Great Story Idea to hit you!

To conclude, listen to what one of my favourite writers, Stephen King said : “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut… If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write.”

I hope this blog post kindles the interest in writing in you, or in some cases, re-kindles that dormant interest. Happy writing, and of course before that- happy reading!!

"Glimpses of a Glorious Past", My Take, The Lawrence School, Lovedale

Thank you, Mr Mohanraj!

The Old Lawrencians Association, the alumni outfit of The Lawrence School, Lovedale has initiated an interesting virtual event called the OL Assembly. I have written about this in my blog post of November 20, 2020 mainly because ” Glimpses Of A Glorious Past: An Informal History of The Lawrence School, Lovedale” – which I edited- will feature every month, at least for the next few months.

There were many interesting features in the December event but one that was very important for me was the interaction with Mr V M Mohanraj. He used to be the Librarian at Lovedale when we studied there. VMM served there for 40 years, in the process becoming as permanent a fixture in the Lovedale environment as the thousands of old books in his library. I didn’t know till recently that both of us began our association with Lovedale in the same year – 1959. I joined the Prep School as a young boy in Std 3 and he joined as the Librarian.

We had a fabulous collection of books in the Library. I am sure if many of us Lawrencians are avid readers it was because we were gently encouraged to read more by Mr Mohanraj. He instilled in us a love for books and reading which has stood the test of time. To quote Mr Mohanraj, a Librarian goes beyond being a manager of libraries. He is a guide, mentor, educator and facilitator. This is from his book, ” Mulitifacted Librarian” published in 1988. I was happy to see he has written and translated a number of books as you will see from Amazon India.

I am sure he will be pleased to know that a number of us from Lovedale have over time written and published books on a variety of subjects. Indeed, it is a happy co-incidence that I completed 10 years as a writer in November 2020. My debut novel, a psychological thriller called, ” It Can’t Be You”, was published in 2010. I am glad to see is still available in Amazon. My second thriller, ” Lucky For Some 13″ -published in 2012 -to maintain the balance- is available in Flipkart!

From an early age we were voracious readers, devouring books as fast as we could get them! This influenced us, I have no doubt, to want to write some day! I am happy that – even if it was virtually- we got a chance to interact with Mr Mohanraj, who is now in his 90s.

I think I speak for many Old Lawrencians – across the decades- who caught the reading bug early when I say, ” Thank you, Mr Mohanraj!