Reading...what? :O
Am reading something very unexpected - An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments
with Truth by M.K. Gandhi (translated into English
by Mahadev Desai)
Note to self: Go watch Jaimini Pathak's Mahadevbhai.
Unexpected for two reasons. One, silli doesn't like
hype, which leads to overkill. And what with all the
hype surrounding Lage Raho Munnabhai, this should
be the last book for silli to read.
Two, silli is too partial to fiction to like autobiographies.
(Anne Frank... and Yours, Plum being exceptions)
The Story... is a gift from DB (who is such a darling)
and it has come precisely when silli has some leisure.
silli has finished reading more than half the book; it
is interesting for two reasons. One is the simple,
elegant English, evocative of Rajaji's language. The other
is the occasional value of the book as a period piece
( :D another kind of writing silli is partial to).
Though the work is not very descriptive, it does offer
glimpses into the socio-cultural milieu of the day apart
from interesting bits of information like:
"But by far the largest class was that composed
of Tamil, Telugu and North Indian indentured labourers. The
indentured labourers were those who went to Natal on an
agreement to serve for five years and came to be known there
as girmitiyas from girmit which was the corrupt form of the
English agreement."
Might follow this up with another post after I finish the book.