Finally, Abhilasha Nirajan, here goes. Not an easy feat: every book - well, almost every book - has been a treasure. These though are, in some sense, life changing ones, listed sort of chronologically... Charlottes Web - EB White. A book I read in the 2nd grade that defined two of my philosophies early in life: a love for animals and being vegetarian. Persuasion - Jane Austen. Although Pride & Prejudice, and Emma are better known, and more widely loved - and I love those two as well - this one was just too incredibly romantic. I have read both Persuasion and Pride & Prejudice multiple times, and feel like doing so all over again as I write this! Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte. Oh how I have loved this one too, in all its darkness - finding its few bright spots immensely beautiful and romantic. David Hults and Ulrika Swanson - will always remember the play on Broadway with you guys! Another lesser known work of Brontes called The Professor has one of my favourite phrases in it: ... neither my reason nor feelings are of the vacillating order — they are not of that sand-like sort where impressions, if soon made, are as soon effaced. The Blandings Castle series - PG Wodehouse. Many more from Wodehouse, but Blandings I liked just a little bit more than the rest. My dad introduced me to these, and I think they taught me how to laugh at the smallest things, and situations, just like he does. Dont worry - be happy! A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth. What a tome! I read it a little too early in life, I think. In the 11th grade... But its maturity I realised much later in life. Tapsi Mathur, this one is for you!! ;-) Fatherland - Robert Harris. A chilling work of historical fiction that was based on the hypothetical question: What if Hitler won the war? I loved it when I read it in high school, and it was an early inspiration for me to study International Relations later in life. Am currently reading his latest work - An Officer and A Spy - which I believe is excellent too. Fountainhead - Ayn Rand. I was writing essays to apply to universities abroad, racing against deadlines, and I just couldnt focus on them until I finished this book. (Thanks Nayanika Mathur, for giving me Manikas copy!) Couldnt keep it down, and the black-and-white thinking was just an eye-opener for me, when in life we get so confused dealing with so many shades of grey. I loved Atlas Shrugged and We The Living too. A line that got engraved in my mind from Atlas Shrugged: ... a lie is an act of self-abdication, because one surrenders one’s reality to the person to whom one lies, making that person one’s master, condemning oneself from then on to faking the sort of reality that person’s view requires to be faked… It held me up through the toughest of times. The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy. I used to say that I never cry while reading books, even though I am generally a sentimental fool. Well, I needed many, many buckets for this one. So touching, so beautiful. Need to read it again. The French Lieutenants Woman - John Fowles. How haunting - how one choice can change the course of your life, your happiness forever. Amazing. I have to thank my former boss Alastair Hamish Mcindoe for giving me this one to read. Breakout Nations - Ruchir Sharma. How can a sister not include her own brothers best-selling work?! So so proud, but also so very inspired to one day publish some sort of book, however small! :-) Ideas brimming, execution awaited!! This list has 9 authors, but more than 10 books. I didnt want to include anything here that didnt affect me as deeply as these. Although I easily could have missed out on something at this late an hour! Anyway, I now pass on the baton to my friends who I know for sure are book worms: Debjani Aich, Laurence Norman, Mary Thomas, Nayanika Mathur and Tapsi Mathur.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 17:47:54 +0000
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