1913- THE MOTHER OF ALL ADDICTIONS

Joeanna Rebello
Mar 08 2015 : The Times of India (Chennai)





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If Uncoupling Your Teenage Son From Facebook Was A Challenge, Good Luck With Your Old Folks

Three years ago Prathap Krishnan gave his 70-year-old mother a crash course in social media. He taught her to use Facebook, showed her how to look for old classmates and third cousins, cautioned her against approving Friend requests from strangers and warned her against revealing personal information online.Krishnan now wonders how he can wean his mother off it. “She's like a teenager with an X-box,“ he complains. “Earlier, she'd reach for her wristwatch first thing in the morning; she now reaches for her smartphone. She takes her phone everywhere, on evening walks, to yoga class, the kitchen and even the bathroom ­ not because she's expecting an important call, but because she needs to be the first to comment on what her friends are thinking eating experiencing...on Facebook.“
By the late-2000s, even the most suspicious of 60-year-olds wanted to know how to upload a profile picture. Social institutions held introductory classes to social media for senior citizens, and children boasted of the tech-savviness of their old folks. “My father's my Facebook friend“ they'd say , to show the family was up to snuff. Now they're out hunting for virgin virtual spaces that haven't yet been discovered and conquered by their mummys and daddys who unwittingly post such praise as `Well done son' when the man brags he scored last night.
“My mother blocked my sister, my wife and me from her FB group two years ago because she felt we were policing her...which we were,“ reports Tapan Durga, who incidentally works in digital media. “My mother joined FB in 2008 and in the early years, lacking all social filters she'd accept any friend request and even hand out our telephone number to some. After fielding a few dodgy calls and discovering romantic overtures made to her by a shady man (sending her flower emojis), I had to watch her back. She has learnt the ways of social media now and even founded and administers a 40-member group on FB, all of them over 55 years. They went on a holiday to Shimla recently , and she even invited a few to my wedding; I was baffled to see strangers around.Her friends call her the FB Dj because she sends out a link to a Hindi film song every morning,“ says Durga who got his mother a smartphone a few years ago to relieve her of the laptop she'd lug everywhere to stay connected.
While most of them have taken to social media like Snoop Dogg to Instagram, some have teething trouble. “My 78-year-old mom, Seema, tried posting something on Facebook some time back,“ recalls Saba Mirza, a homemaker in Mumbai, “She wrote it but forgot to post it, and for the next half hour ranted about how slow our MTNL Wifi was,“ laughs Mirza, whose mother initially had her daughter greenflag her posts before she hit Go. “On another occasion, looking at the FB prompt `people you may know', she wondered aloud “How do so many people know I'm on Facebook!“ Mirza recently got her mother a selfie stick and is showing her how to use it. Reginald Fernandes, a 72-year-old picture buff, still uses his phone to shoot and post images.“I usually post around a dozen images a day on my Whatsapp group, though I'm still a bit puzzled by Instagram. I sometimes forget the device is a phone and call it my camera. My 40-year-old son who lives with me, has unfortunately left my Whatsapp group. He complains I take up too much room on his phone. I've advised him to get an upgrade.“
All names have been changed to protect family relations

1274-A prize for weighty prose

The decision to award this year’s Man Booker Prize to the virtually unknown 28-year-old New Zealand writer Eleanor Catton for her door-stopper of a novel, The Luminaries, is as much a recognition of a new voice as proof that the Booker judges’ capacity to surprise remains undiminished. In a year when the critics and bookies were rooting for one of the shortest novels in contention — the British writer Jim Grace’s Harvest — they went and chose the longest (The Luminaries clocks in at 832 pages) and the most formally structured contender. Yet in the past they have gone for novels that were so brief (Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach and Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending) that many questioned whether they could be considered as novels at all. Two years ago, there was a huge row when one of the judges suggested that for him a book needed to “zip along” to pass the selection test, prompting criticism that the prize had dumbed down with “readability” taking precedence over “artistic achievement.” This year’s choice is a riposte to critics on both counts. Good literature transcends considerations of structure and size. Robert Macfarlane, chairman of the judges, described The Luminaries as a “dazzling book, vast without being sprawling.” Hailed as a “compelling’’ thriller, it is set against the background of the 19th century New Zealand gold rush. The story is told through a complicated plot structure divided into 12 zodiac-themed chapters, each decreasing in length in conjunction with the lunar cycle. Judges acknowledged that readers needed to make a “huge investment” in getting to grips with it, but the effort was worth it.

