Romancing with Sherlock💖

Romancing with Sherlock 💖

    The other day my friend and I were discussing about our comfort novels. 

    What are comfort novels ? 

Comfort books are books or novels or any sort of reading material that comforts you , soothes you, consoles you and gives you solace. Whenever you are exhausted  and overfatigued, reading this particular book will sweeten you up . At times like these , when you are burned out , even playing a game on the mobile or watching TV cannot satisfy your thirstiness. That's when , your comfort novel jumps into the scene . Reading it makes you feel as light as a feather and as fresh as a daisy.

     In my case , my comfort book is Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. There are both novels and short stories in this series by Doyle, but it is the short stories that I'm fond of .

      Sherlock being an eccentric and witty person , solves crimes and mysteries all over London . He has keen observation skills and is always assisted by his confidante Dr. Watson. The entire short stories collection are in the form of Watson's narrative. When I read Sherlock Holmes, I will be completely immersed into it and enjoy it , as if I'm traveling alongside with him. I nevermind reading the same collection of stories again because everytime I read it , I am sherlocked and it feels like a breath of fresh air.

       I rejoice reading O.Henry's and  

Guy de Maupassant's collection of short stories. In addition, I also read Tamil short stories by eminent writers like  Jayakanthan, Na. Pichamoorty and Jeyamohan . 

       Why I prefer short stories as my comfort novels is that , they can be read within a short  span of time , without encompassing much energy,  and are also as aromatic as novels. 

     

▪️PS: What are your comfort books ? Comment below. 

     

நிலம் பூத்து மலர்ந்த நாள்

Nilam poothu malarntha naal - book review

    Good books make you smile and great books make you write a review. Partaking my experience reading this book in the form of a review gives me immense pleasure.
    "A great book should leave you with many experiences and slightly exhausted, you live several lives while reading."
Truly indeed as quoted by William Clark Styron Jr.  Acquiescing to the above quote,  I have undoubtedly lived several lives while reading this book.
       A very intriguing title , 'Nilam poothu malarndha naal ' , we can translate it into English as , "The day when the land bloomed and blossomed".
      Originally written in Malayalam , authored by Manoj Kuroor , it takes us back to the aeons of the  acclaimed Tamil Sangam . The Tamil translated version penned by K.V.Jeysri, has won the Sahitya akademi award, India's highest award for literature recognised in 24 Indian languages. Even though this book was published in 2016 , it has received a stimulus now , owing it to the Sahitya akademi award. This book is unique, considering it's a first of this kind. History combined with fiction gives a tremendous outcome .
        This book revolves around the narratives of characters, Kolumban , Chitirai and Mayilan. Kolumban's version gives the accounts of what happened, Chitirai's narrative points out the conundrum behind those events and Mayilan unravels the enigma, uncluttering the puzzlement . Also, there are many engaging characters like, Seerai, Kings -Pari, Nannan, Athiyaman and our proficient Sangam poets - Kabilar, Baranar and Ouvaiyar. The portrayal of Seerai's character is absorbing. Though being a young girl , Seerai is introspective and skeptical about the traditions pertaining in the society.
       Manoj Kuroor takes us on a journey, to the life lived by our ancestors. In those germinal days of life, people lived in clans or communities according to their professions , that is dancers and singers, farmers ,hunters and so on. Here , the three main characters belong to the dancers and musicians brethren,and live a nomadic life to overcome the viciousness of poverty. Further we learn about our ancient musical instruments, how people migrated with no transportation facilities and their food habits too.
      The hospitality shown by other communities is enthralling. This migrating clan is welcomed and assisted by the hunter circles, the farmer fraternity and so on. People cared for each other irrespective of their communities.
      The author mentions everlasting poets like Kabilar, Baranar and Ouvaiyar. He also chronicles few of their poems. They were the most celebrated poets of the Sangam age  because their compositions were distinctive and sublime. They uniquely stood out from all their literary counterparts.
     Why this book ?
Undeniably, this book is so engrossing and will always hold you on the grip.Since you can never take your eyes off , an avid reader  can complete it at one go . Reading this book, definitely relaxes your mind and also instills a sense of pride about our heritage,
culture and our predecessors' legacy.The more you read about it , the more you want to experience that way of life and get immersed into it . 

Happy reading! 😊

     

Not just a dream !

   My parents , grandparents, aunts and uncles were going on a journey in train . The train , for a long time was moving on a bridge , just like the Konkan railways. We were chatting and  then , alas !  The train changed into a roller coaster and I was there with my friends . My family somehow vanished from the scene . Maybe , I must've thought that they were not physically fit to take on those rides . 

       That roller coaster was mind boggling. I was literally flying and screaming at the top of my voice. It felt so real . That ride contained a lot of twists and turns and monstrous heights . Then, it flashed into a pool of water and abruptly I was in my scuba diving suit . What an overwhelming scene underwater. I saw beautiful fishes , corals and a lot of other sea creatures. 

           I was afraid of the sea , especially about it's underground creatures which have irked me a lot. I was astounded to see them as I was unraveling it's beauty. I was just going through the corals and sea weeds . Unexpectedly I came across a shipwreck . It's name I read which was HMS Albatross. I went inside and was shocked to death by human skeletons . There was a huge wooden box and it was locked . Behind , was a skeleton, looked like a captain to me , was wearing a cap, dressed all in white. In it's hand was a beautifully handcrafted key .

        I took it and opened the box. You couldn't have imagined what I found. Big volumes of books . Though they were all  drenched wet  , I took them to surface carefully and with the help of some experts , those books were dried and I found out that they were priceless antique collection. As I opened a book titled ,      ' Victory to thee' , the first page read ," Wake up girl , you are late for college" .