Life is a Circle

My dad has always been a very busy man. My brother and I would watch him from the sidelines with awe and reverence as he kept pace with his hectic schedule and countless work commitments. Dad was not to be bothered with mundane daily updates about our lives and consequently almost never knew what the kids were up to.

I was 13 when he found out that I was fond of reading books. The discovery was made thanks to a complaint from my mother. It was the summer holidays of ’94 and Amma was worried about my latest obsession. As is the way of children, every summer holiday I was in the throes of a new craze . This time round it was books. I had enrolled with a nearby library and had challenged myself with the task of reading a book a day. So every 24 hours I would be back at the library to check out a new book. Even the gentleman who manned the desk there was mildly concerned.

The task was not easily accomplished as one can imagine. I did nothing but read. I would wake up in the morning and start reading and would continue to do so late into the night. Amma was livid and was hell bent on ending the madness. When all her attempts to do so failed, she took the drastic step of complaining to Dad.

He responded to the complaint with a content smile much to Amma’s chagrin. His daughter loved books just as he did. It was a reaffirmation that I was a chip off the old block.

One day I was summoned to his room on his return from work and he handed me a package and said, “I hope you like it”. It was a copy of ‘Midnight’s Children’ by Salman Rushdie. It was the first of many books my Dad gifted me over the next few years.

He was obviously under the misconception that I was a child prodigy of some sort, if he thought I could read and comprehend ‘Midnight’s Children’  at age 13.

I read the book twice before I was 16. I did not know the meaning of many words. A lot of the subtext escaped me. But the story made an indelible impression on my young mind. I knew that it was a story of a lifetime. This book played an important part in transforming a passing fancy for reading into an eternal love.

I have forgotten most of the details of the plot. But I will never forget Saleem Sinai. And with all the buzz surrounding the release of the movie, ‘Midnight’s Children’ has been on my mind a lot.

Just the other day I was telling Ninad that I plan on reading the book again before I watch the movie (let’s hope it releases here). I also mentioned that my copy was a bad print and most of the pages had faded.

This morning before I left for work, I received a surprise delivery. A vintage copy of ‘Midnight’s Children’. It is a gift from Ninad.