At 28, Catton is the youngest ever writer to win the Booker, beating Ben Okri, who was 32 when he won it for The Famished Road in 1991. It is after 28 years that a New Zealander has won the prize since Keri Hulme got it for The Bone People in 1985. That was a controversial choice, still cited after so many years as an example of the Booker’s “eccentric’’ ways. Perhaps no other literary prize is scrutinised as closely as Booker amid persistent rumours about its imminent death. Consistently, however, it has always proved its critics wrong, demonstrating that even after 45 years, there is still life left in the old beast. In India, there will be disappointment that Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland missed out and elsewhere too, critics will carp that their favourite was ignored. But that’s the beauty of Booker — its unpredictability. From next year, the prize will be open to American and other writers with British publishers, making the competition tougher — and adding to the drama that has become so much a part of one of the English-speaking world’s most storied prizes for writing. 

(The Editorial, The Hindu, 17:10:2013)

(‘The Luminaries’, set in 1866, contains a group of 12 men gathered for a meeting in a hotel and a traveller who stumbles into their midst; the story involves a missing rich man, a dead hermit, a huge amount in gold, and a beatenup whore. The multiple voices take turns to tell their own stories and gradually what happened in the small town of Hokitika on New Zealand’s South Island is revealed.
The novel was up against Indian-American writer Jhumpa Lahiri’s ‘The Lowland’— a story of a young man’s tryst with the Naxalite movement at the cost of his family. Set in Kolkata, ‘The Lowland’ was among six books shortlisted for the prize.) 

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1270-Philosophy...

(via Facebook/ Think Different)
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1244-"Always Pack A Sense Of Humour"

British adventurer,writer and TV presenter Bear Grylls tells Nona Walia why jungle (concrete and real) survival is all about knowing how to laugh at yourself
TIMES NEWS NETWORK nona.walia@timesgroup.com

Adventurer Bear Grylls has a simple motto in life: Train hard.Fight easy.From learning bushcraft,building shelter deep into the wild,hunting for food to survive and eating goat testicles,this Briton has done it all.Known for his television series Man vs.Wild,Grylls teaches the art of survival in harsh landscapes in a survival academy he has recently opened.He says,Surviving life-threatening situations is a science of attitude,it can instill positivity,resourcefulness,energy and fire.The trick is in overcoming your fear.Its about making a decision,getting on and doing it. The man who has climbed cliffs,parachuted from helicopters,run through forest fires,eaten snakes,drunk urine saved in a rattlesnake skin,and eaten deer droppings,gives us a few lessons on survival.

Survival skills are your forte How necessary is it as a quality in today's world
We need to have definite plans to survive in life.Theres a saying: No plan survives the first contact with the enemy.In fact,I love it when things go wrong.I think the secret lies in thinking fast and with ingenuity.Be committed to yourself and your life goal.While facing tough situations in life,dont panic.It makes things worse.Try to be calm.

Your book,A Survival Guide for Life,inspires people to overcome their fears.What life lessons can you give those who look up to you?
Survival skills aren't taught in schools or written in textbooks.My motto is don't listen to dream stealers or become over-enthusiastic.I teach people how to deal with adversity yet keep their character in todays cut-throat world.I tell people how to imbibe qualities of primal life.Dynamic self-rescue survival skills can save your life across a whole series of terrains.

What qualities should people hone to survive all odds?
Optimism,team work,initiative,courage,resourcefulness and determination.The kick for me is seeing people literally grow in stature and confidence as they learn many of the skills and attitudes in practice.It makes it all worthwhile.Adventure brings out the best and worst in people.The wild is unpredictable.However much we prepare,things sometimes go wrong,and that's true of life too.I encourage people to find the strength in themselves.We are much stronger than we think.

What are your five top tips for holidays on the wild side?
Be prepared.Go with good friends you trust and who are relaxed people.Have a backup plan.Pack a sense of humour.

How do you relax
I take off with my family to our little island hideaway in North Wales.It has 20 acres of green and one small cottage.Its my heaven on earth.

