Isn’t is strange that Christmas has a universal appeal.
Shops are decorated with tinsel and stars, shiny baubles, angels and even fake snow. I find it fascinating to see the Christmas decorations go up year after year, each one grander and more exotic than the next.
What I find fascinating is that Christmas is celebrated worldwide—at least the decorations are put up in almost every corner of the world. Whether it is a marketing ploy or just joy that the year is getting over, the whole world seems to be engulfed by the Christmassy feeling of Santa Claus, the Christmas Star, Christmas trees, presents, fairy lights, carols, mulled wine, Christmas pudding, Secret Santas and, of course, the Christmas Eve dance. With all the festivities and celebrations, most people forget it is a religious observation. For many devout or practising Christians, it is a time to reaffirm their faith. Of course, they have their celebrations but it is not without prayer and contemplation.
But I’m not complaining. Last week I s[pent a delightful evening with friends singing carols we had sung back in school and today I’m of to a scrumptious, sumptuous Christmas Brunch with my friends.
In the middle of this year, a stray adopted Anna Shetty and her family. Being intrinsically snooty, I didn’t approve of this at all. Growing up, stray dogs were called pariahs ( parriers as it was mispronounced) ,pies signifying their mixed ancestry, mutts or street dogs. Today, like all words that are upcycled, and gentrified, these dogs are referred to as ‘Indie’ or ’Rescue’ animals giving them greater acceptability and respectability. In fact owners of such animals are considered noble for saving a poor stray from a certain death by the local government.
But the minute I saw Iti (as she was subsequently christened) her imperial bearing impressed and charmed me. With her head high and looking haughtily with her honey-brown eyes, her camel brown coat and nose speckled with pink, she looked like an aristocratic matron out for a morning walk. It was hard to resist her charm and before I knew it, was appointed her official babysitter when Anna Shetty and her family went out of town.
“She’d be shattered if we leave her in a kennel,” she explained to me, the first time I had to doggie sit. “It’s been barely a month since we’ve adopted her and leaving her in a kennel would make her feel she’s abandoned once more .”
I was a bit sceptical with this argument but agreed to look after her especially as Anna Shetty’s house-help would be staying with us too. We managed pretty well though we went through a leash in two days and a stymied attack on my memory foam pillow.
This time around, I was less hesitant in looking after her because by now, Iti had been through a series of training and counselling sessions and seemed to have dealt with the devils that had haunted her.
Spooked
She walked into my house confidently and showed the same poise when I took her down in the daytime. However, in the evening, the friendly dogs from our building came up to greet her enthusiastically barking their joy. Unfortunately, Iti totally freaked and she managed to wiggle out of the collar over her and bolt! My heart sank. Where would I find her? Would she be at the back or on the main road?
Luckily, a watchman spotted her standing confused and bewildered in the driveway. Frantically, I called out to her. She bounded towards me and leapt into my arms. I had to pacify her with cuddles and words of reassurance while I slipped back the collar and carried her home.
That one incident was enough to spook her and she refused to come down until literally dragged. It was awful pulling her and I couldn’t make the collar any tighter so I got her a harness. Even if I had to pull her, this way I wouldn’t be hurting her neck.
Taking her down became easier but she was still reluctant. So last night I asked Hubby Dear to accompany us for our post-dinner stroll. His presence reassured her and she was once again her confident self as she strutted around with us. When Hubby Dear lagged behind, she waited for him. And when we returned home, she happily went to the bed he had laid out for her. That’s when I realised, she felt secure because HE was around. I was miffed by this very obvious gender discrimination.
But way past midnight, she jumped on top of me and gently barked to indicate her need to go down. I immediately shot out of bed and took her down.
After doing her business, I was expecting to be dragged home but she had other plans. Knowing that the other dogs were fast asleep, she decided midnight was the best time for a walk.
Midnight Walk
Luckily she kept the walk short and we returned home.
My reading history for this year has been appalling, for an avowed bookworm. I’ve barely managed to read a book a month. Most times I would return a book unread and often unopened.
A real reader always has his nose in a book. In fact, a real reader reads everything even labels on food products, hoardings at bus stops and random advertisements that catch the eye.
My only real excuse (apart from life making unexpected demands on my time and attention) is that I have hardly come across a book that has caught my attention. The books borrowed by Prima Donna that I see lying around at home have not been very tempting. I have been put off by the cover itself or the blurbs on the back. Quite often, I find that books that come highly recommended or shortlisted for Literary awards are quite vague and difficult to plough through.
So earlier this year, I made a conscious effort to read more books. But fiction which was once my mainstay gravitated towards non-fiction, especially historical novels. They are fascinating and are the best way of getting acquainted with the past.
But even then, my reading was spotty. I resorted to reading the first few pages, the end and then flipping through the pages in the middle to join the dots. It was no wonder that I hardly remembered the book! I consoled myself that opening the book and flip-reading was far better than returning books back unread. Or not borrowing anything at all.
KINNI’s RECOMMENDATIONS
So I decided to ask Kinni, the club’s librarian for his suggestions.
Kinni is the last person you’d imagine is a librarian. With his slightly balding pate and reading glasses, he seems more like an accountant. But he is a good librarian who knows his books and his readers.
I was a bit apprehensive about the books Kinni picked out. They were quite unlike the books I normally read. Besides, I find unfamiliar names quite difficult to read and often have to read a sentence more than once to get the actual meaning.
This Japanese author has been around for quite a while but I only got to know of him this year.
Apart from the intriguing title, I was drawn to the story about time travel. It is always difficult to get the back-and-forth storytelling in proper sequence. But Kawaguchi does this seamlessly. Initially, I was confused and frankly irritated but the premise that you can only find the future when you sit on a particular chair which is occupied by a person who was trapped in the future because he didn’t finish his meeting in the future before his coffee got cold. Equally intriguing was the condition that the person should have visited this cafe before.
But once you get caught up with the plot you realise that this is a really ingenious fo of story telling.
Nawaguchi has written other books that continue the story but quite frankly I found it hard to keep track of the characters simply because I am unfamiliar with Japanese names.
However, I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants a change from the traditional way of telling a tale.
I wasn’t too keen on choosing this book because I thought it would be a trashy romance. Once again I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a novel with many layers.
It begins in rural Korea where a matchmaker comes looking for prospective brides for grooms settled in Hawai. The story, however, goes beyond the initial disappointment of the young brides and carries on till the Korean war. Thus the book is quite captivating.
These were two of the books that I enjoyed reading in 2024 and hope to read more in 2025.
Twenty- five Seven 