GRYLLS SURVIVAL TIPS FOR LIFE

• Plan,execute goals,face danger,push your limits to sharpen your instincts 
• Chase the goal,not the money 
• Always say yes to opportunities 
• Never give up 
• There is no education like adversity 
• You cant become a horseman until you have fallen off a horse 
• Don't worry too much 
• Tents don't repair themselves when things go wrong,set them right yourself 
• Paddle your own canoe 
• Don't assume too much Dreams require sacrifice
•  Honour the journey,not the destination 
• To get,you have to learn to give 
• Humility is everything 
• Instinct is the nose of the mind,trust it 
• Laugh at yourself,a lot 
• Keep good company 
• Find a good guide 
• Seek out motivation 
• Money is like a river,it has to flow 
• Be a volunteer 
• Keep grounded 
• Learn courage 
• Take care of your possessions 
• Use time wisely 
• Every time you surprise yourself,you inspire yourself 
• Do not judge someone by their status 
• Let others shine 
• Be cheerful in adversity 
• When you go through hell,keep going 
• Ask yourself,what makes you smile 
• Success is about embracing tears and heartaches [Times of India,04:08:2013]

1242-Songs of my life- "All I really need to know, I learnt from Bollywood"

Madhumita Gupta, Times Of India, ,31:07:2013

"Jinke apne ghar sheeshe ke hon,woh doosron par patthar nahin phenka karte" practical.
"Zindagi badi honi chahiye,lambi nahi" profound.
"Zindagi ek rangmanch hai,aur hum sab kathputliyan"- existential.
I got all these nuggets from Bollywood.

Actually,most of what i really need to know about how to live i learnt not in kindergarten but while sitting bolt upright in stuffy cinema halls smelling of cigarettes, paan and people in the pre-multiplex era.We didnt know about 'passive smoking' those days so we just wrinkled our noses and let things be.The 'first indirect lesson in tolerance' was learnt. However,if something bothered you beyond a point,'you hollered at the person.If he listened,it was a lesson in assertiveness;if not,in acceptance!'

From basic etiquette "Jab tak baithne ko na kaha jae,chup chaap khade raho" to 'being responsible becoming a coolie,if need be,to support your younger brothers education' films taught us what Moral Science failed to.Such was the impact of those moving scenes of a poor child sharing half a dry roti with a stray that my home has become the one-stop shop for food,rest and shelter for the neighbourhood mutts.
If these scenes left some cold,then they were seen sobbing into their handkerchiefs watching Amar,Akbar and Anthony mixing their blood in one bottle and irrigating the Ma.Medical accuracy be damned it was the thought that counted.Had it not been for 'Nirupa Royjis frail self carrying rocks or stitching in flickering diya light,would children have realised the place of Ma in their lives'

The lesson of "the eventual victory of good over evil" was of course hammered in every time we saw a Gabbar,a Prem Chopra or a Ranjeet beaten to pulp in the climax.They never played fair and consequently,ha,ha,the police arrested them in the last scene.The good prevailed and the underdog won.Even the greyish anti-hero had
either to die (preferably in his mothers or beloveds arms after a touching parting speech) or be seen coming out of the jail,this time grey only in hair but otherwise completely reformed.

Filmwallahs discovered the play way to make learning (not just Ek do teen) fun long before the education system.They subtly taught us that in films a n din life,whenever the going got tough,"songs and dances helped.From wooing a lady to placating a wronged one,from revoking lost memories to invoking gods,songs could do everything!" In films,on the one hand,many a nymphet succumbed to the charms of the hero when he belted out songs in Kishore Kumars soulful voice and on the other,these helped quite a few heroes sing their way out from the villains den with nothing else but a strategic mole or blond moustache hiding them from evil eyes.
In real life,can you imagine our big,fat weddings without Baharon phool barsao or Doli sajake rakhna From weddings to babies,school and college trips to catchy bhajans set to chart-busting tunes,songs have held sway in every part of our lives.With new research on the "therapeutic value of music",it now seems Bollywood songs may also save us a trip to the shrink.

From "inculcating core values and lending a helping hand when needed,films,off and on screen,have also led the way in teaching us the importance of following our dreams" much before lifestyle gurus of today started milking the idea dry.From Rosy of Guide to the 3 Idiots and Sid finally waking up,in reel life;and from the lanky nobody from Calcutta who became the iconic Big B to the number of directors,actors,actresses with no connections whatsoever storming the bastions,in the real one need we look further for inspiration to walk to our individual drummers
It is Bollywood which taught us that to be a blockbuster demands a mix of emotion,action,naach-gaana and drama."If aall izz not well at the end,there should be rebirth".And if it is,sequels follow.The show has to go on,come what may.
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1231 -Fun for lungs

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1225 - Incredible India!!!!!!!

 

Nohkalikai Falls at Cherapunji, Meghalaya 

via Facebook/ General Knowledge

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1224 - Dudhsagar waterfall, Goa

 

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1223 - Burj Khalifa

Burj Khalifa known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is currently the tallest man-made structure in the world, at 829.84 m (2,723 ft). construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009.

via Facebook/ General Knowledge 
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1222 - The pool on the 57th floor

Pool on the 57th floor of Marina Bay Sands Casino In Singapore

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1220 - 3D ART

 

via FACEbook/ General Knowledge

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1219 - Get more with less

[The Hindu, METROPLUS, Chennai, 25:06:2013]

Minimalists Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus speak to Sriya Narayanan about the virtues of simple living

“The quickest way to give yourself a pay raise?” asks the title of one of their blog posts. “Spend less money,” reads the entry. This and some of the other nuggets of wisdom on www.theminimalists.com have propelled Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus to cult status amongst over two million readers, all looking to shift their focus away from a materialistic lifestyle. 

The bloggers, both based in Ohio and in their early 30s, walk the talk. They walked away from their high-powered, six-figure-pay jobs in corporate America (Joshua quit, Ryan was laid off), systematically got rid of around 90 per cent of their material belongings and preached the power of the bare minimum. Their books on simple living have consistently topped Amazon bestseller lists, and they host meet-up tours to spread their message: that we’re trapped in a culture that encourages us to live beyond our means; one that keeps us in perpetual pursuit of the next shiny goal.

Increasing returns

“Goals are for the unmotivated,” blogs Joshua who frequently speaks of how his earlier material goals landed him in deep debt, and took a toll on his health and relationships. Today, the writer, who’s also a bestselling novelist, has co-authored their posts on the 21-day journey into reducing the number of things they owned. This means not just donating or selling things they didn’t truly need, but also throwing out objects that have sentimental value. Has he ever regretted discarding something that had emotional significance? “No. I’ve never missed anything I’ve gotten rid of.”

As for Ryan, he believes that being fired from his job freed him from the insecurity that came with a fixed income. “Being laid off from my job was both exciting and terrifying,” he says, adding it was a much-needed catalyst that helped him understand that money and things weren’t a guarantee of happiness or fulfilment. Recently, for his 31st birthday, Ryan asked friends and readers to donate $ 31 to Charity Water (a non-profit that provides clean drinking water to Third World countries) instead of buying him yet another gift he didn’t need. “I was able to raise more than $ 5,500, which helped bring clean water to 276 people in a village in Ethiopia,” he says. The duo believes that the final element of minimalism is organ donation, and that giving the gift of life during death is one of the best decisions one could make.

While they state they are not anti-corporation as such, they find that slick marketing campaigns often create feelings of inadequacy, and contribute to the vicious cycle of consumption. They steer clear of the strategies they dislike, including ‘psychological pricing’, which is why they’d never price a book at $ 6.99 instead of $ 7. During their journey into a life of less, their friend circles changed too. “Over time, my friends and relationships changed into people who share similar beliefs. Now my relationships are predicated on my values rather than proximity,” says Joshua.

Though their context is that of a highly consumerist society, they believe that the issue is relevant everywhere. Joshua elaborates, “In both the U.S. and India, we face many of the same problems. Namely, most of us want to own more material things without knowing why we actually want them. I think that in both places, we look toward the American Dream as if it will make us happy. But it won’t.”

A life of freedom

Asked if his lifestyle is sustainable in the long haul, Joshua responds that he doesn’t think of himself as a radical. “Minimalism is not a radical lifestyle. It’s a tool I use to get rid of unnecessary stuff and live a meaningful life — a life filled with freedom and conscious awareness.”

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Just In Case...

People often hold on to things just in case they need them. They don’t let go because they might need something in the future. And they pack too much stuff for trips and vacations just in case they might need it.

But we needn’t hold on to these things. The truth is, we rarely use ‘just in case’ items, and thus they sit there, take up space, get in the way, and weigh us down. Most of the time they aren’t items we need at all. Getting rid of them clears one’s mind, frees up their space, and takes the weight off their shoulders.

(Source: www.theminimalists.com)

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1211 - Stay motivated

Here are some tips to increase productivity in college.

Geeta Padmanabhan

 

Stay alert:Listen to music to improve your mood.Photo: V. Ganesan

The student at Bangalore’s premier law college is polite, but frenetic. “I'm rushing off to the library. Can we talk while we walk?” she asks. Cannot blame her. Her essay on an obscure aspect of law is due tomorrow, she has a hostel party to attend this evening, and she needs to wash her hair. And all those missed calls... 

“Study? That takes a beating,” said Suhas, an engineering student. “I have to squeeze that in, between Facebook, Twitter, texting, biking, hanging out, video games, who has the time? Wish the day could be stretched to 48 hours.” 

You have to learn to cope with what initially appears to be strange timetables of operation, wrote Pranati, Humanities student at IIT-Madras. “I had to get accustomed to the practice of staying awake to ungodly hours with cups of Tifany's coffee.”

So your assignments are piling up alarmingly. You have arrears that never seem to go away. Studies feel like they are robbing you of life. You can't open your FB page without a pang of guilt. Assignment deadlines loom, but you want to stretch, drink water, yawn, and put it off a “little bit” - will start at 6, maybe an hour later? It'll take just a couple of hours, so after the match...

Don't panic. Here are tips to raise output, stay productive.

Write It Down: Once you know what to do, put it on paper and stick it on the wall. It’s a reminder – “get down to work and complete the tasks.” Too much? Break down tasks into “to-do” lists, paste them above the computer, or on the cellphone. Get an app that will remind you of must-do work. Cross out those you finish. Crossed-out lists are big morale boosters.

Schedule Facebook/Email time: The slide into time-wasting begins when you convince yourself, “I'll log on, check mail/wall for new stuff and get back in 2 minutes.” Aaah, “two minutes” goes in cosmic time, my friend. A major chunk of your assignment time is gone staring at the Facebook wall, the clock ticks away. So schedule your time on Facebook, twitter or email. Stick to the schedule. Time lost is lost!

Focus: Most people want total quiet for laboratory assignments. If you are the no-noise type, choose a quiet spot, be unavailable for a couple of hours. Make quiet-time allotment a habit to retain what you study. Also, studying in the same location (room, library, a secluded place in the campus, local bookstore) helps focus and retain information.

Say “No” To Distractions: Turn off your phone, TV, iPod, Video game. Focus on the academic work in hand, take hourly breaks to relax your brain and maintain level of productivity when you get back to work.

Set Goals : Be clear about what you want to accomplish in college. What you will do armed with degrees. Further studies? Another university? Go abroad? Take a gap year? Summer classes in between? Internship? Once you have a set goal, assignments and studies will look like necessary pin pricks.

Just-do-it!: The biggest secret to stay productive is to “do it”. Procrastination and productivity are rivals, you need to let go of one to get the other. Start work asap, instead of waiting for a “better time”.

Fill Your Room With Music: “Singing helps me to stay focused. When the bowler is running in to bowl, I start to sing but as soon as he gets to his delivery stride, I focus on the ball. Singing when the bowler is running in, empties my mind of unwanted thoughts,” said M.S. Dhoni. Set off your favourite CDs or grab your iPod. Psychology Today, in “Music and Productivity: 5 Ideas for Using Music to Boost Performance” says listening to music improves ability to complete repetitive tasks efficiently. Listening to music without words is sure to improve your mood. When mood improves, energy levels increase. Is slow, soft music your thing? Well, it's great for completing the toughest of assignments.

Reward Yourself: Psychologists recommend this as a foolproof system to increase productivity. Rejoice every time you reach an academic goal. Why do you think assignment papers are graded as A, A+? Go for a burger, movie, a gift to yourself, new sneakers, shades - make your choice. Reward-system is what you need when trying to motivate yourself to put in regular hours of work.

Get Enough Sleep: Research into sleep disorders and brain function clearly shows the importance of sleep in memory and consolidating information. Without sleep, the brain struggles to absorb and retain ideas. “There is a growing interest in the associations between adequate sleep and academic performance,” said Derk-Jan Dijk, Professor of Sleep and Physiology, Surrey Sleep Research Centre.

(The Hindu, Education Plus, Tamil Nadu, 03:06:2013)

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1205 - 'Dangerous Minds"

The other day, on an English TV channel, I watched the 1995, Michelle Pfeiffer movie- 'Dangerous minds'. It was a nice movie and following are some of the nice quotes from the same:-
"Words are thoughts, and we cannot think without them."

"keeping an 'A' is harder than getting 'A'. Almost anyone can get an 'A' once. But keeping it is an accomplishment."

"You know how to run, but not the way you could run if you are trained. The mind is like a muscle. If you want to be really powerful, you got to work it out. Each new fact gives you another choice. Each new idea builds another muscle. And it is those muscles that are gonna make you really strong. Those are your weapons, and in this unsafe world, I want to arm you. At the end of the term..........if you are faster, stronger and smarter, you will be that much tougher to knock down!"

 

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1198- Re-Use Plastic Bottles For Food Storage

 shared DIY Home Decorating's photo.

1194- A great solvent

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1183- 100 years of Hindi Cinima & 100 reasons to celebrate-2

 via Times Of India, 19:05:2013
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1172- Sand Sculpture

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1157- Around the world with books

 

SUNEETHA BALAKRISHNAN talks to British blogger Ann Morgan about her extraordinary journey of words that touched 196 countries.

 

When the world came to London in 2012, for the Olympics, Ann Morgan, a Londoner, wanted to reciprocate the gesture. She decided to travel the world too, but through books.

Her plan was simple. She intended to read a book each from the 196 U.N.-recognized countries and throw in a 197th from ‘the rest of the world’ for good measure. But it wasn’t as easy as it looked. The numerous dots on the map offered more than Morgan bargained for. Plus, she did not foresee the unprecedented interest that her blog (http://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/) would create. But Morgan says the choice of the book was itself the most difficult of tasks. Morgan lives in the U.K., where only three percent of the books published each year are translations. Elsewhere, there are countries with only oral traditions and have next to nothing by way of books, and there are yet others who frown at art going outside borders. And then what defines national literature; is it a book by a resident, about the country, or one by a person born there? In a country with multiple languages, how does one choose? In case of a single language spoken, does one choose a classic or a contemporary work? A daunting task, Yet Morgan persisted. Her experience of a ‘year of reading women writers’ plus help from her blog readers stood her in good stead. The guideline was: the books should be ‘the literature’ of a country and a ‘good’ read.

Morgan adopted a sensible method to avoid the ‘danger of a single story’. “As I intended to read only one book from each country this year, I couldn’t make the mistake of thinking that I have gained a rounded insight into any particular nation. I’d be annoyed if someone assumed they knew all about Britain just from reading Great Expectations ! For me, the project was more about exploring and accessing voices than garnering complete pictures of life in other places. I was careful never to read a book as a reflection of national characteristics or mindsets.”

She also paid attention to the opinions of readers from those countries and checked out regional book prizes. Sometimes the story behind a book was so fascinating that she had to read it. “My Bhutanese choice, for example, The Circle of Karma by Kunzang Choden, stood out from the recommendations sent to me by the Writers Association of Bhutan because it is said to be the first book by a Bhutanese woman to be published outside the country. That intrigued me.”

Her target was to read a book in 1.85 days, and blog about it, while she went about her normal routine. “I decided the only way to approach it was to break it down. To stay on track, I needed to aim to read four books a week. That’s reading one book every two days and then one short book in one day once a week, with a little give and take for very long and very short works. As most books are between 200-300 pages, this meant reading 100-150 pages a day, around three hours. My daily commute — when I got a lot of reading done — was an hour each way, so this necessitated finding an extra hour or two at lunch and in the evenings after work. I then had to write the blog posts and do all the research into the books, so I got up early and spent a couple of hours on that each day before I left for work.”

Morgan bought all the books herself except when people, especially those following the blog, gave her their copies. Even authors and publishers sent her their work — at times unpublished — to read. “It was a great privilege to be one of the few people, sometimes ever, to read the English versions. A couple of the books, such as my Belarusian choice – King Stakh’s Wild Hunt by Uladzimir Karatkievich – were also available free online. Still, it was rather an expensive year!”

Morgan says the project is nothing like her previous book blogging endeavours. Now she questions things that she once took for granted, from what the word ‘country’ means to what we talk about when we call something a ‘book’. “It has also brought me into contact with people all over the planet, and for that I’m very grateful. My world is a much richer place for it.”

A single incident that she would call the defining moment of the project? “In October 2011, less than three days after the blog post went live, Rafidah from Malaysia liked the project and told me she wanted to buy me a book to read. That was the moment I knew the project was really happening. Somewhere, 6,000 miles away, a person I had never met was going to a shop to buy a book on my behalf. I owed it to her and to all the other people supporting me to give it my best shot.”

Morgan finds it impossible to pick the best/favourite reads in 2012. There are some books that are just so beautifully written that they stand out in her mind. “Galsan Tschinag’s The Blue Sky from Mongolia is one, as is Andrei Volos’s Hurramabad from Tajikistan. My Burundian book, Weep Not, Refugee by Marie-ThérèseToyi is special because it was sent to me by the author from Africa after a search that involved many Burundians around the world.”

There were also books that changed her thinking. “Of these, Abdul Aziz Al Mahmoud’s The Corsair stands out. It is one of the first Qatari novels to be translated into English and is set during the early 19th century during the struggle for control of the trade routes through the Persian Gulf. The picture, the novel presents, of the role Britain played in the region during that time, is far from flattering and forced me to confront some of the darker stories attached to the British Empire, which many people in the U.K. prefer to forget.”

So her most prominent discovery of 2012 in reads? ‘Perhaps my Mozambican read, Ualalapi by Ungulani Ba KaKhosa. It was named one of Africa’s 100 Best Books of the 20th Century by an African jury in 2002, but is unavailable in English translation. I was lucky enough to be given an unpublished manuscript by a publisher who had been going to launch an English version but sadly went out of business before he could do so.” It is an extraordinary book, full of startling imagery unlike anything I have come across before and with a towering legendary hero who stands alongside great tragic figures such as Oedipus, King Lear and Okonkwo from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart .

Morgan also mentions A Casa do Pastor by Olinda Beja. “This collection of short stories by a writer born in Sao Tome and Principe, the second-smallest African nation, was specially translated for me by a team of Portuguese speakers in Europe and the U.S. after I struggled to find anything I could read in English from the country. It was very humbling to have such a talented group of people give up their time to help me complete my quest.”

Her most difficult choice? “India, without question. I could easily have spent 10 years reading Indian literature and still not have scratched the surface of the rich and diverse stories the country has to offer. But an Indian journalist stopped by the blog and pointed out a key omission in the nominations: all the books were written in English. This was second-best to the literature on offer from the many languages spoken across the country. I was struck by the comment, particularly as translation was a big part of my project, so I found a translation of Malayalam writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair’s classic Kaalam and enjoyed it immensely.”

“Reading is a great way to stand next to someone in a situation you have never been in and look at the world through their eyes. .”

She is also conscious of the amazing moment in history we live in. ‘The internet makes it possible for us to build links with one another as never before. Twenty years ago it would have been impossible to read the world in a year. I hope that as Internet law and the monetisation of social media take hold we are able to preserve the incredible freedom of communication that we have at the moment in most parts of the planet.’

The natural progression of a blog of these dimensions would be a book, and it is happening. “ Reading the World: Postcards from my Bookshelf will come out in early 2014 and will tell many of the stories behind the stories that I read that year.”

Her next project is ifwomenruled.com and an attempt to gain an insight through fiction of what the strengths, challenges and problems of a women-led society might have been.

Happy reading, Ann Morgan!

Reading is a great way to stand next to someone in a situation you have never been in and look at the world through their eyes.

For me, the project was more about exploring and accessing voices than garnering complete pictures of life in other places.

(The Hindu, Sunday magazine, 05:05:2013)

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1153- Help for alcoholics...

 

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